Random Summer Happenings Post

Because I still haven't sorted through my pictures from our time in Byron Bay, or when my parents and aunt and uncle were here, or the Australian Open, today you get a random blog post with some phone photos of things we've been doing this summer. In no particular order, here's some of what we've been up to in January and February...

I met up with Zack one day in the city for a run and lunch on Degraves Street afterward. These camera-wielding dogs are in Federation Square. I'm not sure why they're there, but I thought I'd better get a picture with them.

We have salmon for dinner nearly every week, because it's so delicious fresh from the market. Here's one of my salmon creations...pan fried salmon with homemade pesto sauce atop quinoa. Yum!

We watched the National Championship Game for college football at our friends' place. While we enjoyed cuddling their dog Roo, we didn't enjoy Notre Dame's performance in the game and the resulting score. Let's not talk about it!

I had a celebrity sighting at the South Melbourne Market. The girl with the skirt in the back is Ellie from MasterChef 2011. You may recall that this was the show we watched religiously when we first moved here, and Ellie was one of our favorites. I just had to snap this stalker phone photo to show Zack while pretending I was looking at potatoes!

Speaking of potatoes, these potato swirls, which are found at the Queen Victoria Suzuki Night Market, are delicious. The sangria is tasty too. This night market runs every Wednesday night during the summer, and it's a great place to go to try all sorts of delicious food (I even got an American pulled pork sandwich one night) and listen to some fun live music. We've gone a couple of times, and it's been a great way to spend a summer evening.

And last but not least, I decorated our house a little bit for Australia Day (which was January 26). I'm not sure if you can even see the little flags strung across the top, but they are there. Yes, even though I'm American, I've got some Australian spirit!

Anyway, that's a little glimpse into our summer so far. The weather has been incredible (which is rare for Melbourne), so we've been soaking up the sun and making the most of it while we can. That's probably why I've been slacking on keeping up with the blog!

Cricket with Kris and Kevin

Kris was my roommate in Farley Hall during my freshman year at Notre Dame, and in August, she married a guy named Kevin. I couldn't make it to their wedding, but they took a delayed honeymoon to Australia! After visiting the Great Barrier Reef and before heading to Sydney and then New Zealand, they stopped over in Melbourne for a few days. We didn't have the greatest of weather over the weekend, but we made the best of it.

One thing we did was go to a cricket match at the MCG on Friday night. Australia was playing Sri Lanka. The match started at 2:30pm, but we just went for a few hours in the evening. We must have looked like total dorks reading the rules of the game on Wikipedia on our phones while watching the game, but once we understood it a bit, cricket was much more fun to watch! The main thing I didn't know is that there are two batsmen at one time, and they score points by running back and forth between the wickets after hitting the ball. I won't go into all of the other rules; if you really care, check out this link.

Only certain sections of the stadium were full, but there are apparently tons of people from Sri Lanka living in Melbourne, because there were lots of spirited fans cheering for the Sri Lankan team! Australia ended up winning in the end, but only by 15 runs (which is not a lot). Check out the picture above with Gatorade guys on segways!

Kris and Kevin in front of Flinders Street Station on a cloudy Friday night.

On Saturday after a nice breakfast at a cafe, I took Kris and Kevin around the city on the free city circle tram, with a stop at the Queen Victoria Market. They enjoyed the ever-interesting meat hall (tongues, cheeks, livers, etc.), some souvenir shopping, and a few yummy macaroons. Unfortunately, it rained all day! In the evening, we played some euchre at our place before heading to the Fitzroy area and Brunswick Street for drinks and dinner. Good times! It was awesome to finally catch a cricket game and show an old college pal around my new home. Happy honeymoon Kris and Kevin!

Queen Victoria Market

On Saturday morning, we biked downtown to the Queen Victoria Market.  To start the day right, you have to have some yummy jam-filled doughnuts from this cart.  So good!  I'm not sure why it's called "American" though.

This famous market is busiest on Saturdays, but it's open several other days of the week as well.  There are aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables, areas with meat, fish, cheese, breads, clothing, and more.  It's one giant flea market-type atmosphere with crowds, sellers yelling their prices, etc.  And the prices are pretty good-I'm never buying produce at the grocery store again!

You can even buy your own ducks and chickens.  Peking Duck anyone?!  We didn't buy a lot this time around, but we'll be back for sure.  It was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.