The Magic of Melbourne

Welcome to the Land of OZ (as the locals call it). It’s a magical place, that reminds me of home. It has hot showers and air conditioning. Salsa dancing and yoga studios. It has educated men that know how to flirt & grocery stores and Kmarts. Yes, my friends you have come with me on my most exciting journey back to a developed country. Welcome to Melbourne Australia. .

I went to Melbourne in mid-January on a much needed holiday. I was traveling alone for the first time & found it to be a most enjoyable experience. There were definitely times when I wished I had someone to share my joy with, but it was really awesome not have to worry about anyone else hunger or sleep schedule.

I Couch Surfed. There is an international website called couch surfing & you sign up, set up a profile & try to find someone in the city you will be staying in that has similar interests to show you the lay of the land, to hang out with & to crash at their place all at no charge. I had a pleasant experience with a most generous host who used his Iphone like an Inspector Gadget tool of omniscience.
My sole purpose on this magical journey was to go salsa dancing & do yoga. I researched the main things I wanted to do before I got there but otherwise had no real plan.

The first place I went to was the Queen Victoria market in North Melbourne. It was stupendous! I spent 4 hours there. I started by sampling 6 different wines from this very innovative spot called Re-Wine. He makes & bottles his own wines & if you bring his bottle back you can re-fill it at a discounted price. He gives you generous pours of anything you want to taste so after about 30 minutes I had a healthy buzz at the ripe hour of 10am. Following that I ate peaches, nectarines, grapes, hummus, marinated mussels and olives. A heavenly assortment of all things I miss while in Fiji.

The first night I went dancing I had a lovely dance with a man named Marco. He was from Mexico, grew up in L.A. & was now living in Melbourne. I told him I was from the US, he said “Which place?” I replied, “Ohio.” He said, “Oh really, my wife is from Cleveland.” I couldn’t believe!! Where is she!? He brought her over, we had a great chat & became fast friends. The next night I went dancing and was asked to dance by an Indian fellow. I asked him where he was from & he said Fiji. In Hindi, I said “Really? Which place?” He said, “Lautoka.” What?! “I live in Lautoka!” There was another friend of his there as well, also from Lautoka. SO here I am in Melbourne with a new friend from Cleveland, and 2 other friends from my new home town of Lautoka. Really incredible.

You know what else was incredible? The dancing. I love salsa dancing more than words can express. It simply makes me feel alive. I almost wept on the dance floor I was so overjoyed & elated while being spun to loud shoulder-shimmying conga rhythms. I was in bliss. It had been 9 months since I stepped on the dance floor & I was concerned I had lost my mambo mojo, alas, it was if I had never stopped. I could be myself again! Rocking out my fishnet stockings & stilettos. I was so graciously accepted into their dancing community & now have a whole new group of friends that I can visit any time.

I went back to the North Melbourne on a Wed. night for what is called Night Market. They clear out the veggies & bring in isles and isles of local crafted good, art, jewelry, cheap junk and tons of FOOD! There is food from all over the world. Spanish, Mexican, Middle Eastern, French…..including sangria, gelato, fudge, cupcakes and of course it wouldn’t be Melbourne without the coffee. I had a generous serving of paella with clams, mussels and shrimp. I ate my lemon meringue cupcake with frosting so light it could have dissolved in mid-air, before my dinner :) There were 2 stages with live music & hundreds of people eating, drinking and jamming to the cool grooves. I had so much fun that night! I stumbled upon an amazing musician named Grace Barbe performing. She called her music Afro-Creol as she is from the Seychelles Islands off the coast of Madagascar. I call it sexy, spiritual, soulful reggae bliss. I was so in love with her music I coughed up $20 and bought the CD. Since then I have turned on at least 5 people to her sensual grooves. I would strongly encourage you to check her out.

Melbourne itself is a bustling cosmopolitan city. There are small cafes and boutiques around every corner, a real haven for entrepreneurialism. This was a very refreshing contrast to the suffocating Starbucks and McDonalds chains of my homeland. There are museums and an obvious support for the arts. The public transport was so easy to use, trains and trams running regularly all over the city & suburbs. I easily became a pro within a few days. Melbourne is also unofficially known as Australia’s foodie town. I traveled into the city or surrounding suburbs everyday and generously ate my way through. In Lygon St. I filled myself with a fresh salad nicoise, studded with marinated olives and chilled potatoes followed by a silkend scoop of honeycomb gelato. In St Kilda I snacked on fresh cherries and pistachios while I rode my bike down the sea shore. In S. Melbourne, I indulged in the national fair of fish and chips with a liberal splash of vinegar, a throw back to my love of french fries drowning in vinegar from the carnival days of my youth. Downtown, I had a lamb burger on a gluten free bun with arugula and a mint pesto mayo-genius! I made a friend on the bus & she invited me out with her friends to a 6 course all vegetarian Thai meal, even the tofu was from scratch-blooming tea anyone? My last day there I devoured a buttery and crisp gluten free polenta crust pizza with peppers, tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. I washed it down with what else-a cup of joe and an Oz favorite, the vanilla yo-yo cookie. A brilliant concoction of 2 buttery shortbread cookies with vanilla butter cream frosting in the center.

I love Melbourne. I hope to go back someday to re-connect with my new friends and enjoy the mystical wonders of ethnic food, hot running water and down pillows……..