The tea with the fancy people

As I mentioned, I woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. I went back to the same cafe and brought my latest writing project. I like writing when I travel. For some reason I feel more productive. 

I walked to the Royal Botanic Garden. Yes, it's free. The most interesting thing about it was the birds. They have some real "I'll swallow your soul" energy. (Evil Dead 2 reference that probably only my brother will get.)

I think those were cockatoos. So pretty, so evil sounding. They had some other interesting birds. 

The landscape itself is really beautiful.

 This is the Yarra river.

I went back to the hotel where I had made reservations for their fancy high tea. Yes, I decided to do it. It was fancy. The tea was great but unfortunately, because I drank a lot of it without milk, it gave me a tummy ache.

There were also scones.

I laid low for the rest of the day, which is fine given I was sleep deprived and today I'm going on a lengthy tour to see animals and penguins (I know penguins are also animals, but they are a particular feature of the tour.) 

I hope to find out more information about why koalas always look stoned. 

So much for the sleep

I've been awake since about 2am. My current theory is that I didn't eat enough last night and that is why I only got about 4.5 hours.

But we're not there yet.

Have I mentioned that Australia is known for its coffee? The best coffee I ever had before now was in Bali. Maybe it's the same coffee, I don't know. It's freakin' good. I looked up the best coffee in Melbourne, looked for places nearby with food, and found myself at The League of Honest Coffee. On the 10 minute walk there, I passed probably eight other coffee places, some with lines, which are probably just as good. I got a ham and cheese croissant and a large cappuccino, which came to me in a small cereal bowl:

While we are talking about coffee shops, I have to say that I feel a little awkward in Australia. I think it's in part because they drive on the left side, but I get the impression I am always just a little bit off from the correct place to be. I feel in the way. A little later, I almost took out a child at the museum (don't worry, he lived.) I have a discomfort with the idea that I am drawing attention to myself, which has been with me since I was a child. I had said that, since this is the first place I have traveled to where English is the primary language, I would have less of a mental load of either speaking another language poorly, or more likely, knowing the people there were speaking English to accommodate me. That is still true, and I did still have a mental speed bump to get over acclimating to being in a new place, where I feel like I don't belong. 

I walked straight to Carlton Gardens and the Melbourne Museum. When I arrived I noticed busloads of schoolchildren approaching the entrance. I was assured they would be keeping to a particular section of the museum. That ended up not quite being the case, but I was not overcome by screaming hoards. 

It's a great museum, containing a great deal of information about the aboriginal people of Australia. 

They had a section for dinosaurs and insects:

After getting a snack, I returned to Laneway Street Art, which is a collection of streets and alleys. Two of the most famous are Hosier Lane and AC/DC Lane.

I just had to look up that AC/DC was Australian. I thought they were British.

I went to the Queen Victoria Night Market. I got there when it first opened, so it was not that crowded. There was a ton of food and interesting merchants. I almost got myself some earrings but the sellers were not able to tell me if there was any silver in them. I ate dumplings and a pork bun and went back to my hotel.

I used the hotel hair dryer and the hotel robe, like a grown up.

I read, drank wine, booked events for the next couple of days, and made plans with a friend of Tim's. 

It was a very good day followed by a less-good night of sleep. 

To be continued....

FREE!

Bobby the cab driver informed me that public transportation is free in Melbourne all of April (and it turns out, May too) to encourage people to use it more given higher gas prices in the wake of the war in Iran. I keep waiting for someone to hear my US accent and thank me, but alas, not yet. So far I have been walking everywhere. This is a very walkable city. It seems a shame to not take advantage of free trams. 

Speaking of which, last night I had a glass of the free wine they gave me in my hotel. 

It was ok. I'll continue to drink it. I have yet to use the free drink card they gave me to use in the hotel bar/restaurant, which is where I ate dinner Monday night. But I digress.

I was going to talk about Tuesday. 

If I had known it was going to be 70s everyday, I would have packed differently. 

Yesterday (Tuesday) I went to the cafe for coffee and breakfast and then hung out in my room until I met Melita at 12:30. Melita and I met some years ago at our mutual friends Stacey's home. Stacey has told me that Australians are very efficient and organized, but Melita and I had some contrary experiences. Still, it was a lovely day.

