Adelaide wears its gentle image of a cultural hub and a great centre for food and wine quietly. It may not be as familiar as perennial Sydney or Melbourne to a tourist's perception but the capital of South Australia is a very livable city indeed. It is also great holiday destination with so many things to do. 
Finding your way about Adelaide is easy as it's laid out on a square mile grid of wide streets with gracious Victorian and Edwardian buildings and ample parklands. Designed by Colonel William Light in 1837, the effect is of unhurried pace. One has to remember though that South Australia is younger than many of the other states and is unique because it began as a freely-settled British province and not as a convict colony.
Before the Europeans arrived, the Adelaide plains and the surrounding hills were  inhabited by the Kaurna people of Australian aborigine family. Adelaide's Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery is an ideal place to get introduced to their rich culture and history. 
Cricket craze
Perhaps you are, like millions of Indians, a cricket aficionado. Then Adelaide has two great attractions: the Oval cricket ground which organises tours accompanied by extremely knowledgeable tour guides with all the anecdotes and statistics on their fingertips. Next you can head for the Don Bradman Museum which has an interesting collection of memorabilia on the legendary cricketer, including the bat that was used when he scored his 100th century- against India! It was during the 1947-48 tour by the newly independent country.
Our first introduction to the Bradman was, however, in a park where his statue was the backdrop of a photographic shoot for a newly wed couple.
But our romantic notions were dashed  when we discovered they were models after all. Apparently a photography class was going on there.
For the museum lover, there are other interesting ones like the Migration Museum, National Motor Museum, National Rail Museum, etc. The Adelaide Hills that rings the city was called Yurridla by the Kaurnas. Today, a trip to the Adelaide Hills takes you back if not thousands of years, at least two centuries where old German settlements like Hahndorf nestle serenely.
Started in 1840, it is Australia's oldest surviving German settlement. This part of Australia has a thriving German origin community. Most of them were Lutherans and religious persecution made them flee from Prussia, the old German empire in the 19th century. They evolved their own little Germany here with German language schools, churches etc. Today, the place has been preserved under the state's heritage route.
At the Hahndorf Inn restaurant the ambience tells the story of those pioneer days. The giant mugs of beer and hearty German style meal add to the atmosphere. Outside on the street boutique stalls sell memorabilia with German overtones.
The Adelaide Hills hosts another heritage listed complex, the Melba's Chocolate & Confectionery Factory. This place is renowned for its chocolates and confectionery produced by using old-fashioned methods and with the same old machinery. Wander through the old style production rooms, take the opportunity to taste the delicious chocolates and load up on purchases to take back home.
Another famous chocolate from Adelaide is from the Haigh's confectioners.The original retail store, established in 1915 in Adelaide's historic Beehive Corner is today a landmark spot with the famous bee motif perched atop the building. There is even a free 20-minute visitors' tour to find out about the history of the company as well  as getting to know how bitter cocoa beans are turned into delicious chocolates. It is rounded up by a complimentary chocolate, tea and coffee.
Say cheese!
On the note of food, just to experience its mind boggling variety a visit to the Central Market  is a must. It is South Australia's biggest food mart offering straight from the land produce as well as imported items like French cheese etc. It is a veritable Alibaba's treasure trove if you are interested in gastronomic delights.
Our host Mark Gleeson showed us around the outlets, there are some 550 of them, and even pointed out the 'Indian' shops around the street with DVDs of popular Bollywood and Tamil films, salwar suits and all. The Indian population, and student community is quite  large here, it seems.
There are authentic tea rooms, once again with a bewildering variety of the brew from across the world, to rest before venturing into the next lane.
As for restaurants, you can hop into a variety of options. Even organic pizza as at 'Good Life Organic Pizza' restaurant with everything organically produced to Indian restaurants like 'Beyond India' where dosas, lassi and kebabs jostle for attention. But the icing on the cake before the day we left was the Windy Point restaurant on the Hills. The view was fantastic with the city laid out below like virtual Diwali night- everyday! The food was excellent too.
Adelaide also has day- out options like a wine tour at the famed Barossa Valley, just an hour away, where  wine tasting and buying straight from the cellar make for great outing. You can hire a car and drive down to the Barossa Valley or there are group tours organised by tour operators.
Drink to this
Our stopover at Jacob's Creek, another German origin property, and the lunch at its airy Visitor Centre's  restaurant  after walking through the vineyards was an exhilarating experience. We wrapped up the visit with a ‘Make your own blend’ tour to Penfolds Winery.
The giant barrels of wine cooling in their wooden casks dwarfed us as we went on a guided tour with helmets on for safety! Afterwards, with an expert's help, we even concocted our own individual wine, mixing some of the winery's produce of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. Though not upto the standard of the winery it was good.
Or perhaps you are a wildlife lover. Then visit the Cleland Wildlife Park set in natural bushland where you will have kangaroos literally eating out of your hands ; or you can hug a koala and pose for photographs.
 There are a variety of native animals in the vast expanse of the park. But for a date with  animals like sea lions, seals etc. in their natural habitat there's nothing like the Kangaroo Island, just a half an hour flight from Adelaide. With its pristine beaches and forest trails and aborigine legends it is another land indeed as we discovered. But that's another story.