Spring time in Melbourne 2008

This past weekend in Melbourne the weather forecast was cloudy, overcast and rain. But temperatures were in the mid-high 20’s, it didn’t turn out to be a bad weekend. On Saturday it didn’t rain but was overcast and grey for the morning and early afternoon. By mid to late afternoon the sky was clear and the sun was out.

Lauren and I decided to go for a walk in the late afternoon. Initially I chose a park that I hadn’t been to before, as we had the use of a car. But the park was not as it looked on Google maps. It was small and used for cricket. The rest of the greenery on Google maps was devoted to a golf course. We then headed off to the Merri creek bike trail and started walking into the city. We diverted our path onto side streets and were at the top of the city near Lygon street.

We darted into a small unamusing laneway, if you didn’t know what was there; you would look down and not notice anything. At the end of this short laneway was a restaurant and bar. Lauren and I stopped for a drink and a relaxing break.

We then walked over to Lygon street, a street filled with Italian restaurants, lots of them. They all have outdoor seating on the side walk, where people enjoy pasta or pizza. It’s a bit pricey and the food can be hit and miss. The pizza’s are done Italian style thin crusts and little cheese.

Instead of walking further into the heart of the city we diverted our path and headed east into the inner city suburb of Fitzoy. We decided to have dinner at the Napier Pub. This is right across the street from the Fitzroy Learning network, where I used to volunteer. Lauren and I have been to this pub several times and always enjoyed the food. Lauren had kangaroo and I had chicken schnitzel burger. Both meals were delicious and I tried the kangaroo and will come back again to have it as a meal. It was very tender, juicy and tasty.

After dinner we then had to walk back to the car which was a few kilometres away. We walked up neighbourhood side streets before reaching the area of Clifton Hill which has lots of shops and restaurants.

On our drive home we then decided to have a hot chocolate in our neighbourhood of Fairfield. We went to a restaurant/desert place and sat at the front where there were 2 comfy chairs and drank hot chocolate while reading the Saturday paper.

The walk and adventures along the way was a great way to end my Saturday.