Green Eggs and Ham

Another lovely weekend in Melbourne… It started off by my treating myself to breakfast at one of the cafes in our neighbourhood. I wanted eggs – but did I want them scrambled, poached, or fried … I like my eggs over-medium, but is that what was meant by fried? No. By fried they mean sunny side up … I tried to explain to the waitress who took my order what over-medium was …but the eggs showed up as sunny side up (way too runny for me) … so I asked that they be flipped and cooked just a tad longer … I think I made the same mistake one makes when you ask for a medium well steak in a steak restaurant … what I got back was an egg so well cooked it was dry and inedible … next time I will ask for scrambled.

I spent part of the weekend at the Art Gallery of Victoria – a smallish museum with a nice collection. I focused on the European 18th-20th Century paintings – quite nice. I overheard a docent retelling a story of when “the” (I think there is only one in the museum) Picasso was purchased and then immediately stolen. This happened around 20 years ago. Painting was stolen and held for ransom. The demands? Better work space for art students in Melbourne. This caused the police to interview every art student in the area. Alas, they could not solve the crime. After the publicity died down, the gallery received a note that the painting could be found in a locker in one of the train stations. Painting was recovered, thief was never found.

At Kevin’s request, I took a walk (actually part of my run) to the nearby golf course – we knew it is nearby but could not tell how close the entrance is from our apartment. Turns out it is a mere 3 block (long blocks or 8 minutes) walk. The golf course runs along Albert Park lake … where there is a nice running path. The lake (looks more like a pond) is lined with palm trees. The baby birds (swans and ducks) are quite new and are finding their way around the water. The swans are black, with some a mixture of black and white. The Oz pelicans have black and white feathers. Along the lake is a sailing club with small sail boats (did not see any big ones).

Yesterday (Monday) was the start of the Australian Open … it’s amazing. One can get a grounds pass for $25 – it lets one see all of the matches except for the ones in the Rod Laver Arena (except for the finals, etc. to get into the Laver Arena one has to spend about $40 – but the only seats left at this point are the nosebleed seats) … I am headed to the grounds tomorrow (Wednesday) for the first part of Round 2 and again early next week for the end of Round 4 …Kevin and I will be on the grounds for the final where we will be able to watch the match on a jumbotron (tickets for the final were quite high) … more on that in a few days.

Hope all is well with you – I miss everyone and am very much looking forward to Kevin’s arrival (late next week).