After 1.5 hours of neck straining exhuberance, Katie emerged through these sliding doors all the way from San Antonio to Melbourne. Woo!!
Katie felt like we were in a clown car driving in the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. While I definitely remember this initial feeling, it no longer feels strange or unfamiliar to drive this way.
As a diligent tour guide, the first place I took Katie was to hopping Barkly Square. This is the grocery store and K-mart wonderworld down the street from our house. When this trip is made with Dan and Jade, you'd swear the place is a themepark. We picked up some fresh food and I whipped up a little somethin' somethin' while Katie soaked up a hot shower.
Dan, Aimee, Katie, and I headed to Koko Black on Lygon St for afternoon tea...
... where they have the most divine chocolate sample with the best chocolate mousse, ice cream, cake, shortbread, and specialty chocolates - a must do!
We timed our walk past Crown Casino just right to catch the fire torches which light up every hour on the hour. Unfortunately my photo wasn't timed so perfectly to capture the giant balloons of fire.
Katie, Dan, Brendan, Narelle, and I met up at Veggie Bar on Brunswick St in Fitzroy for dinner - this all vegetarian joint has some of the best tasting food in town.
Sisters reunited!!!
Katie's flight arrived at 7:55AM on Tuesday morning and I made it my mission to keep her up and going all day long to get her acclimated to the time change. She didn't resist at all. Despite sleeping only four hours on the flight (she was too taken with the individual movie screens), she was surprisingly alert and present. Go Katie!
After a shower and a hearty homemade breakfast, we headed out for a driving tour of Melbourne. Aimee and Dan joined the party and we proceeded to drive through Fitzroy, South Yarra, Pahran, St Kilda (showed her my old digs), through the city, Clifton Hill, Carlton (where we stopped at Koko Black for afternoon tea), and later returned the rental car in Southbank. From there, we walked past my office, the Crown Casino, and to the gym to get Katie signed up with a membership. I introduced her to Hosi and some of my gym mates. We trammed it to Brunswick St in Fitzroy for dinner. We arrived early so we spent about half an hour perusing a bookstore across the street from Veggie Bar. Sounds like me, right? Yah... I went straight to the travel guides.
We enjoyed a great dinner at Veggie Bar, then Brendan gave us a ride home via a drive through car wash. What person wouldn't want that stop in their first day tour of Melbourne? I mean... I leave nothing out, no detail unvisited, no event too small to provide a "real" insider experience. Once home, Dan cut my hair. Katie was sitting at the kitchen table watching, head slowly falling down and to the side. By this point, it was around 10PM and entirely acceptable for her to hit the sack. Job well done killer. It's sooooooo great to have you here!
