Melbourne, November 13: More Wandering

Planning a vacation in the middle of a vacation takes away from enjoying the vacation. Thanks to technology, and our foresight in bringing our laptops with us, we could do it. Unfortunately, it was not going smoothly. I felt like I was trying to cram a round peg into a square peg.

We knew where we were staying had no vacancies, so we would be homeless as of 11 am the next morning. The time between checking out of one hotel and checking into another is where we lost most of our time on this trip since we stayed in nine different places in 20 days. That and the times we waited at the airport for a flight.

Each time we looked into booking a flight to Brisbane to see friends, we noticed the flights climbed up in price, and the times seemed to get worse.

We looked into leaving Melbourne and getting to Brisbane a day early. Having just returned from a vacation, our friends were not ready to host us a day early. Heck, I'm impressed they were able to host us at all. They suggested a romantic trip up the coast, but we were tired. Simply tired. Tired of change. Tired of making decisions. Tired of worrying about the universe. Tired of something new. Tired.

Finally Don suggested we change to a different hotel in Melbourne. A nicer hotel. One close to where we were staying with a place to store our luggage. He then suggested we spend the day at hot springs so we didn't have to schlep our luggage anyplace. 

Suddenly the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

I walked over to the hotel on Wednesday morning to ask if we could store our luggage with them overnight. They said yes, or rather "no worries." Meanwhile, Don booked the excursion to the hot springs. We booked a Friday morning flight to Brisbane knowing we could store our luggage at Andrew's office while we did some sightseeing, and were in time to see the comedy show Andrew and Jo were taking us to see. I went back to where we were staying and we moved on with our day.

As if by movie magic, it was raining while the plans felt hopeless. Once it clicked into place the sun came out.

It was midday by the time we left the hotel. Don said he just wanted soup for lunch. A lightbulb went off when I remembered going to a soup restaurant on a street that looks like Diagon's Alley in Harry Potter. A few false turns, and searching on the details in a picture I took last year, we found The Soup Place. Don was impressed. It was exactly like we remembered, down to where you could add a donation to feed someone in need, and adding a few dollars for a glass of wine. Yes, thank you, to both. I know the link above says someone went there in 2022 and it was closed. I was there in 2023 and 2024 and it was open, complete with the Pay it Forward board. 

Walking to lunch we saw the following sign being hung:

After lunch it said:

The appropriate metaphor that comes to mind is you can't spell FUTURE without FU or you have to say FU as you jump into your future. The metaphor needs some work.

John, our guide from the 12 Apostles Tour, suggested visiting the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). As with many museums in Australia, it is free. There was a high school group wearing matching blue plaid uniforms having fun with the interactive exhibits. I was amused watching them use their cell phones to record films made by much cruder technology. Pondered the fact that without that crude technology, we wouldn't be able to use our cell phones to mindlessly take videos.

As I am not familiar with Australian films, the museum did not mean much to me. They did have an exhibit about a new stop-motion film called Memoir of a Snail we want to see. The Wall Street Journal had a review of it, so we should be able to find it closer to home.

I'm glad it was free because it didn't catch our interest. Remembering the lay of the land, we walked across the river to the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) to see some art. John said his wife asks to go here each year for her birthday. Yup, the last of the big time spenders as this museum is also free.

The NGV was getting ready to launch an exhibit on 95-year old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Though most of the exhibit was not in place yet, the lobby had her signature yellow and black walk-through sculpture in the lobby. It is hard to capture the scale. I try not to post pictures of strangers. I'd say it is at least 15 feet tall. People are dwarfed inside it. The exhibit opens on December 15 and will include over 200 of her pieces.

Overall the museum had a smattering of Western art. A Degas,  couple of Picassos, a couple of Dalis, some Tiffany lampshades, a couple of pieces of Frank Lloyd Wright furniture, etc. Just enough to feel like comfort food for the soul. While there was an exhibit on Asian art, I did not see any Australian art.

A bride and groom walked around the museum with their personal photographer. They felt so out of place with us casually dressed tourist.

Dali's Mae West Couch

Tiffany

More Kusama, I suspect

Right next door to the museum is Collarts -- College of the Arts, where our nephew is thinking of studying next year. It is part of the University of Melbourne. My sister Melissa asked us to take a few pictures of the campus. 

Without a college age person with us, we didn't want to appear too creepy.

As we wandered around Melbourne in mid-November, we noticed more and more Christmas decorations springing up. Big ones, like in town squares, and little ones in store windows. Between the weather and the decorations, it felt jarring. Now that I'm home and following groups that post pictures of Sydney and Melbourne, and seeing how nicely they are decorated for Christmas, I wish I had embraced them more.

For dinner we dined at a Greek restaurant that is a local institution called Stalactites. They always seem to have a line, but the two time we went there (last year and this) we were in within a few minutes. there is a lot of hustle bustle taking place. In addition to the laminated menus, the specials of the day are written on a 10-foot tall chalkboard. Real estate is at a premium. They squeeze in as many tables as possible. The bathroom, and I think part of the kitchen, is upstairs a narrow staircase. As we hobbled up and down it, the agile wait staff zipped up and down often carrying plates. Added to the entertainment. Truly felt like comfort food since we smiled remembering the meal we ate there last time. The stress of whether or not we (um, Don) would enjoy the food was erased.

We went back to the room and packed up most of our belongings to bring to the next hotel. We left out swimsuits and coverups (leggings and a hoodie for me). The staff had a note to expect us and cheerfully put the items away for safe keeping. Ahh....