Melbourne Mates
This entry was posted on 5/23/2007 5:56 AM and is filed under Australia.
We've been fortunate to have met some really great
people here in Melbourne, friends we'll hang on to for a long time to
come, for sure!
First we met a friend of our friend Val's who lives in Byron Bay -
Cate, who then led us to Marian and Linda. Marian lives here in
Melbourne, and we have seen her several times while we've been here...
(This is in St. Kilda, where we sampled one of their scrumptious
gelatos). Marian is from Holland, and has been living here for
eight years. She treated us to the Cirque de Soleil show in the
tent here, and we've had lots of fun.
Then we went to the Siddha Yoga ashram for an evening program, and the
woman who greeted us so warmly has turned into a great friend too,
Ambuja - a.k.a. Buji. She's an interior designer with knock-out
great taste. She invited us to her home for a great dinner, along
with one of her best friends, Lucinda, who we've come to call Possums
(an Aussie term of endearment).
Here's Buji on the left and Possums on the right...
We not only have Siddha Yoga in common with Possums - we also have
Food! She is a major foodie, teaching cooking classes at a local
college and doing other work in the food industry. We had the
great good fortune to be invited to her home for dinner as well...
Let's have a close-up look at that platter girl!
Celery root remoulade - okra tomato - shaved fennel with parmesan -
beetroot (a.k.a. beets)... and this was just the appetizer plate
- holy smokes! The main course, a Shepard Pie, was so delicious
we just dove in and forgot to photograph it. Then dessert...
Fabulous poached pear with her signature hung yogurt - hung with dates, cinnamon sticks and star anise - yum!
We also had a great visit with Tracy and Mark - our hiking buddies from
the Milford Track in NZ. They live in Adelaide, and we'll go
visit them soon. They came up for a shopping weekend and a visit
with us. Mark had to leave a bit earlier for work (real estate)
and left Tracy for a few more days of shopping. So we had a small
dinner at our place...
What are we looking at on the table, you ask? Well - we're having
a nougat tasting, of course. We got into a funny conversation
about nougat, principally because of the difference in
pronunciation. They say nougaaaaa here. What do they do
with the T? Nothing...
So, here are four samples from stores around the town for our nougaaaa contest...
And of course our Melbourne trip will always be associated with our
wonderful day in Healesville with Angela, Bruce and Monica - be sure to
see the other blogs for a full run down on that adventure...
It really is the people that make us feel at home wherever we go... Thanks Mates!
