Mary hasn’t seen her very close Australian friends at Christmas in more than 10 years, so this was a special occasion.
We woke up in Melbourne on Christmas Eve, in a Quest apartment that Ashley, Mary’s niece, arranged for us. Very nice and clean, though very plain, but drinkable water right out of the tap was a great treat to us.
After a cup of coffee from the corner, we were ready for the day. We met Ashley and Taylan on the street, where we were introduced to their one-year-old German wire-haired pointer, Otto. Fortunately we had the foresight to buy some treats in advance. He and Mary bonded immediately.
He is a dynamo! We spent the next hour or so following Otto around a really interesting park in the neighborhood, as he played Fetch with Taylan, flying after the ball, hunting through undergrowth for it. Wish we had a quarter of his energy.
Later, the five of us went to a local cafe for brunch (tired Otto laid down next to our outdoor table). Melbourne has developed a real cafe society. “Avocado mash” is de rigueur. It’s the thing to do on weekends, to have a late-morning meal like this, but it simply must be at the most over-the-top, “chefie” spot in the area. Ashley tells us that the plain cafes are simply empty, while ones with imaginative menus and great presentation are crowded. It’s actually become an item that politicians talk about: “If these young people only saved their money to buy houses instead of wasting it on avocado mash . . .”
Later we went to Ashley and Taylan’s for dinner, and exchanged Christmas gifts. Ashley has become a really good cook, and made us a lovely dinner using vegetables from her garden, including beetroot (“beet” to us Americans) tart and a salad. All washed down with champagne and a well balanced Rhine wine.
Christmas Day
In the morning we made a quick stop at the memorial garden, and Mary left flowers on her parents’ and sister’s grave sites.
At about 1:00 PM we arrived at Helen and Andy’s home in the suburbs of Melbourne, and the partying began. Multiple choruses of “And Yes This is Christmas” and multiple rounds of “champers” followed. I presented a portrait I painted of the two of them:
At this time I also went aside a little, logged onto their WiFi router, and used WhatsApp to call home to Milena and Rob, who had just finished dinner and were ready to exchange gifts (It was Christmas Eve back home in Brooklyn). I am still impressed with the ability to do that so easily. It was just so great to hear Milena’s voice.
The 26th
Mary calls it Boxing Day, though I still stick with St. Stephen’s for obvious reasons. This is the big shopping day for Australians, so we thought Victoria Market would be open. Well, it wasn’t, so I’m afraid I had everyone go there on my account. I just loved my last visit there, and thought lunch there would be fun. It wasn’t. The place was totally empty.
Luckily Ashley and Taylan knew another place, a well-known cafe, a real trend-setter in downtown Melbourne called Higher Ground. Of course we that did the fancy, avocado mash thing. Absolutely top-notch. Mary and I had an egg and avocado thing on “multi-seed crispbreads.” Think peanut brittle, but without anything sweet, and not peanuts, but every other kind of seed you can think of. Toasted, delicate, tasty. I’m going to have to figure out how to make those at home!
We took a walk along the Yarra river, which bisects the city. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny but not too warm. We ended our walk at the National Gallery Victoria, or NGV, which is currently hosting their Triennial. It consists of mostly activist art, much of it focusing on the plight of refugees. This is where I spent most of the afternoon, though I peeked in on other exhibits. They have a wonderful Rothko, the most optimistic one I’ve ever seen.
And finished the evening at Koko, an upscale Japanese restaurant with the freshest sashimi imaginable.
Tomorrow, flying to Auckland. Stay tuned!