after a four hour flight, I arrived in Melbourne…

there’s a two hour difference with NZ, and it was around 9 am when I came out of the airport to take the bus to Southern Cross Station, where I was meeting with my high school friend Sandra.

Sandra and Glaudio have been married and living in Melbourne for three years. both Mexican, they came here for her to study her masters, and they were able to stay longer because of his job.

so, Sandra came to pick me up, she had taken the day off to be with me. it was so nice to se an old familiar face. we took the tram to go home… I was hungry, stinky, and tired… so she cooked me some breakfast while I took a shower.

we took the tram back to the city, she toured me around the CBD, showing me where the important things are, and what’s worth visiting… I will be staying a total of six weeks in Melbourne, so there was really no rush in going to see all this places at once, or that day… we took it easy.

we had lunch at Nando’s in front of the public library. there I texted another old friend from Mexico, Luis, who is studying his masters there as well. it turned out that he lives right in front of where we were, so he came to catch up with us.

the three of us walked a little bit more, and then we stopped at a beautiful bar called Section 8, where I had my first mulled wine ever… DELICIOUS!

it was a bright, sunny day… but I was SO tired… I didn’t sleep the night before, and though the clock there pointed 5 pm, for me it was 7 pm zombie-mode.

so after one drink, we went back home… I tried to stay awake to greet Glaudio, but couldn’t, and went to sleep (like a proper Kiwi) at 9 pm.

next day I stayed at home… it was the first time I was able to actually get installed in one place… I had my own room with my own closet! it was so nice to be able to unpack all and put it on shelves!

the apartment is located in a beautiful neighbourhood called St Kilda. the tram station is near, the beach is near… it’s just perfect!

at around 6 pm I went to the CBD to meet up with Gianluca (yes! my Italian friend from Mount Cook). we had a quick coffee, a little talk, and then we both had to run… I was meeting Sandra near by to go to a conference imparted by the creator of 350.org

after the conference, we went to a girls night out with two other Mexicans, Ale and Oli. first we stopped at Asian Beer Cafe in Melbourne Central to have dinner and a couple of beers, and from there we went to another bar where we were joined by one of Ale’s coworkers, a cute Kiwi guy they wanted to introduce me.

we then went back home, and Glaudio hadn’t arrived, so for the second consecutive night, I hadn’t had the chance to greet the man of the house.

next morning I finally saw Glaudio. we had breakfast and then walked to Oli and Marcel’s (her boyfriend) house to take one of their cars to have it for the weekend.

we went to the Good Food and Wine Expo that evening and bought loads of delicious stuff… some kind of Nutella, chocolates, sauces… we also ate a lot there, just trying the stuff they were selling… pretty good!

in the evening we went to a bar called “father’s office” to celebrate a Mexican girl’s birthday. there I met part of my friends’ Mexican “family”… a group of paisanos of all ages, students and residents, all united by one thing in common: taco blood.

next morning we drove to Daylesford to spend the rest of the weekend. it was Queen’s Birthday Weekend now in Australia, so Sandra and Glaudio had Monday free.

we arrived at a nice little house where a Colombian couple lives.
Gonzalo and Edna are friends of Glaudio and Sandra. Edna’s sister and her husband were staying there too, so we were seven people in one house.

we went to the farmer’s market, and then to have lunch at a very nice place that had incredible pizzas. after that, we went to a chocolate factory where they make this delicious hot chocolate with chilli powder and cardamom… AMAZING!

we then went to a pub to have dinner, drink beer, and dance at the beats of the eighties with some 60 year old chopper gang members.

back in the house we lit a fire in the fireplace, cooked some marshmallows and sausages, drank some champaign, and ate cake…

of course, we all had food comma after all this food in just ONE day.

next morning we had breakfast at home, and then we went to a lavender farm where they have an amazing lemon with lavender ice cream.

we went back home to pick up our stuff and say goodbye to everyone.

and off we were to see the Hanging Rocks. this is a very peculiar rock formation near the town of Woodend.

on the way back we stopped at a hotel/restaurant/pub to eat, and I had an amazing BLT with chips.

on Tuesday I stayed in the neighbourhood all day, walking around Chapel Street to buy all the stuff I needed for my ten day meditation course that was starting the very next day.

at night the three of us had dinner together, and we said goodbye laughing about my situation for the next days, and them wishing me to find myself in this new adventure.