And I even saw some horses!!!

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  Brisbane, Australia
Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Imagine the Kentucky Derby with the parade of horses, the high stakes betting, the big hats, and heart in throat suspense...now times that by about one hundred. Now add gallons upon gallons of champagne. And instead of ladies in big hats, imagine ladies with feathers and glitter and flowers sprouting out of their hair in things called fastinators. And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the Melbourne Cup Races. The entire country stops for this race, it's even a public holiday in Melbourne. And through some finagling I managed to get off work and join the crowds of horse and alcohol enthusiasts. The festivities started with a big breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, and toast. I don't think I've had so many sausages in my entire life as I've had in the last month living here in Australia. But when in Rome... Anyway, dressed in an absolutely fabulous black dress provided by Kara and adorned with a flower in my hair by Louisa, I dug in and washed everything down with mimosas. After all, I was told, you have to have champagne on race day. I proceeded to drink an entire bottle

A horse!

. Needless to say, by the time we caught a last minute train and managed to find the only taxi in town without a fare, and make it to the Brisbane race track with ten minutes to spare before the big race, I was beginning to feel a little tipsy. Using my highly scientific method of picking horses to bet on by their name, I decided to put $2 on Xcellent either way, which means that I would get money if he won or if he placed. And killing my bad betting streak, he actually came in third! I won $12!!!! It was so totally amazing! It could have been $100, I was so excited! I actually won money betting on a horse with a cool name! I was so proud of myself, even in my champagne haze. The rest of the day is a blur of fastenators, random picture taking, hunts for the bathroom, and even more champagne. And, to my surprise and total excitement, there were even some minor races that were actually live at the Brisbane race track! I actually got to see some horses!! I felt like a champagne-soaked Eliza Doolittle screaming for her horse to move its bloomin' arse...though I think I'll I got out was "GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I'm sure that if I had actually bet on a horse for one of those races, that it would have won. But sadly, the day had to come to an end. Water replaced champagne and the only races were those to find buses and taxis home. After a nice dinner at the Normanby, I blissfully sunk into my bed...fully clothed.

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A race!	champagne-soaked Eliza Doolittle	Hugh, Mic, and AJ	Louisa and Kara
Me and Lindsey	Megan, Hugh, and Lindsey	My winning ticket!	The Scene

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