Leisure Time

Luna Park, St. Kilda
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Ah Melbourne. It sometimes reminds me so much of Seattle that my head does a little Matrix like blip and I'm standing suddenly on the corners of 1st and Madison, looking up towards Pike Place Market. When we arrived here it was finally 'bloody hot' and we spent the first few days exploring beaches and air conditioned places. We arrived on the weekend of the Australian Grand Prix, which is apparently a big deal, and was also being held two blocks away from Gary and Bojana's. As we sat around the dinner table, drinking wine and sharing stories from our mutual travels the roar of qualifying Formula One cars whined at the back door like stray cats. One night we were lulled by the dulcet tones of a KISS concert, apparently still a popular band with the F1 crowd. Right guys? To further complete the Seattle in August picture, the Aussie version of the Blue Angels cracked the sound barrier overhead and turned loops across the blue opal sky.

The Birdy
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Melbourne is very relaxing. It has an amazing tram system that runs us in and out of the center. It has museums and galleries and long streets with uber-hip and uber-pricey shopping. Once while Magda and Bojana explored one of these purse traps I opted to sit at a coffee shop and catch up with the blog. The coffee here is really good by the way. Before I could place my cheeks in the seat, the Egyptian man behind the counter commented on my accent and soon we were discussing the nature of the world. We must have sat for an hour, drinking thick coffees while I described delis like his in Manhattan. He practically started salivating when I told of the deep lines of people stacked up in front of the counters of Cafe 28 at lunch time. His eyes actually sparkled. At the end of our conversation, after Magda and Bojana joined me for iced coffees, he gave us a deep discount on the bill and shook my hand in the manner only a former Egyptian/Middle Easterner/Indian/Nepali could do, he made eye contact that practically stung and made me promise to come back and visit. If I can, I said, then I promise.

That a country could have Koalas, Kangaroos AND penguins seems a little unfair

Federation Square, Melbourne
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The little suburb of St. Kilda where the guys live is a peacefully rockin corner of Melbourne. Right on the sea it used to be the premier vacation destination for Melbounians before the invention of the car and of course the plane. St. Kilda was to Melbourne then what Bali is to them today. After the downturn, it really turned down and was taken over by druggies, prostitutes and naturally a thriving punk scene. That scene helped produce one of the greatest Aussie bands of them all, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. One of the bars he started in is not far from here; the Espy Hotel is Australia's CBGB's, but unlike CBGB's is still open. Housed in the old Esplanade Hotel, a shell of its former high class glory, the Espy still rocks nightly and serves cheap, good burgers with a view of the bay and beer stained rugs. Unfortunately it is also a good place to spot the all-too-frequent Australian Mullet. The mullet, having been hunted to the brink of extinction in the rest of the developed world, still thrives down-under in an ecosystem rich with beer and, well, KISS concerts.

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The Espy is right next to St. Kilda pier, a famous landmark around here. The finest feature of the pier are the small penguins that live at the end, emerging from holes at dusk to fish and pose shyly for pictures. That a country could have Koalas, Kangaroos AND penguins seems a little unfair, but there is no one to complain to.

Easter weekend the four of us rented a car and took a spectacular camping trip back to (*gasp*) The Great Ocean Road. This deserves an entire blog entry though which I will proceed to write presently.

Centre Place
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Having truly and thoroughly worn out our welcome at Gary and Bojana's we plan on moving on to Sydney this coming Friday. If they continue though to ply us with delicious wine, lamb roasts and French crepes though we may reconsider and move in with them. They should consider themselves warned.