Thursday, August 19, 2010

Wish you were here...

I had a long-weekend in Melbourne last weekend, by myself, bit o' Independent Ms Kettle Time. My lordy it's a top city, shits all over Sydney (classy, eh).

Here are my top six Melbourne discoveries, made during my weekend sojourn:

1. Melbourne trams have absolutely no suspension. Gave me a new understanding of how my son experiences the ride when I plonk him in a shopping trolley.

2. People in Melbourne have some kind of magical waterproof covering. I saw not a single person with an umbrella during my stay, despite what felt to me like mid-scale torrential rain.

3. Owners of wine and cheese bars who let you sit inside and read your book when it's cold and raining and windy despite the fact they're officially closed are very good people indeed.

4. Calling a laneway or side street a 'hidden treasure' then referring to it in every tourist brochure and guidebook means it's not actually hidden.

5. Discovering a wacky vegetarian restaurant you've been looking for all long-weekend while you're on the tram on the way out of town is less useful than discovering said wacky vegetarian restaurant on the way in to town.

6. Having twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep is freakin' awesome regardless of the city you're in.

Ah holidays: better than real life any day.

10 comments:

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

despite what felt to me like mid-scale torrential rain

Really Kettle?

From what I recall, it was a pretty normal winter day.

Was everybody wearing black?

Oh and I'm glad you had a rockin' time!

Kettle said...

At one point on Brunswick St on Sunday afternoon, Ramon, in between the sunshine and sparkles there were all kinds of torrential things happening: first the deluge, then the gutter-based swiftly flowing stream. I had to fight the urge (fight it, I tell you) not to sing that cacky Crowded House song.

The highest concentration of black was at the Tim Burton exhibition. Those goths are way crazy for black and Tim Burton, eh.

I did indeed have a rockin' time; you characters have a fine city indeed. One of my highlights was eating veggie and lentil soup out of a styrofoam container and drinking a pint of Coopers (Green) late at night at Hell's Kitchen in Centre Place while reading Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven (or hell, whichever).

Unknown said...

The thing about Melbourne, Kettle, is that, despite the rain, it's actually much better in winter.
You can pretend you're in Paris - white sky, bare trees, wide streets, lovely buildings and all that black.
Melbourne in summer is just very hot, and very ordinary!

Kettle said...

Words and Wine you're the greatest romantic realist I've ever met.

Also, I'm down with Melbourne in summer. I went to the Australian Open once; that was pretty rad.

I get the feeling you're more of a coffee drinker than a beer drinker?

Unknown said...

absolutely!

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

You can pretend you're in Paris - white sky, bare trees, wide streets, lovely buildings and all that black.

And
we can be surly and rude!

Unknown said...

Trust me Ramon, it was a compliment! I love Paris in the winter!
See my blog post of September 24 last year - and it was an absolutley FOUL weekend in Melbourne - the day of the grand finals you will no doubt recall.

Kettle said...

We haven't progressed to surly and rude here in Sydney yet; we're still stuck on brash.

Catastrophe Waitress said...

Oh you lucky thing, you went to see the Tim Burton exhibition! I was perusing that via the interwebs recently with my boychild. We love his illustrations.

Kettle said...

The exhibition was great, except for all the people. There were way too many people. There was a veritable conga line going past some drawings at one stage.

People: they ruin all good exhibitions.