Melbourne Round #2

Sydney was amazing, so I was sad to leave, especially because the weather was a perfect beach day and it was St. Patrick's Day...  However, I had already booked my return flight to Melbourne, so I figured I should go.  Before I forget: While in Sydney, I did go for an interview at an agency in CBD and it went really well.  The girl that I was supposed to interview with had an emergency so instead I met with the girl who I would be replacing.  She was really enthusiastic about the job and isn't actually leaving the agency, just being promoted to a different team.  After the interview, I definitely felt like it was a place I could see myself and considered what living in Sydney would be like...

So back to Melbourne: I got in on St. Patrick's Day night and immediately dropped off my bags and met Renee and Cat at a pub in Carlton which had an outdoor area and live music (similar to North Beach in SF where they close the streets) and had a great time.  The next day though, I was lucky I was the only one who didn't have to work and could instead relax for a bit.  But then I remembered that I had to go get my suitcases in the clothes I had worn out the night before.  Ugh!  That night, I met Cat and her family for a 3-course dinner at one of those restaurants that are less expensive because the chefs and wait staff are students.  The food was good, and Cat's family is amazing, so it was a good time.

This week in Melbourne, 2 big events are going on: the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.  This afternoon we went to Federation Square to check out the fashion festival and Whitney Port (from The City) was the guest of honor and we got free makeovers from Loreal (along with tons of free makeup and giftbags), definitely worth it! After, we walked over to Southbank to check out the Food and Wine Festival, but none of us felt like spending $35 for a wine glass to sample all of the wines.  Instead, we took the tram back to St. Kilda, walked along the beach and ate burritos on Acland St. 

St. Kilda is one of my favorite places in Melbourne (although there are many) because it definitely reminds me of SF in that it is on the bay and has a lot of great shops and restaurants.  When I am ready to find a place to live, St. Kilda will definitely be on my list of places to look.

Some other things that happened this week:

• I learned how to surf! (check that off the list of things to do)  Even though I didn't technically stand up, I definitely feel more comfortable catching the waves and think I will be able to soon. 
• I broke my camera :(  Even though it is waterproof, a little water got in while I was trying to get a picture of Rory (Jack's roommate) surfing and it has yet to turn on
• I was teased with tickets to go see Massive Attack outside of the Sydney Opera House - one of Jack's coworkers sold me the tickets for 1/2 price until she released that her boyfriend had already sold them to someone else :(

Other than that, the things I have to look forward to this week are my camera turning back on (or else I will have to buy a new one...), my walking tour of St. Kilda with an Irish guy I met on St. Patrick's Day, my job interview at an agency in Melbourne on Wednesday (wish me luck!), and going to the Great Ocean Road on Thursday.