So, picking up where we left off, I'd just arrived in Melbourne, right? Well, I've completely lost my sense of time here because every time a friendly Aussie (pronouced "ozzie," for those who didn't already know) asks me how long I've been in Australia, I have to sit there silently doing the math in my head, which for me, most of you know, can take a while. Anyway... hang on, gotta figure out the math... yeah, I've been here in Melbourne now for exactly two weeks, fourteen days, a fortnight, quinze jours, however you want to call it in whatever language or country you're in. My first few days here went by really fast and were spent basically being adopted by the NICEST "Brady Bunch in real life" family. I came to Melbourne with my dad to attend his friend's wedding. The friend's name is Richard, his bride's name is Geraldine, their family is called the Negris, and they're all SUPER-frickin' nice. There's absolutely no other way to put it, their niceness automatically comes with an expletive.
Anyway, Richard went out of his way to welcome my dad and me, and his whole family was falling over themselves to do whatever they could to make our stay great. The day after the wedding (which was great, by the way - the chaplain was Richard's old school chaplain who he'd had to track down and ask to perform the ceremony, which was held in the chapel of Richard's old school, Melbourne Grammar, which is like the Eton of Melbourne, so I've been told. Also, I've decided that I want the same kind of reception they had, which was great! Very laid-back, but I won't tell you what it was like so that whenever it happens, it can be a surprise for you all...
Okay, back to the story. After the wedding weekend, my dad left Melbourne for Tokyo and I moved my stuff over to my (American) friend Andrea's apartment. Mind you, I had only met Richard the day before the wedding and Geraldine AFTER the wedding, so it wasn't like we were best friends before I got to Melbourne. But, the Negris invited Andrea and I over to their house for a Sunday dinner/post-wedding BBQ and that's when we really discovered that the Negris are super-FRICKIN' nice. One brother offered to help Andrea go car-shopping, his wife told Andrea that she now has family in Melbourne since hers is so far away, one sister couldn't stop telling me how glad they were that my dad and I had come to the wedding, etc. Anyway, Andrea and I were shocked at how nice they all were and how well they got along, and even the little cousins (ages 4, 5, 6) never fought once the entire weekend. No, I don't know what planet they come from or how we can visit it.
During these last couple of weeks, I've enjoyed the lovely sights that Melbourne has to offer. If sydney is L.A., then Melbourne is San Francisco. There's a great outdoor café culture here, lots of stylishly dressed people, lots of good restaurants ("restos" from here on in, I'm too lazy to type out the whole word), and it's a very walkable city.
In the interest of expediency, here's a summary of what I've done so far:
- Visited the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail), Melbourne's most haunted building - at night -- this was somewhat spooky considering there were all these empty, unlit solitary confinement cells on the ground floor and at one point I had to squeeze in next to another lady so that I could have my back against the wall and not before one of the open cell doors, a tempting target for a ghost!
- Eaten my way through Little Italy (where Andrea'a apartment is) -- there is an amazing Italian coffee/pastry café called Brunetti near Andrea's apt., which is both a good thing and a bad thing for obvious reasons; and an amazing vegetarian resto literally across the street from aforementioned amazing coffee/pastry café, again, both good and bad for obvious reasons.
- Gotten several blisters - blood and all - on my feet from walking around the city (I've officially regained my gross traveller's feet, in case you were wondering, which, although, not very attractive, makes me feel like Í'm a rough-and-tumbling traveller! Also, compared to some of the seriously scary hooves I've seen on other backpackers, my feet practically look freshly pedicured!).
- Saw 'Ocean's Twelve' at the Royal Botanic Gardens -- this was so cool because it was like a drive-in without the drive. You go to one of the lawns in the gardens where a HUGE screen has been set up. You can picnic before the movie starts, put down blankets and rent bean-bag chairs for the movie, and then watch the movie outdoors. Plus, there were companies there trying to promote their stuff, so we got free popcorn and Bailey's Irish Cream drinks. There were bats flying around the screen, but I didn't realize that at first. I thought they were just birds, but then Andrea was kind enough to point out that they were, in fact, bats. Amazingly, i was not too creeped out. They weren't low-flying rats, but rather high-flying rattish things, so it was okay. Actually, pigeons are much worse and much more detestable. P.S. I liked the movie and Brad Pitt is still beautiful.
- Driven part of the Melbourne Grand Prix track -- not in a Formula One car, but it was still cool to go through the Start/Finish line, even though I was just a passenger.
- Had afternoon tea at The Windsor Hotel -- the food has been amazing all over Australia, but I have to say this was one of the few disappointments. It was good, but the scones here are more like American biscuits and the cream wasn't really clotted cream, but more like whipped cream. I have to admit, I missed the packaged scones from Franprix, my Paris grocery store.
Noguchi out. ;) (p.s. this is a lame "American Idol" reference for those who don't get it.)
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