I've really been enjoying seeking out unique accommodation options, lately.
In Perth, (well, not Perth, but the City of Fremantle – weird having a city right next to the city, as it's only about 14kms between them) we stayed at the Fremantle Bed and Breakfast, and I loved it.
Freo's west end is a pretty area, dotted with turn of the century architecture, much of it on a fairly opulent scale indicative of the gold-rush era – the beginning of the W.A. mining boom perhaps? On the weekend, it's super quiet, almost deserted, as so many of the buildings in the streets around Fremantle B & B now house faculties of the University of Notre Dame.
When we were there, it was like a pretty ghost town bathed in warm sunlight.
Our accommodation was like a mini Bavarian castle, our room, the very cute Tarantella Suite, is the attic with stained-glass windows and a turret.
It's not terribly luxurious, but it is well-priced, quirky and comfortable, which fits the bill for me.
The building itself has an interesting, and fairly colourful, history that our host, Peter, was happy to tell us about.
Beginning it's life as a shipping office managed by Laurence Ratazzi, honorary consul for Italy and Germany, the turret proved handy for Ratazzi's interests in surveillance, as he spied on ships in Fremantle Harbour. However, just prior to the First World War, he was caught out and spent the duration of the war interned on the notoriously gruesome Rottnest Island.
Some time after the war, he did manage to get his job back at the Nordeucher-Lloyd shipping company, and things were quiet at the address again, until the early 70's.
Funny how a quaint-looking place like this…
..could have been home to one of the roughest nightclubs in the southern hemisphere. Tarantella's was infamous for it's violent assaults and stabbings. If you were thrown out (quite literally, down the stairs) and tried to get back in, you were arrested, if you were injured , they would call an ambulance. Reputed to have gambling and prostitution upstairs, I guess the gentrifying neighbours eventually got jack of all the tomfoolery and it was closed down.
Used variously as residential and offices, until 1999 when the current owners, the genial Peter, and his wife turned it into this charming bed and breakfast.
It was another whirlwind trip for us, but it would be worth staying a while to explore some more of Perth and Freo. Mind you, I wasn't too impressed with the boozy end of Fremantle, and the market was pretty crap – a bit like Paddy's in Sydney – but where we were, at the west end, was delightful.
We had a great flight over to Perth. For a change (I complain a lot about how every flight I take now, no matter where, is a full plane. Long gone are the days of stretching out over 2, 3, or even 4 seats, which was common in my more youthful adulthood) the flight was almost empty. So empty, in fact, the cabin staff were playing 'celebrity heads' in the galley to pass the time. Funny.
The flight back was pretty full, but I didn't mind, thanks to a business class upgrade, and a lay down seat
with a massager!
– Woohoo!
Shame it was a movie I really wanted to watch. I was too comfortable, and fell asleep…
More Perth trip pictures, check out Sonny's blog
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