I have been neglecting the blog for awhile now- we've had a steady stream of visitors and I haven't had too much free time! That said, all our visitors are gone and life has settled down a bit, so expect more regular updates ;).
Here are some highlights from the first part of my family's visit to Melbourne!
We visited the Melbourne Flower Show in the beautiful Royal Exhibition Building. The best part about the event was the fact that a vendor outside was selling a worm composting starter kit- basically a plastic trash bin and a couple hundred worms that apparently break down the garbage. I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on using this method myself, but the guy was charging $300, so maybe I should look into selling them!
We decided rather late on a Saturday afternoon that we wanted a nice dinner that night. Unfortunately, after calling a few well-known restaurants, it became clear we needed to have made a reservation, like, a month ago. We ended up eating at this little bistro on Collins Street not far from where my parents were staying that turned out to be really good! It's kind of crazy how many great restaurants around Melbourne I've never even heard of or walked by. Definitely spoilt for choice around here!
On Sunday, my youngest sister Kathryn and her college roommate Hannah arrived for their spring break.
I immediately took them to La Belle Mitte, because it's the cutest place in the world, and also has the best macaroons anywhere.
One day we had plans to shop on Chapel Street but wanted to grab a quick lunch in the city first. We happily discovered Spring Street Grocer, which had the cutest boxed lunches that were perfect for our purposes. They also had delicious gelato, so Peter and I will definitely be back!
I took everyone to see the Brighton Beach Boxes, a Melbourne staple.
Kathryn and Hannah trying to pose for a picture, but laughing instead :).
We ate so many great meals during the two weeks my family was in town, but one of the crowd favorites was Fonda. It's a casual dining spot, so nothing fancy, but it's so good. Even my dad, who notoriously avoids Mexican food, was impressed! It's not the fried, sauce-y cheese-drenched type of Mexican food, but the fresh, light kind (if that makes any sense). Bonus: Fonda has epic margaritas, which Kathryn and Hannah appreciated- they are of legal drinking age in Australia!
My parents split their time in Melbourne between two clubs, the second of which had this amazing living room area off of the bedroom that we ended up spending quite a bit of time in...it might be bigger than our entire apartment ;).
Another unanimous restaurant favorite was Trunk Diner, where we stopped for a sunny lunch outside after wandering through the State Library of Victoria.
Lastly, a few photos from a happy hour at The Arbory, a fun bar attached to Flinders Street Station overlooking the Yarra River.
