a few of the last days i have felt completely exhausted and have been forcing myself to just get out of the house. i feel like i've been fighting something off. today i do feel like i have more energy though. thankful for that.
narelle dragged me along to a friends birthday party which was entertaining. it had a burlesque theme and everyone was dressed-up so i felt a little out of place. the highlight of the night was the two professional burlesque dancers performing.
i went to see up in the air at a really old local theatre. it felt like i was sitting in a great hall. the seats had obviously been updated but the space and proportions had obviously not. very cool. the movie was well acted and directed. realistic. you know what that means...no fake happy ending. :( i used to enjoy a good unhappy ending but don't have a lot of patience for it any more unless it is based on a true story (which this may have loosely been, who knows).
i have also made it back into melbourne two more times on my own. the most recent exploration of the city was yesterday. i meandered through the area called fitzroy. a neat couple of streets. it is a cross between (another vancouver reference here) 4th avenue and commercial drive. i went just after lunch and it felt kinda dead. apparently it picks up evenings and weekends. it was nice to walk through but a return visit isn't warranted. i came across st. pat's cathedral. pretty impressive inside and out. please disregard the lamp post. ha
i finally had my australian mcdonalds yesterday - for comparison purposes only of course. i should point out that i've already been here for over two weeks. how is that for self control?
fries get top marks. mcchicken was very good as well. however the chicken tasted more like a chicken select strip than a chicken mcnugget. definitely healthier but missed a little of that deep-fried flavour i have come to expect and love. i thought of my summer beach buddies: peter, pedro and steve (there were others too but these guys were the regulars). we only had time to run to mcds between beach vball games for food. (or that was my excuse) good times. nah, almost the best times! i'm glad roel got to experience a beach vball weekend in van.
day before yesterday i spent walking down chapel street which i was told is the gay area. it was more an upscale shopping street with a lot of restaurants. it was a pretty dead area too. i was thoroughly bored so i went a few neighboorhoods over to explore and found a fantastic network of lanes and streets with old houses and mini-parks. i then walked downtown by the australian open grounds on my way to a musem. however when i passed by federation square (a very large common area downtown) i noticed a large gathering of people. i went to check it out and they were all watching the australian open on a huge screen. oowee!! i settled along the perimeter and watched along. i slowly weasled my way further into the crowd as people left until i got a great spot on some fake grass/turf. i ended up falling asleep for over half an hour! after i woke up i made my way home.
crowd watching federer play on big screen at fed square, downtown. i fell asleep just under that tree on the left.
greg took me for about a four hour drive through the yarra range. beautiful wine country. there were a number of smaller farms as well. every 15 mins or so the road would pass through a town centre. you know the type..the man thru road with one grocery store, bakery, butcher and a couple of cafes. very quaint. between these small towns were older style houses with large yards, farmland and vineyards.
it was a great drive. we even stopped for a classic aussie pasty for lunch. it is a meat pie in the shape of a calazone. later on we also stopped for a pint of brilliant cider on tap. oh and we drove by the area where they filmed the bulk of the movie where the wild things are. i STILL am dying to see this one but haven't had an opportunity yet. i must see it on a big screen.
do you see the wild things?
umm that's all i can think of right now. i think i'm going to a get grounds pass tomorrow for the open. i think it's my best day to try to see good players play decent players on the lesser courts i can afford. wish me luck! the only problem is the forecast. 36 and sunny with being outside all day could get a little much seeing as though you just bake in those stands.
all for now. ciao!
making good use of your time. very interesting. feeling better today? and did you get to the open?
ReplyDeleteyes feeling better, thanks. :) have you both managed to stay healthy so far?
ReplyDelete