I have to say that this weekend is off to a pretty great start. On Friday, Ben finished work a little early so we headed out for happy hour. We live right near the river where there are a lot of restaurants that are connected to the Crown Promenade and Casino. As far as we’ve tried, they’re all pretty great and we intend to make our way to every one. However, the drinks are VERY pricey! Most have happy hour deals listed though, so we started off there. Then we moved on to Ponyfish which is a bar built directly under one of the bridges, sitting on the Yarra River.
At Ponyfish, we had a few more drinks and chatted up with a couple of guys who were in town for business from Canberra – the capital of Australia. They taught us some of the differences between Union Footy and League Footy a well as some good spots along the coast to visit. Afterwards, Ben and I were in need of something to soak up our drinks so we ended up at a sort of fast food chain called Pie Face. They make all types of savory pies in individual sizes. The steak pies were a perfect post-happy hour pairing.
Ben continued the indulgence by stopping at a cafe and getting a doughnut while I bought a second steak pie. No judgement! We got back to the apartment and laughed about the fact that we still managed to be in bed by 11pm. I’m sure others were just starting their nights – we are definitely old!
Saturday morning we got up and headed to South Melbourne Market. We’ve been a couple times now. It’s less than a mile walk from our apartment and sort of like a built in farmer’s market that’s open 4 days per week. Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs have several of these types of markets – another great one a mile in the other direction is Queen Victoria Market (more about that one another time).
Anyone who has come to visit us in SF knows how much I love farmer’s markets. So of course I’m over the moon that I get to do most of our grocery shopping here. There are different vendor stalls both inside and outside for fresh produce, meat, seafood, bread, and even things like housewares, random gifts and clothes. We picked up some groceries, I tossed back a couple of fresh shucked oysters – SOOOO TASTY – and I even bought a rolling grocery bag for future trips since we have no car and are embracing the pedestrian lifestyle.
The weather continued to be nice and warm so I convinced Ben to head out to St. Kilda Beach. I have been dying to get out to the ocean and didn’t care if it was still a little too cold to lay out or get into the water. In my opinion, it’s just great to be at the beach and take in the scenery. Apparently we were not the only ones who had this idea but I managed to get some pictures sans people and it was almost warm enough to make it feel like we should have summer wear on. The water is very clear and I’m looking forward to summer!
St. Kilda Beach is a little like Santa Cruz or the beaches in the Northeast back in the states. There’s a boardwalk that runs along the sand with some nice cafes/restaurants and Luna Park which is a small amusement park with rides and carnival games. We didn’t go into the park but instead walked along the beach and a couple of the piers. In the rocks, we even got a peak at a penguin!… and a water rat but that was not cute.
Now we’re just resting at home until it’s time to head out for footy!
Thanks for the updates and especially the pics. I am enjoying reading about your adjustment and a different culture.