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Published: November 24th 2010
Our Bed & Breakfast in Melbourne is a quaint old building built around 1850. It used to be a bakery, and the brick ovens have been preserved as part of the decor in the breakfast (breaky) room. There are 4 guest rooms, each with its own private bathroom (but across or down the hall from the bedroom). The room we booked was quite small, with just enough room to walk around the bed. Great for a day or two, but we will be here 5 nights and started debating the pros and cons of moving to another location. After a wonderful breakfast, however, and lively discussions with our host, Paul, and a couple visiting from Scotland, we thought the charm and character of the place combined with the opportunity to meet other travellers would outweigh not having a kitchen or laundry.
So, off we went to Victoria Market for some Sunday shopping. What an amazing place! It's hard to adequately describe the vibrancy and look of the market. There is a very large, covered section where vendors sell everything from cheap toys to expensive Australian opals, from souvenirs to leather goods, socks and T-shirts to Ugg boots and slippers. Then
there are produce vendors that fill another section, with hundreds of people walking the asphalt "aisles" with their little shopping totes. Another building houses several meat, deli, cheese and bakery vendors--many shouting out their specials of the day. The caccophany of sound from hawkers, hundreds of people talking, babies crying, traffic--it's crazy! We purchased some deli meat, a freshly-baked loaf of bread and some apples for our lunches and went back to the B&B. When we got back to our room we found a note from Paul that he had taken the liberty of moving our things to a larger room that had become available because of a cancellation. Personally, I think he couldn't fathom how we would manage in the small room with all our belongings for such an extended stay. But the end result of his kindness is that we now have a large room with a king bed, a desk, 2 armoires and an armchair plus plenty of space to move around in.
One of Mike's colleagues on the Australian Space committee had graciously invited us to their home for BBQ. We drove out to the suburb of Glen Ivy to Peter and Janet's house. Leaving
Produce Section
Victoria Marketdowntown Melbourne there were road signs indicating we were going on a toll road, so we quickly rounded up some coins and Australian dollars to have on hand. Never saw a toll booth or any indication of cost or payment requirements--back the money went into our wallets. Peter and Janet have a lovely art-deco home, and they had recently built a patio deck in their back yard--complete with a large flat-screen TV (they said it was for the kids, who are both out of University). The weather was sunny and warm, and we enjoyed a fabulous BBQ of lamb, chicken and sausage. Janet fixed 3 salads--potato, cole slaw and mixed green--and 3 desserts! We had a great time talking with them and playing with their dogs, too (Miki, we miss you!). Janet and Maureen found a lot of similarities in their respective husbands and shared lots of stories. But, it was all-too-soon time to leave them and head back into the city.
We didn't think we'd need dinner after such a large lunch, but our now-growing stomachs had their own ideas. So, we took a long walk down to Docklands/New Quay district and wandered along the waterfront before settling
Seafood Vendor
Victoria Market on a late dinner at a Szechuan restaurant. That meal was really, really good, too! Then a long walk back to our lodgings, arriving at nearly 11 p.m.--hey, that's late for us!
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