Mecca

I have found Mecca, and it is in the suburbs. What am I talking about? Why, Target of course! OK, so Mecca it is not, but I definitely had to drive West. That has to count. By the way, it's really just like Mervyn's here. None of that really good waste $100 when you walk in the door type stuff. Disappointing.

Anyway, things I forgot to tell you! 1) Saturday night after driving the GOR, I went out with the Italians (Lorenzo and Luigi, from Tuscany and Verona, respectively) to a tapas bar in the CBD (Central Business District- saying downtown apparently marks you as a Yank- more on that later). These were not your regular tapas- more like expensive little dishes that you share. BUT, they were outstanding. I tried steak tartare! It was actually very good. We also had some kind of empanadas, which weren't really empanadas, but were also very good, some potato things, and oh yeah- tripe. Yikes. I swore I would never eat this, but if the Italians said it was good... it was OK. As long as I didn't look at it. Bleacchk. To top it all off we had spanish donuts (churros!) except they serve them with a cup of thick chocolate pudding that you dip into. By far the highlight of the evening.

OK, so the yank thing. We all know what Yank means. Apparently that it not enough for many Aussies, so they call us "seppos". Get this: seppo= septic tank= yank. Crikey! I'm about to be offended! What makes it slightly better is that they call Brits POMs, or Prisoners Of her Majesty's service. OK, that makes it a lot better.

Onto Sunday's activities. After leaving the office and missing the train by thismuch (seriously, almost touched it, but too late) I went into the CBD to explore Federation Square, this huge city block of buildings that went up in 2000-somethingorother to commemorate one hundred years of Australian Federation. It is the architectural love-it-or-hate-it of the city and chalk me up to the "love it" side. Lots of great textures and angles and great fun with the camera. It was also "Budda's Weekend" and there was a bunch of Chinese celebrating and cooking and lighting incense. Kind of neat to see something so old at a place so new!


OK, so after Federation Square I hopped back on the train and headed to Queen Victoria's market. Bad lighting, no photos. Anyway, it was a zoo, but it had everything! Farmer's market, deli stuff, clothes- not good ones, but they were there! Apparently the trick is to get there early in the morning, so I will probably try again.

Last thing. Melbourne Central Station comes out in a mall. I took a very quick look at the shops on the way back from the market, and lo and behold- Carhartt's. Except here, Carhartt's are not really work clothes, they are more like going out clothes. Hip even. Weird. I even took this photo to prove it, but it came out badly because I was a bit embarrassed about taking a photo of a shop window in a mall. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

OK, really last thing. The driving thing. I realize that I do not have the best passenger record, but I'm not so bad in the driver's seat! AND, after driving all over the coast this weekend, I definitely feel like a pro. The automatic helps. And it's a little car. So don't be worrying about me. As soon as I figure out where the heck I'm going I'll be dangerous.