Guess what this is? (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Although this picture is taken in Australia, there is nothing very Australian about it! My friend Sarma's sister Dace asked in a comment to one of my pictures what my subjective experiences were of Australia. I thought of: 1) The vastness of the land; 2) A clear British influence (school uniforms, juges with wigs, unheated rooms (even in a hotel!) as well as visually a clear American influence (houses where the facade is nice but that is about all; the same color scheme in cloths shops -much violet, much bluish green, rather murky colors); restaurants are often eateries (altough I got some fabuolous meals for istance at The Point in Melbourne or in an Italian restaurant in the same city) ; 3) Nice and kind people everywhere; 4) Rather big income differences; 5) Enormous vegetables and a lot of different varieties; 6) Much sugar in food, called "low fat" (but with a lot of calories); 7) Huge cakes; 8) No proper rye bread, only a spongy variety (except in European delicatessen shops), and 9) a much colder winter than I had expected in June-July.

By the way: the picture is a detail of a glass ball i saw in the Victoria Market in Melbourne!