My husband is usually the lucky parent who takes two of our children to interstate Taekwondo championships while I tend to the little ones at home. However, when I found out they had a tournament in Melbourne on my birthday, I quickly put my hand up to take them. Living up in the coastal sub tropics, I crave cold weather and culture. I would feel very much at home living in Melbourne, surrounded by galleries, museums, libraries, quirky cafes and eclectic vintage collectors.
As we only had a short amount of time and I am very unfamiliar with the city, we basically took to the streets with my camera in hand and went exploring. As you will see from most of the photos, my eyes were heavenward pretty much the whole time. The architecture was stunning. So many exsquisite buildings that people rush past every day literally stopped me in my tracks. I can only imagine how beautiful the cities of Europe must be.
Occasionally I did look down.
It was so good hanging out with these two. They are both so lovely and easy to be around. The deal was that once the tournament was over, the rest of the time was about me…being my birthday and all. And that meant doing whatever I wanted! Oh the freedom. I did warn them that it would involve going to the State library and walking through it really really slowly, looking at every. single. thing. Probably twice.
And it would involve taking a lot of photos. And that would mean getting the kids to stand in cool alley ways pretending to take selfies. My son was happy to oblige.
This guy was hilarious. His sign seriously said,
“HOMELESS, UNEMPLOYED, AND PREGNANT. NEED MONEY FOR DRUGS”
The next activity on my agenda was to find a vintage shop and again, look at every. single.thing. Probably three times. Regrettably, I only knew of one place to go, which was Chapel St Bazaar in Prahran. I follow some of the vendors there on Instagram and I was not disappointed. It is an enormous property with many vintage vendors all under one roof. I was crazy with excitement. As my children graciously suffered silently, I walked around and around and around, inspecting every gorgeous vintage collectible I could get my hands on. It was bliss. The highlight was meeting an Instagram buddy and hearing about his different collections and tales of his days providing vintage props for top movie sets…ahhh. It was such a buzz chatting to a fellow creative and vintage lover. Of course I wanted to buy everything. I made sure I packed an extra bag just for this purpose and came home with some beautiful treasures that are already making their appearance in Mama Bear’s Kitchen. It was my birthday after all.
The buildings in Prahran were breathtaking. I must have looked a sight stopping every ten paces, telling the kids to hold it..looking up and snapping away. They were a feast for the eyes. Their textures, lines and shapes had so much life in them. I longed to hear their stories.
The flower market had me enthralled. We just don’t see these things where I live. I stood there for about half an hour (the kids were finally wearing thin with their patience), taking photos and declaring out loud how marvellous these flowers would be for my cakes and how I wish I had access to such diversity at home!
We only had a couple of days in Melbourne. Like most things in my life, it was a rush, but I was so grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with two of my children, to explore the enchanting streets of Melbourne, to find beauty in the ordinary and not so ordinary, and find refreshment in being out and about in a new place. It was certainly a weekend we will always remember and I hope to go back and enjoy it again soon.
I can just sense your hyperventilating excitement! You fitted a lot into two days away and seems like everyone’s desires were met. Great bunch of photos and happy belated birthday – one to remember for sure!