Jane and I traveled to Melbourne for a 3 day weekender. Why? We got a cheap flight and it’s a nice escape from the daily grind.

We flew Virgin on Friday night and arrived in Melbourne around midnight. We checked into the Ibis on Swanston Hotel. It was a  nice hotel in a good location. The room was clean and modern, although a little small. Jane raved about the shower, with its massive shower head. The hotel was located in Carlton, a 20 minute walk into the CBD and close to restaurants and cafes. We caught the tram many times back to the hotel, mainly because our feet were aching.

I’d arranged to catch up with Friends Clare and Rodel on Saturday and cousins Martin and Kirsty on Sunday. It turns out I got the dates mixed up. We met them both on Saturday. Clare, Rodel and their son Liam for Saturday lunch and the Trunk. And Martin and Kirsty at their home in Kensington.

The Trunk was a nice little pub/restaurant in the heart of the city. It has a nice outside eating area. Typical with Melbourne, it got hot and cold in the space of an hour so we changed table. It was great to catch up with my old friend Clare. She and I worked together in Leyte, Philippines. That was ten years ago, so we had a lot to catch up on.

The food was good. Jane loved her “Breaking Bad” hotdog.

We staggered our way back to the hotel and had a snooze, only to be woken up by a phone call from Kirsty. “Did you get lost?” she asked. “Oops” I thought. I thought dinner for tomorrow – but it was indeed Saturday night. We quickly got dressed and made our way to Kensington. As they live close to the railway station, we thought about catching the train. But on our arrival at Melbourne Central  we saw the next train to Kensington was 25 minutes away. As we were already late, we caught Uber.

It was great catching up with Martin and Kirsty. Martin prepared a roast lamb with a yogurt sauce, salad and rice. It was sensational, only to be topped by Kirsty’s cheesecake for dessert. We polished off 4 bottles of wine, before it was time to call it a day.

Such a nice day. Great food, drinks and company.

Sunday we were on our own. We didn’t really have a plan. We woke late and walked to Seven Seeds Coffee Shop. Clare recommended it as a wanky hipster coffee shop. She wasn’t wrong. We has to line up to get in. Everyone in the place was around 30yo tight jeans, no socks. some with beards (mostly the men). The coffee and food was very good though I have to admit. I had a strong latte and Eggs Benedict on a bacon waffle. The sauce was their own chipotle hollandaise sauce. It was delicious. Jane had a chorizo burger that was ok, but she loved her hot chocolate.

We then caught the tram into the city and crossed the river into the arts centre of Melbourne.

We visited the National Gallery of Victoria and spend a hour or so looking at the free art.

We crossed back over the river and did some shopping.

We caught the tram back to the hotel – aching feet again. Short nap again and decided to walk into Lygon St to have dinner. We wanted to find a Greek restaurant, but there was only Italian restaurants as far as the eye could see – so we had Italian.

We settle on Tono on BorsariTono on Borsari. It looked ok – and it was. We shared a Calabrese Spaghetti and a seafood pizza. The food was great, service faultless and the price reasonable. We found out later the place has terrible reviews – we enjoyed it. I’ll be giving it a good review.

Monday was our last day. We decided to have lunch at Seven Seeds again. Monday lunch was less busy and also a more “normal” clientele. After that we caught the tram into the city for more shopping. Jane made the mistake of messaging the kids and asking what they wanted. A huge list of “demands” ensued.

After another exhausting afternoon we decided to go to the airport early. We had been upgraded to business class, so we’re currently relaxing in the Virgin Lounge. I’m looking around and I don’t see many virgins! The flight home will be nice and relaxing.

Back to the grind tomorrow.