February 2010 Newsletter

Tuesday, 2nd February, 2010

The has year started really well for me, Bruce and I were in Melbourne to catch up with friends and then when he flew home my Mother arrived from Cairns and in what has become a tradition for us we spent an enjoyable few days at the Australian Open.

In between the tennis we were lucky enough to catch the “Til You Drop Shopping” exhibition at the Victoria State Library. What fun for the both us, we had both worked at Myers early in our lives and enjoyed the old photos and shopping memorabilia from both our eras. The display featured photos from Collins Street and brought back memories to me of when I worked for Thomas Cook at what is called the Paris end of Collins Street and spending my lunch hours strolling through the then “it” store Georges looking at all the things that I couldn’t afford but could dream of. The exhibition boundaries extended out to areas such as Prahran, which is still a great shopping destination today. If you are in Melbourne do try and catch the presentation, it is free and there are free tours, talks and other activities see www.slv.vic.gov.au/goto/tillyudrop

 

One night we took a break from the tennis and saw the stage show Jersey Boys, one word of warning I had booked over the internet and of course done it in a hurry and had not read the details before pushing the buy button, yes you have guessed it I booked for February not January. I was devastated when I went to the box office and was told it was fully booked. Now in a brilliant piece of customer service I was lucky enough to find Josh to help me. He made some phone calls and without making a fuss arranged for us to sit on two chairs at the rear of the theatre. Josh is the type of person you want to meet every day in every shop, in every hotel or airport; he saw the problem, fixed it and did not make me feel a fool, well done Josh.
Of course we loved the show and the music and again if you are in Melbourne do try and see it. http://www.jerseyboysaustralia.com.au/

 

One of our treats when we go to the tennis is to pick up fresh oysters at the Victoria Market and wash down with a little of our favourite Sauvignon Blanc. We can never resist a little cheese, some fresh fruit or just a wander around at the markets to look at the fish, meat fruit and veg or the flowers. If you are in the city grab the free City Circle tram and get off at the corner of Latrobe and Elizabeth Streets and walk north to the markets.  These days so many things have been added to the markets, guided foodie tours where you get to sample gourmet treat, in the summer there are the Wednesday night markets and cooking classes. You don’t have to be a five star chef to appreciate the markets and I just love the mix of cultures and their specialities. Check out   http://www.qvm.com.au/ for opening hours and details of tours and classes

 

Whilst all these things were great fun, nothing could match up to the Christening of baby Angus on our last Sunday. Angus’s Mother Caroline and her three brothers were our neighbours when they were growing up and are very special to my family so it was lovely to be there when she and her husband Nick had baby Angus baptised. You can see from the photos he will be breaking all the girls’ heart with his lovely smile and easy going nature.

 

Finally of course the tennis we saw some impressive games, including the Aussie girls Sam Stosur and Casey Dellacqua win their games but missed Alicia Mollick. We saw Leighton Hewitt, Andy Murray and as you can see we also saw Venus Williams play, I loved the outfit. Federer and my favourite Nadal winning I was so sad to see him pull out later with injury. I just had to have a photo of Nadal’s two supporters, the bull and the matador; they allowed me to take a photo if I barracked for Nadal which wasn’t a hardship. Wasn’t it fantastic to see all the top players do their bit for Haiti; the Hit for Haiti was a lot of fun, if you didn’t see it check this out

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2010-01-17/201001171263702844015.html?fpos=r1

---