We went to a great Asian restaurant called Chin Chin (which was recommended in my guidebook) and then we walked to two NGV's (National Gallery of Victoria (there are three of them.)) Everything we saw was free. There are exhibits that charge, but we saw great art without paying. 

I have no idea what this is:

The first one, NVG International, had a gallery 13 which was impossible to find. Because one of the wings was closed we were told to go up, take a ramp, go to 20 and then 14 and then we'd find 13. Problem! The galleries were not numbered and none of the other gallery staff seemed to know where we wanted to go, or even, perhaps, that the galleries were numbered. Ok, we did not make it to 13, and if I'm being honest, I forgot why were were going there to be begin with. Still they had a Picasso and a Dali and this cool ceiling.

 

Then we walked to NGV Australia, in Federation Square, which is a gallery and performance space.

They had a great exhibit about motherhood. I might go back and spend more time there. 

It was great to spend time with Melita again! Thanks for showing me around!!!

I walked back to the hotel and passed some souvenirs shops (sorry Dad, no mug yet) and a yarn store. My friend Kelly had sent me a youtube video of a lovely, very talkative young woman reviewing Melbourne yarn stores. The biggest and closest one was on the way home. They had some great yarns but unfortunately (or maybe fortunate for my wallet) they didn't have enough skeins in the colors I liked to make a sweater. So I got this one lonely one which I will undoubtedly make an interesting hat with (after I am done with the current interesting hat... and the two sweaters.) 

So that was that. I read and knit and got room service like an adult.

I was in bed from 8pm to 7am. I am hoping my body has finally acclimated to the time change. There is a Queen Victoria Market here, which is kind of famous. I found out last night that for four weeks they have an Asian style night Market on Wednesdays. So I plan to go to that. I hope I can stay awake.

Fifth continent, longest flight

A friend of mine texted me while I was at SFO to ask how I was doing. My response was, "We're all down here, and then we're going to be up there." I am always somewhat incredulous that I am going to get in a big metal tube with a bunch of other people, like it's the thing to do. Everyone seems so calm, like it's normal. I freaked out a bit when they started looking for people to voluntarily take a later flight because the plane was too heavy (um... excuse me?) I popped some Ativan and boarded. It was one of the smoothest flights I have been on in years, which is great, because it was almost 16 hours long. 

I thought getting out of the airport was going to involve more human interaction. I was instructed to a kiosk to scan my passport and take my picture. Then I was instructed to leave, not wait on the long line that other people were waiting on, to talk to an airport official in a glass booth. Again, I was incredulous. I asked, "Don't I need to talk to someone, to ensure I'm not a criminal?" Apparently not. So I tried unsuccessfully to use the ATM, and then got a cab ride from a very friendly and informative cab driver named Bobby. 

I'm in Melbourne. Australia. Fifth continent.

My check-in time was 3pm. I got to the hotel before 10am so I was pleasantly surprised when I was informed they could get me in my room early. I am at the Hotel Windsor and it's exactly.... 

(I just got interrupted by a lovely woman who gave me a complimentary bottle of wine. )

... what it sounds like. It's old. It's pretty. It was not the most practical choice, nor was it too expensive.

I was excited by the high tea they have here everyday until I found out it's $89 Australian (almost $64 USD.) 

Well I had time to kill, I was hungry, and under-caffeinated. I got my first flat white at a cafe, along with a BLTA on focaccia. I walked around Fitzroy gardens.

I wandered into St. Patrick's Cathedral. They were having mass (go figure, it is Monday here.) I thought showing up in my adult self, I would relate to the content of the gospel more than I did when I was a child. NOPE! 

The church was pretty though.

I feel like I should not be in my hotel room right now. It's beautiful out- 70 and sunny. (I probably could have packed better.) I was kind of given an extra day because I got checked in so early, but I am also pretty tired. I didn't sleep on the flight so much as hallucinate through it (I don't know if benzodiazepine-induced hypnogogia is a thing, but I'm going to say it is.) I have been using this time in my hotel room to review the places I want to go, and write this blog. I am meeting up with a friend of a friend tomorrow, which will be lovely. At some point I will have to find dinner. I should NOT crack open that wine tonight.