Posted on November 2, 2010 - by Jennifer

Melbourne Diaries: Week One

New apartment in Melbourne

So, it’s officially been one week in Melbourne and here is what I have learned so far:

The view from our apartment is as spectacular as I remembered. ¬†On our first evening, watching the sunset over the water, I turned to Akhil and said, “Do you think we’ll ever get bored with this?” and then we laughed…

What I find most spectacular ¬†about the view is that our perch on the 18th floor and floor to ceiling windows give us a panoramic view encompassing the ocean, Albert Park and its lake and parklands, and the city skyline. ¬†What Akhil finds most spectacular are the cricket matches played on the pitch right below us. ¬†We had non-stop cricket “action” all weekend and Akhil could not stop grinning. ¬†He was dumbounded when I turned away for a minute to slice bread because I was missing a crucial moment. ¬†But, let’s just say that there are a LOT of moments in cricket and it’s debatable what is crucial : ) ¬†That said, as I learn more about the game and what “overs” mean and get to see the differences between spin bowlers and bouncers and I can do all of this from the couch in my living room, it’s actually not a bad way to pass a few hours on a Sunday morning.

When people say Melbourne is full of cafes, they are not kidding around. ¬†Within walking distance of our apartment are no fewer than 15 cafes, most of them charming. ¬†And that’s BEFORE we even hit the heart of St Kilda. We already have a favorite…

Apartments in Melbourne (including ours) often don’t include refrigerators with the cost of the rental. So you have to rent or buy one. ¬†People actually take their fridges with them from place to place. ¬†I think it’s sort of silly since no two kitchens are the same size and configuration and you would therefore always have to assess whether your fridge would fit in a new apartment. ¬†But, so far no one has asked my advice on the subject ¬†Our fridge arrives today (yay!) but since we spent our first week fridgeless, we did get to try a lot of the local restaurants. ¬†That is good for all of you because we already know the best places in the neighborhood to take you when you come to visit. ¬†Most interesting find was a Belgian beer garden with amazing mussel pots. When planning your visit, leave adequate time beforehand for regular, vigorous exercise. ¬†Consider fasting. ¬†Come ready to eat and drink A LOT. ¬†Lucky for you, we have a great gym in the building that also has amazing views!

Apartments also often do not include washer/dryers. ¬†Ours does have one BUT it’s one of those small, front-load, combination washer/dryers which means that the dryer is useless. ¬†I mean, truly, useless. ¬†Really, it’s a lie to say that it’s a dryer. ¬†Our lovely building manager Ruth tells me that she does not even use hers but rather puts clothes on a rack in the kitchen to dry. ¬†Because we face south and west, we get tons of light so I think we will be using the same method. ¬†Basically, it’s that or run the “dryer” for 2 hours to get warm, damp clothes.

People, in general, are more helpful and patient here. ¬†It’s a ¬†big city so everyone isn’t all smiles. ¬†But, if you ask a question they will go out of their way to provide a useful answer. And shopkeepers will wait patiently while you sort through the million coins they have here to find the right denominations. ¬†The person behind you won’t even sigh impatiently as you fumble…really…

Melbourne is known for its many outdoor markets, particularly its food markets. ¬†And they are all that and a bag of chips! ¬†The closest one to us is the Prahran Market which is one of the oldest and its known as the foodie gourmet market. ¬†Lots of produce, amazing handmade pastas, fresh meat and fish, and even a great coffee purveyor. ¬†We couldn’t buy much this past weekend (no fridge) but went anyway and got some mangoes, which are grown in Australia. (Don’t make the mistake of asking an Australian fruit vendor where they import their mangoes from our you will get a very indignant look!)

Sport is huge here in Melbourne and we actually arrived the weekend of the Aussie Football League final and our own local team, the St Kilda Saints, were in the final, played here in Melbourne. ¬†A few things about this. ¬†First of all, it was a bit confusing the day we arrived and saw shops and pubs decked out with signs that read “Go Saints!”. ¬†I know that the NFL has a reasonable following here but I was unsure as to why people in St. Kilda where such big New Orleans fans until I realized that the signs did not refer to THOSE saints ¬†The St. Kilda Saints, we learned, are always contenders but have not won the final since the 1960’s. ¬†They were playing Collingwood, who everybody hates (unless they are from Collingwood). ¬†Collingwood apparently wins often and has the most annoying fans. ¬†There are many things I don’t yet understand about Aussie Rules Football but high among them is how we ended up being here on finals weekend. ¬†See, finals weekend was actually the previous weekend. ¬†So, St. Kilda played Collingwood in what was supposed to be the final but they tied. ¬†Seems like you would just go to overtime, right? ¬†Wrong! ¬†In the finals, if the score is tied, you actually have to play a whole other final game the following weekend. ¬†So, because of the tie, two finals were played. ¬†Seems a bit impractical, yes? ¬†It apparently caused a huge uproar here because everything stops for finals weekend and therefore nobody schedules ANYTHING for that weekend, i.e. weddings, holidays, etc. But everybody schedules things for the following weekend. ¬†So, you can imagine that there were some furious brides….

IKEA in Australia is much the same frustrating experience as it as at home. ¬†The only advantage to IKEA here is that you can actually take a tram there from city center, which is pretty cool. ¬†Otherwise it’s the same process of carefully selecting furniture from their showroom only to get down to their warehouse to learn that half of what you selected is not there. ¬†This means that right now we have a dining table with no chairs and barstools to go with a kitchen island that we don’t have. ¬†We hope to remedy that this evening with another trip but something tells me that it will be several weeks (and trips) before it all comes together. ¬†Oh IKEA…would that your product delivery was as ingenious as your design…

I have started to play Ultimate again here since we can see the fields from our apartment and it seemed like a good way to meet people. ¬†As always, in Co-Ed leagues, girls are in demand ¬†One thing I forgot about Ultimate is how much running is involved…that has motivated me to hit the treadmill again so I can keep up with these young whippersnappers. ¬†Our building also has a rooftop pool that is under repair at the moment but we are assured will be open in a few weeks. ¬†The weather here is very changeable at the moment – one minute it’s beautiful and sunny and the next it’s massive storms. So, I can wait on the pool…We are a short walk from a bathing beach in St. Kilda which we are told is absolutely jammed in the summer (December, Jan, Feb). ¬†I learned from our very lovely building manager, Ruth, that the water here is never truly warm as there are arctic currents.¬†¬†Summers can have temps in the 90’s and higher but it’s not humid here and there’s always a breeze so I don’t think it will be anything like the wet heat of DC.

For more pics of the new apartment, visit my PicasaWeb album

That’s all for now but stay tuned for next week when we will attend a dinner hosted by an Australian vineyard owner and a “Newcomers Network” happy hour for expats plus I’ll share my adventures trying to find a sports bar to watch MLB live (at 11 am)