We totally sleep through breakfast, which ends at 9. It is rumored that few actually make breakfast. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the previous night. We have a healthy round of pastries and are ready to hit the town. We forget our map, so we really have no clue where we are going. We walk along the river, past the train station and do some people watching. Melbourne has a different “feel” than Sydney- actually more metropolitan. We’re downtown during the weekday though, whereas we were in Sydney over the weekend. There are countless joggers and cyclists at all times of the day. We wonder when they find time to work?
We happen upon some fun souvenir shops and stock up on the necessities- boomerangs and stuffed kangaroos. It’s 1:30 and we haven’t eaten yet. The options seem to all be fast food. There are countless KFC’s, Subways and Happy Jacks (with a logo curiously similar to Burger King- which does nothing to peak our interests any further), but nothing sit down yummy. Then we turn down an alley with little shops and discover a tiny little Italian restaurant, no bigger than our family room. They have gnocchi on the menu, so in we go! The girls both each two orders of pasta with cheesy cream sauce. The waiter is so kind- he brings coloring books for the girls, explains where the science museum is and brings us maps.
Back at the hotel, we head to the huge indoor pool. Dave swims for over an hour like the energizer bunny. I do a few laps until I backstroke my head into the wall. Granted, there aren’t any lane lines and the cavernous ceiling has no markers…but I’m all out of the mood after that. I notice a little girl (with her parents on the Jayco trip too) about Tate’s age and drag the girls over kicking and pleading no! to meet her. They act all shy, but are soon playing Marco Polo up until she has to leave. Afterwards, the girls practice doing backwards flips while Dad swims and Mom reads. I hear a scream and look up at Tatum holding her head. She did a lovely back flip and whacked her head on the pool steps. She has a bleeding gash between her eyebrows, so I ask the pool attendant for some ice. He, of course, out of protocol has to call the medic. She’s fine, I say, but they still have to call them. This huge burly medic/ bouncer (I’m embellishing here, but his nametag did say security) shows up and looks her over. She’s so intimidated that she can’t answer, so he starts using this squirrelly little girl voice with her, which cracks me up more than her! Turns out that she will indeed survive and even basks in the glow of all the attention.
At dinner, we go to a restaurant called the Waterfront. Their specialty is fish, but there are huge prime aged ribeyes hanging in the case. The girls share a bento box of sushi, miso soup and soba noodles. Michael bets Tate gelato if she eats the ball of wasabi. We watch in horror as she stuffs the whole thing in her mouth. She spits something out, but it’s only the lettuce it was sitting on. She smiles with pleasure and tells Michael he owes her. This is the same kid who freaked out over Vegemite! Needless to say, she did get her gelato. Three flavors to be exact. Each well deserved.
We happen upon some fun souvenir shops and stock up on the necessities- boomerangs and stuffed kangaroos. It’s 1:30 and we haven’t eaten yet. The options seem to all be fast food. There are countless KFC’s, Subways and Happy Jacks (with a logo curiously similar to Burger King- which does nothing to peak our interests any further), but nothing sit down yummy. Then we turn down an alley with little shops and discover a tiny little Italian restaurant, no bigger than our family room. They have gnocchi on the menu, so in we go! The girls both each two orders of pasta with cheesy cream sauce. The waiter is so kind- he brings coloring books for the girls, explains where the science museum is and brings us maps.
Back at the hotel, we head to the huge indoor pool. Dave swims for over an hour like the energizer bunny. I do a few laps until I backstroke my head into the wall. Granted, there aren’t any lane lines and the cavernous ceiling has no markers…but I’m all out of the mood after that. I notice a little girl (with her parents on the Jayco trip too) about Tate’s age and drag the girls over kicking and pleading no! to meet her. They act all shy, but are soon playing Marco Polo up until she has to leave. Afterwards, the girls practice doing backwards flips while Dad swims and Mom reads. I hear a scream and look up at Tatum holding her head. She did a lovely back flip and whacked her head on the pool steps. She has a bleeding gash between her eyebrows, so I ask the pool attendant for some ice. He, of course, out of protocol has to call the medic. She’s fine, I say, but they still have to call them. This huge burly medic/ bouncer (I’m embellishing here, but his nametag did say security) shows up and looks her over. She’s so intimidated that she can’t answer, so he starts using this squirrelly little girl voice with her, which cracks me up more than her! Turns out that she will indeed survive and even basks in the glow of all the attention.
At dinner, we go to a restaurant called the Waterfront. Their specialty is fish, but there are huge prime aged ribeyes hanging in the case. The girls share a bento box of sushi, miso soup and soba noodles. Michael bets Tate gelato if she eats the ball of wasabi. We watch in horror as she stuffs the whole thing in her mouth. She spits something out, but it’s only the lettuce it was sitting on. She smiles with pleasure and tells Michael he owes her. This is the same kid who freaked out over Vegemite! Needless to say, she did get her gelato. Three flavors to be exact. Each well deserved.
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