Oz Open and Late Changes

The highlight of this week has been the Australian Open … On Wednesday, I had a grounds pass which allowed me to watch the matches held in all of the arenas/courts except the primary one (Rod Laver). It was the first day of Round 2 so there were lots of names and lots of no names … to give you a sense of how many matches are going on … they start at 11 a.m. and go until the middle of the evening. After the Rod Laver Arena, there is the Vodafone Arena (a medium sized structure), three outdoor arenas (of smaller size, maybe 20 rows of seats), and then lots outdoor courts (that have about 8 rows of bleachers) – matches were being played on 16 courts. I happened to pick the hottest day of the week, a high of at least 35 Celsius … who knows how hot it was on the court. As I was walking over to the open, there was not a single cloud in the sky…

The day before I went, there were record crowds so I went prepared expecting lots of people … I also dared to take my daypack (in Toronto, it is usually difficult to bring in a backpack) – but wanted something to carry my camera, small bottle of water, and my sunscreen … little did I know how unprepared I was .. most folks went into the Open equipped for a week – they had lavish spreads for their lunch, towels to clean their seats (and to wipe the sweat off their necks), cushions, you name it … they were prepared.

The tennis was quite interesting – I spent the first two matches in the Vodafone Arena – I decided to focus more on the women’s tennis (only a maximum of three matches, and more of the top seeds were playing outside of the Rod Laver Arena). In match one #2 seed Amelie Mauresmo (France) played Dinara Safina (Russia) – the first set was very intence, the unseeded player won – but then she fell apart and Mauresmo trounced. The second match was between Serena Williams (#7 seed) and Dally Randriantefy (Madagascar). It was great to see Sarena in action and in her designer outfit – for those of you who have not seen her warm up – she has this attachment to her shoes that makes it look like she is wearing boots – I assume it helps to warm up her calves … but it could be pure fashion … the Aussie woman sitting next to me thought it was a disgrace. In any event, Sarena walloped her opponent.

After leaving the Vodafone, the real action started – the crowds were not bad at all and getting a seat on the other courts was a piece of cake. The crowds, however, were quite interesting. First stop was court 18 to see Thomas Johansson’s (seed #30) match – but the Swedes took over the stands … I am told they are the ones who travel the farthest for this open … In general – as I was to learn in the other matches I watched (especially the one with a Czech player) … some folks really like to dress up in their countries colors and then cheer and chant and sing as if they were at a rugby game … it’s quite a sight to take in … many of these folks (except the Swedes), however, now live in Australia.

All in all, I sat in on 4 full matches and watched parts of 3 other matches … other folks I saw: Taylor dent, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Alicia Molik … the thing I do not understand … as I have also been watching the matches on television … why do the players wear the same outfits day after day? Do they not have enough money to add variety to their wardrobe?

The weather in Melbourne is crazy – one moment it is sunny and hot … 20 minutes later the wind has changed direction and its cold or its raining … I had been told this before but you do not get the full gist of it until you are caught overdressed, underdressed, without an umbrella. And then listening to the weather forecasters is quite amusing … if the forecast for the day is study but it is expected to change … then the forecast calls for a “late change.” They will indicated that the weather for given day will be “unsettled,” or that a “milder change” will be coming through. Generally they are pretty accurate – but unlike North American forecasters, they will not tell you exactly when the “late change” will occur – sometimes it happens at 10 p.m. – other times it is at 3 p.m.

This weekend I ventured to yet another market – the market in South Melbourne – a head of lettuce is just that right? I am amazed at how different the markets are here. Victoria Market is the grand dame – more so for location and history. Prahan market is the upscale market with very civilized cafes surrounding it. South Melbourne is bohemian. Mostly a market for produce but lots of places to buy “stuff” …

I also went in search of a blanket – so we have a duvet for our bed but nothing other than sheets for the guest bed …given the weather here I decided to look for a lightweight blanket … easy to find? Think again .. there are no blankets in this country. All they have are “throw rugs” … in reality they are the throws we buy for our sofas, etc. mini blankets … and most of the ones available are over $100 … so I went to the local department store in search of one of these rugs … found about 10 different kinds in an area in a deep dark corner of the bedding section (by the by for sheets, they only sell designer sheets – by folks we would never think of for bedding). On one corner there was a sign saying 25% off … I assumed it applied to all of the “rugs” .. so I found the cheapest one (less than $30) and expected the discount .. wrong … unlike our stores where a sign applies to an entire section, one had to find the rugs with a little red dot to get a discount …

On the foodie front – went to a fabulous Thai restaurant this past week in Carlton (the neighborhood near the university). One thing is universal across the world – one can walk down a block full of restaurants – a couple will be packed and the others will be completely empty. Why is this?

Some pictures of Melbourne follow …