Uniquely Melbourne

I picked up a Melbourne guide book over the weekend and found some very interesting things that they describe uniquely Melbourne...
Hook Turns 
Don`t be alarmed. Due to tramlines running down the middle of major city streets, there are some intersections where cars turning right must do so from the left, therefore minimizing congestion. There the vehicle remains until the traffic lights for the road it`s entering turn green, then it carefully finishes its manoeuvre. Hook turns are rare and not nearly as scary as they sound.

Coffee

There are some things taken seriously in this city and caffeine is one of them. Single-origin beans, syphon coffee makers and cupping evenings have all become part of the aficionado`s vernacular. 

Football 

Depending from where you hail, the word 'football' will conjure completely different games. In Melbourne though, it`s only one: Aussie Rules, a game invented to keep cricketers fitness levels up during the off-season. Fast and furious, the game is exciting to watch and the enthusiasm of the supporters is totally infectious. Everyone in Melbourne has a team and even when the football year finishes the newspapers are still filled with team news and gossip. 

And there you have it :) 

Everything Melbourne Has to Offer

Another weekend in Melbourne gone by, but an exciting adventurous one at that.

Friday night Jess and I headed to Lygon St., the Little Italy of Melbourne. After enjoying some hearty italian food (and free glass of wine) at Pasta Rustica we enjoyed some yummy crepes at Time Out Crepes.

 The free cotton candy had us acting like we were 10 again.

Saturday, we took the streets of Melbourne to explore more of what it had to offer. One of my favourite places that I have come to love in Melbourne is Federation Square.

Every time you step out of the train station there is always something new and exciting happening. Everything from street acts performing to the biggest athletes homecomings, all happen in Fed Square, the 'town centre' of Melbourne. On Saturday we came across a fundraising event in the square called 'The Fashion Fund'. There was a shopping tent set-up with second hand clothing items and all the proceeds from the the sale went to charities for homeless youth. Shopping for a cause, no better way to start a Saturday!

After our brief shopping stop we explored St.Pauls Cathedral, the State Library of Victoria and the Carlton Gardens. 

The grandiose interior

The beautiful stain glass windows

The museum that is the library. 

The beautiful LaTrobe reading room. 

Ned Kelly`s armour (a piece of Melbourne history) 

A wonderful day for a walk in Carlton Gardens. 

 Then it was off to Carlton to savour what claimed to be Melbourne`s best vanilla slice.

That it was!

Sunday it was back into the city to see what other hidden treasures we could find. 

I got to watch the clock hitting the hour at Melbourne Central. 

Then did some walking around the RMIT campus. 

 We then took on another culinary adventure and enjoyed some dumplings in Chinatown.

Look Mom...Chopsticks!

And that ended a very jam packed adventurous weekend. Now the countdown to the next begins!

Australian TV

I saw this commercial on tv for the first time this week and it has to be one of my favourites of all time

The Weeks Keep Flying By

Well another busy weekend over with, sadly. 
This weekend I got to learn a bit more about Melbourne on a walking tour that I did on Saturday. It was really neat to hear about some of the history and meaning behind the landmarks I so commonly walk past. I got to see some new things as well that I hadn`t been to before, such as the Melbourne Jail and the Exhibition Centre. Here are a few pictures from the tour: 

The Banks of the Yarra 

Exploring some Melbourne street art

The old Melbourne jail

The Exhibition Centre

The fountain infront of the Exhibition Centre

Saturday night we met some friends at a classic Carlton pub called the Great Northern Hotel, to watch Carlton face the West Coast Eagles in a final prelim game. Unfortunately some bad umpire calls led us to a 3 point loss (which in footy is as close as you can get). When I started off on this Aussie rules football adventure, randomly (yet strategically) picking to follow Carlton, did I know how fabulous of an adventure it would be. I couldn`t have asked for a better team and be more proud to scream go Blues go. I am and forever will be a Carlton Football Club fan! Great, yet sad, end to the season. And the only way to finish it was to party it out in style. So after watching the game we headed to Brunswick St. to explore some of the bars. 


The first bar was hosting a Beatles cover band which was a ton of fun to rock out to. 

The second bar had some of the best oldie hits from the 60`s, 70`s and 80`s. 
Finally, we landed upon a bar hosting one of the best contemporary jazz bands I have heard! 

We finished the night off with some slouvaki. 

The sun was out and shining all weekend in Melbourne which made it another great one. I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by, waving goodbye to another weekend. 

1 Beer, 2 Beer, a whole lot of Beer

This past Saturday I attended my first Australian house party, although I don`t know how Australian you would call it as the theme was German Octoberfest. It boasted lots of beer, German food, traditional German music and some fabulous costumes! It was a big day and evening full of drinking and fun!

Sunday the weekend of day drinking continued. Round 1 of footy playoffs had begun and my team Carlton was playing there rivals Essendon. It was labelled one of the most anticipated matches of the series. A crowd of 30 000 packed into the MCG to watch Carlton thrash Essendon to a score of 149 to 87.

We celebrated the great win with the traditional Carlton Song:

This ended the weekend of beer and the start of another work week!

What Australia should really be known for...

Possums... the racoons of Australia. 

Possums run ramped here in Australia. Especially here in my new home I can hear the pitterpatter of there little feet on my roof all night long. Possums should really be the national animal of Australia.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has finally sprung in Melbourne and the weather is definetley getting nicer. This prompted a lot of walks this weekend to take in the nice weather.

Saturday afternoon I headed out with 2 fellow au pairs to enjoy some drinks to celebrate the nice weather. Once the sun set it was time to head to the footy for one final Carlton game of the regular season.

Unfortunately they couldn`t muster up enough to beat St.Kilda, but my hope is that they`re saving the real game for next week when they play there first playoff game vs. Essendon.

Ps. Happy Australian Fathers Day (yes it`s a different day worldwide)

Australian Food

After being here for 7 months, I thought it was time to discuss some food discoveries here in Australia. As much as nearly everything is the same here, there are some new discoveries I have made.

Vegemite
Now this is an Australian stereotype, but one that all kids eat here. I have had a chance to try it and to be honest it`s not as horrible as expected. It`s just a very salty tasting type of spread.


Tim Tams
Tim Tams are another Australian stereotype, but they are oh so delicious! They are like a combination between a choclate bar and a cookie. Yummmm


Bananas
Clearly bananas are nothing new here, but the price of them are! Back home they are one of the cheapest fruits you can buy at the supermarket. Here they pay around $14/kilo.

Avocado
If I were to have seen an avocado back home I would have looked at it in sheer terror. Here avocado is on everything and I love it! Sandwiches, sushi, salads... all are delicious with some avocado!

Jerky 
Now we all know the typical beef jerky found in the neighbourhood supermarkets, but here they have everything from crocodile, kangaroo and even emu jerky. Now I don`t want to make to many stereotypes and make it sound like everyone eats this stuff, but it can be found in stores!!

Fast Food 
Australia has a number of the same fast-food restaurants as we have back including McDonalds, KFC and Subway. You also cannot forget Burger King which is called Hungry Jacks here. However one fast food restaurant that I have fallen addicted to here is Nando`s, which has some very delicious chicken and very delicious pitas combined into one.