(December 6-12, 2009)
To sum up our amazing week in Melbourne is impossible. It was beyond words, as many blessings on our journey have been, but Melbourne particularly won our hearts. It’s been compared by heaps of people to our Vancouver. Straight from our Lonely Planet guidebook, the great intro to Melbourne I read (and was proven to be true):
“Sophisticated and slick, edgy and rough, Melbourne’s physical and cultural landscape is shaped by a dynamic population, ever ravenous for a bite of global culture. The result is Aussi’s most accessible multiculturalism. Ornate Victorian-era architecture and leafy, established boulevards reflect the city’s history and cutting-edge developments…character filled neighborhoods, such as Fitzroy, St. Kilda, and Carlton (where we stayed!) hum with life and the city produces some of the best art, music, cuisine (yes, we can attest to this!), fashion (shopping was much too tempting), performance, design and ideas in the world (p. 474, LP)”.
And even better than all these traits in 1 city is the beautiful people we reconnected with and met! I had played in a band with Jesse McArthy back at home, in Lethbridge, with church. He has been going to uni down here for the past 3 years, and we had planned to reconnect. You know, something that’s easily said but not-so-easily done? We were greeted & treated with incredible hospitality. The timing was impeccable. He was finished uni for the year, and had all week (with our buddy Alex) to play tour-guide. And Rachel Lee! Where do we begin? Jesse’s girlfriend is a gem- hilarious, creative, lover of bunnies, generous, warm, story teller- extraordinaire, and all ‘round beautiful person. Since her 3 sisters had flown back to Singapore for the holidays, she let us stay in her gorgeous ‘New York-style’ loft apartment for the entire week! It couldn’t have been better, the accommodation and the company! We were near the Uni of Melbourne (which makes you feel like you’re in a Harry Potter novel and entices us to want to further our education, dreaming of attending a school so beautiful as this)! Also near the CBD (Central Business District), Victoria Markets, Carlton, and well- just heaps of brilliant parks (our favorite was the Botanical Gardens), cafes, shopping and entertainment. Melbourners know how to do their coffee! And the massive coffee culture here had us drinking up to 3 latte’s a day on occasion. Britt decided to try out as many coffee shops as possible one day, and with Alex’s help scoped out some of Melbourne’s best cafes. The lovely thing about some of these special places is that they were often hidden, off the beaten city path, often with no signage whatsoever. So I can’t even tell you the secret to who serves the best coffee, because I don’t remember reading a business name, but we could walk you down the hidden back alley near the Uni where it lies…and explore the coffee plants, bicycles, incredible interior design & ambience, friendly staff and perfect latte (see photo). Blissful!
Saturday we had a very important meeting with Rachel in the CBD at … Lu Lu Lemon Athletica! We took her shopping Canadian-style. We were ecstatic when we discovered LuLu in our exploration of Melbourne! It felt like home walking into the Canadian company’s retail paradise with inspirational quotes & colours that brightened our world! And- cheers to you Rach, I will tell everyone about our spastic move to walk 2 full city blocks with lulu lemon shorts on our heads. Oh the good times!
We took the last day in Melbourne to drive down to St. Kilda with Alex. We enjoyed the perfectly maintained boardwalks, and walked out onto the jetty to see penguins- for free this time! Thank you Jesse, Rachel, and Alex for your incredible hospitality! And this note is to the lovely Drew Gordon & Trudy Brentnall: Please forgive us for not calling or stopping by when we were near Melbourne! Although you were so obviously expecting us with a full fridge, planned itinerary, and 3 gorgeous eligible Aussi millionaires… we do hope you will find it in your heart to let us onto your property when we come calling again next year! (We’re so glad we got to meet you at Christmas time in Adelaide- you’re both wonderful people!
ps. Sorry we have been such slackers with the blog! We've had a busy holiday season here in Oz, and quite honestly have been having too much fun to sit behind computers as much as usual :-). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! xoxo d.
No comments:
Post a Comment