I bid 2011 adieu and welcome 2012 with very big arms.

I can say unequivocally that 2011 was both the most rewarding and expansive year of my 25 years on this earth.

I wonder what 2012 has in store? I am ready.

Hopefully you all took part in some delightful celebrations! Thank you all for sharing in my days and bringing me the most joy you can imagine. You...family, friends and readers are what make my life what it is.

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Daylesford

Weekends are always a welcome break, especially when they involve jetting out of Melbourne for a semi-rural weekend. I'm lucky I have a beyond-thoughtful friend who devised the whole getaway. Back in October an intimate group of 4 chicas in a cottage in Springbank in the county of Hepburn. Cottage comfy. A well executed blend of quaint cottage charm and vintage elegance. 

We were lucky enough to check out both the daylesford farmers market and makers markets. Lunch at frangos & frangos, home-cooked meals partnered with moet. Even our own intrepid journey to a field of sun glazed horses.

Daylesford was a pretty perfect choice for a girls weekend away if you ask me!
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a pretty perfect xmas .x. .o. .x.

The Mr and I decided to host our first Christmas gathering at our little cottage in Carlton. It was an easy task; deciding on a big xmas brunch menu, decor and who to fit around our cozy dining suite.

While the Mr really enjoyed planning the brunch menu, my expertise lay in organizing the place settings and center piece for the table. 

Melbourne was very generous with sunshine yesterday morning which meant we could open up all the doors in our little cottage letting in a bunch of natural light and the morning chirp of sweet wee birds. Some very different weather compared to last xmas in London.

 Right before our 6 loveys arrived for some feasting we spent some time exchanging some much anticipated gifts. There were big smiles by the end of opening all the gifts and thanks to my gorgeous Mr I now have a brand new food beater, boxing gloves and a voucher to partake in any cooking class of my choice at the QV markets. yayy. Funnily enough my very thoughtful present from Mamma followed suit with hand written family recipes and a recipe folder to keep them in.

 We feasted..and feasted..and feasted some more. In between filling up our glasses with champagne we thoroughly enjoyed sharing the sub-standard xmas cracker jokes! We were feeling extra festive so everybody was having some fun guessing the jokes.

The brunch was a hit and our friends left with very full tums and tired eyes. We all had the same fantastic idea in mind - to nap! Thanks to the storm that hit we could lie around feeling confident there was nothing better to do than lie in bed as it hailed down outside. After that we went visiting to a friends house where we finished off the evening with a good old fashioned 'drink until you all fall asleep on the couch' affair.

Thank you beautiful friends for making our Melbourne Christmas a memorable occasion.

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salvos

Is it just me or do Australians love to shorten just about every word possible (irrelevant of appropriateness)?

So in true Aussie fashion, I present my delightful findings from *Salvo's:

* Salvo's aka Salvation Army recycling store.

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monaco

Monaco's is a treat and a half if I do say so. It's not your typical up-market stylish food store affair, it's more about the personalized service and the rare delicacies at such reasonable prices. Steer clear of the boring old shelf fillers and supermarket items, my advice is to get amongst the various coffee blends, the French patisseries, the store-made olive tapenade. Work your way through the cheeses and the anchovies soaking in brine being salted to perfection. I am lucky enough to work right next door, or rather they're lucky to have the 5 of us keeping them in business! Pop along if you're in the Camberwell area.

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monday memories

Postojna Caves is the most visited tourist cave in Europe, dating back to 1872 when the first railway lines were laid. We took a cave train into the heart of the caves where we spent an hour or so admiring a 20 kilometer network of underground splendour. Check out the calcite formations, stalactites and stalagmites in the photos below, it's dazzling in every way imaginable. To think these occur in nature without the help of anything but temperature, minerals and time.



Postojna Caves, Slovenia
11:40am 21st April 2010
We just passed through the border to Slovenia. Today we have a 2 hour stop inside the Postojna Caves and we are well prepared for the tour having just completed a children's book about 'Yami the dragon in the Postojna Caves'.


The bus trip isn't so bad, bit of rest and relaxation. The best thing about this trip is the light at the end of the tunnel. At some point we will come to a stop and arrive at our next destination point for some much anticipated exploration! Our tour guide Leti is sensational..full of energy, friendly, easy to approach and informative. She just told us we can get a 10euro bus to a place in Croatia 1hour from where we're staying which I am certain is where my great grandfather Bogaslav grew up in. Will soon find out!

The on-site chef in Italy was great. Apparently we adjoined the tour at a great time in terms of food and day trips. First night was mozzarella/tomato/basil salad, garlic bread and meat platter and that was just the entree! Main was il bucco with polenta mash and brocolli..yummy!

Today, a picnic lunch and looking forward to the caves.

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festival fun

Sundays well spent fill my heart with all kinds of happy. Today was particularly special as we spent the day scouting festivals. To start, a Polish festival in Federation Square and finishing with a Spanish street festival on Johnston St. These two events sandwiched a very exciting visit to Madame Brussels for a quick iced coffee while the sun was a blazin'.

The Polish festival provided us with some great quality blood sausage sauerkraut combinations but was very much lacking in the Pierogi department. Our friend went as far to say the pierogi he was eating was "a very bad version of a Chinese dumpling". As a devout Pierogi fan I was mortified to hear this news. So disbelieving that Pierogi's could ever taste anything but delicious that I endeavor to create some at home over the next few weeks in order to change his mind about them. Hopefully I get the chance to re-pop his Pierogi cherry and give them the reputation they deserve.

  

Madame Brussels is ambrosial in every sense of the word. I sat sipping on my iced coffee whilst perched upon a pink PVC stool, sharing a turf-clad rooftop bar with fellow Madame Brussels goers. There was the option of a delightfully coloured parasol to shade ourselves from the sunshine. Preppy, Pimms filled pitcher carrying waiters made it feel very much how I imagined a garden party in Cape Cod would feel.

The weather was jusssst right, and the combination of my two favourite things (food and cultural outings) ensured my Sunday couldn't have been better*. 

tucking into soft tacos.

*Aside from being back in NZ celebrating my dear old grandparents joint 80th birthday bash. Thank you Melbourne for keeping my mind off the cold hard facts of being far away from my beautiful family at a special time like today.

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best to book

St Ali, more like an institution than JUST a brunch spot. Check out the size of the menu above. Thanks to the specials board my decision wasn't too painstaking. I settled very happily for 'the mexican cousin' which was just delightful, and healthy to boot.

St Ali
12-18 Yarra Place
South Melbourne‎ VIC‎ 3205
Australia

 

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monday memories

How perfect is the gift of a travel diary? It can be a tight squeeze finding the time to make entries along the way. In between tiring day tours, trains, buses and continuously packing up luggage.

It's well worth putting aside a few minutes each day to produce a short dialogue of the days events including sights, smells and thoughts you experienced. When you open that diary after completely forgetting about it months or even years later the feeling is totally euphoric. You'll surprise yourself as I have done, turns out I was a very consistent diary submitter.

While in Venice 
6:30pm 17th April 2010
We're on a bus in Venice, driving away from the Grande canal and the city and into the middle of nowhere. The most beautiful thing just occurred..I looked out the window to my right to a field full of dandelions. Just as I looked out the window a big gust of wind swept up all the buds and small speckles of dandelion filled the sky. Special.

Happy Monday

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