Yarra Valley

Let it go
Kate, my fantastic host, took me on a day trip to the Yarra valley today. She rented a car from a car sharing club that she is a member of, and we drove off. Thanks god I did not have to drive 😉 I was just handling the map, and we pretty much made it […] Read More

‘Straya Day

Let it go
Happy ‘Straya Day! Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January, commemorating the day in 1788 when, after arriving a few days earlier in Botany Bay with a number of convicts, Arthur Philip proclaimed British sovereignty over the coast of south-eastern Australia, formerly known as New Holland.   226 years later and a few hundred kilometers […] Read More

Victoria Market

Let it go
I finally made it down to Queen Victoria Market. It’s the central market of Melbourne, just outside the CBD. First, I wasn’t impressed that much. I wandered through halls with lots of clothing, and the usual stuff aimed at tourists, Australia T-shirts, bags, scarfs, etc
 and I found two rows of vegetables and fruit
 but […] Read More

I’m through with you

Let it go
It happened. I walked through the first pair of shoes. I realize how much strain is being out on clothes if you wear the same stuff constantly. My t-shirts suffer, the jeans have holes (the very first pair was through in San Francisco already)… And now it’s time to say good-bye to these shoes.   Read More

Melbourne NOW

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The first day of rain in, like, evah! So I headed down to the National Gallery of Victoria south of the Yarra river. We had already seen a photography exhibition there, this time I was in for there permanent collection, which is free (!) to see some of their modern art, from Warhol to Rothko, […] Read More

Everything I know…

Let it go
…I learnt from Madonna! I went to a Midsumma event last night, a one-man show by a fellow Madonna fan, obviously, who wrote and acted in a play about his life, work, lovers, and told the story through a number of quotations taken from Madonna’s extensive song catalogue. It was funny, sad, touching
. The Queen […] Read More

Australian Open

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The Australian Open are on. You can’t ignore it, the advertising, the public viewing screens, the fans
 it’s a fun atmosphere. I sat on Federation Square at the public viewing a couple of times already, eating something and watching a couple of balls being played over the net. Tickets sold out fast, especially for the […] Read More

Tales of my city

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I woke up and checked my emails, I had one from my credit card, stating that Amazon had charged me with a purchase over night. What? I was asleep… Then it dawned on me: my download of the latest Tales of the city novel had arrived. I read the Tales in 2005 I think. A […] Read More

Patio drinks

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The weekend was alcohol infused, to say the least. Saturday night saw me drinking a couple of beers at the Laird’s back patio again. Sunday I met up with Rajiv and Will, the friend of Sven who was so generous to host us in our first 9 days in Melbourne. We went to The Railway […] Read More

Out of time

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After one final, ultra hot day – spent at the pool, but in the shade – with temperatures reaching an amazing 44 degrees, the evening has brought the long awaited cooling down. Within an hour, temperatures dropped by 15 degrees as predicted. I was expecting something more drastic, it sounded so dramatic – but temperatures […] Read More

Lentil as anything

Let it go
After another day at the Fitzroy pool, my new friend Kieran, a fellow swimmer, took me to the Abbotsford Convent, on the Yarra river, just a bit west of the centre of Melbourne. During the 19th and part of the 20th century, it was one of the largest convents in Victoria. Today, it is a […] Read More

St. Kilda beach sunset

Let it go
Blistering heat. I spent all day in the pool, unfortunately my shoulders are a bit red now
. In the evening, I met up with friends in St. Kilda at the beach, for beers, to watch the sunset over the bay and have dinner afterwards. St. Kilda is bustling at that time of day, everyone is […] Read More