National Gallery of Victoria, Palace Theater, The Prince of Whales, Degraves St. & Cathedral Arcade.

Recently I went to see an Art Deco Exhibition at the Nation Gallery of Victoria.  This was first time I had been inside the museum even though I live practically next door.... its a beautiful space, I went on a wednesday night, which is their "after dark" and student night. I had a great time with the girls and seeing all the extraordinary design from the 1920s.

 You weren't permitted to take pictures inside, but of course I couldn't

 resist ;)

Last weekend I went to see a band, PNAU, at the Palace Theater in the city.  The venue was amazing and the show was really good, so incredibly loud that my ears were ringing a solid 24 hours afterward. 

The ceiling and balconies in the Palace, the disco ball is gigantic. 

Last evening I went to a show at The Prince of Whales which is a venue in St. Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, by the water.  The show was really fun, we saw Ladyhawke and Van She, I really liked how they had DJs mixing before, in between the bands, and after the sets, keeps the party going :) Jacqui and Liz came over to my apartment before the show, my first visitors except for Neal and Pete... we had a great time.   

Another cool spot that I have been frequenting is Degraves Street and the Cathedral Arcades, which are right by Flinders Street Station but easy to overlook.  

As you can see I have been busy and am already more familiar with the city than most of my coworkers, haha. 

My view from 22nd floor Southbank...

You can see half of a white, arched pedestrian bridge crossing the Yarra River near the bottom of the shot... and just beyond the CBD.

Pete showing me around town...

My good friend Peter stayed with me for 10 days, it was the end of his 6 month studying/working vacation.  He came to Melbourne for a semester at La Trobe University and an internship... then went to Barcelona for a skateboarding holiday and stopped back in Melbourne on his way home.   It was so great to see a familiar face and to be introduced to the buddies he had made here.   The strange thing about having a friend around was that it really made me miss Neal, my friends and family so much more...  

Pete and I really enjoyed showing each other the restaurants and spots we had found around the city.  My favorite of the new spots is a bar called Carlton Club which is just a short walk from my place.   I can't wait until my next visitors :) Check out the new photos, link on upper right.

 

My favorite iChat Buddy.

Every night before I go to bed I iChat with my sister, Nancy, and baby niece, Jillian, while they are having their breakfast in Maryland.  Tonight I took snapshots while chatting and I just have to share them.  
After breakfast Jillian gets a quick rinse in the kitchen sink.

And you can see me in the corner, the proud Auntie.

Keeping Busy...

I've been doing so good filling up my schedule that I haven't posted in two weeks!  The picture above is the roof top patio at Bimbo Deluxe, a cool bar and restaurant, where tonight we celebrated one of my engineerings buddies roommates birthday... it was a great spot, M-Th they have $4 gourmet pizzas!  I've been staying quite busy with work, bikram yoga, and socializing.  Friday night I went to dinner and a movie with a super sweet couple, Jacqui and Alistair.  Saturday night I was dinning alone at my favorite Italian restaurant and I was about to head home for a quiet evening when I started chatting with a nice guy who was in town from Brisbane for the evening... keeping up with the Australian hospitality he invited me out for a drink and we ending up going to a few bars and having lots of great conversation.   Sunday I went to yoga, did my grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning... but even that was a bit different in Melbourne... my furnished apartment didn't come with a vacuum cleaner so I asked my apartment if I could hire one (no one says "rent" here) and the concierge on duty said he could lend me one... check it out:

I was laughing so hard at myself while wearing the vacuum I had to take a pic.  

Friends!!!

Saturday I went to a really fun 21st, 50s themed, birthday party.  My bosses daughter, Liz, has so kindly included me in her group of girlfriends, thank you!!!  I just got back from dinner with them tonight as well, they are a great group of ladies and know all the local hot spots.  Besides the much needed social activity, I also found a secret sale this weekend!  I was looking for a mid-length black coat, for all that damn wind, at the big Australian department store Myer's.  I had narrowed it down to two coats... debated with myself for a good 20 minutes, made my choice and feeling pretty good about the $100 marked down from $180 purchase.... then the cashier says, $10.  I was on cloud nine as he explain that today only, not advertised, any Miss Shop or Tokito previously marked down items were $10!!!  So, of course, like any good shopper I continued to look at ever other item included in the sale and made four other smart choices.  I ended up with two jackets, two dresses, and a sweater for half the price I was originally prepared to spend.   What a sweet weekend.  

Gale Force Winds

Things are going great. I am slowly making some Australian friends, I am trying not to come on too strong but it's hard cause I have none... so any potentials are being hit with full force Marilyn, hopefully I don't scare them off.

I have been learning a lot at work and thankfully all my coworkers have been very welcoming and patient in teaching me how system control theory can be applied to irrigation water management, Rubicon calls it Total Canal Control, TCC.

Today was by far my coldest day in Melbourne so far... not because of the actual temperature but because of the Gale Force Winds. (The National Weather Service defines a gale as 39 to 54 mph of sustained surface winds). I was listening to the radio while getting ready to leave for work this morning and there was a severe weather warning due to Gale Force Winds, and I thought, hmmm... I wonder what that means... I knew windy, but how windy? I soon found out that Gale Force Winds can actually push you along or stop you in your tracks. Wow, weather! Something new for a native Arizonian.

The wind won the war... my MJ umbrella is officially toast.