Did I mention the heating has broken down? It was a long weekend and then the part is so old they are struggling to track it down but overall it is a litany of woe. On the plus side, I have a heated floor in the bathroom, hot water, electric blankets and an array of space heaters but I dread to think what the next electric bill will be. The kid and I are getting used to cocooning ourselves in a quilt and making the dash to the icy cold kitchen. It's not so bad but I'll be grateful for the sudden whoosh of the heating clicking on when (if?) it gets repaired.
It is winter back here in the nation's capital. I am lucky to mostly travel to warmer climes and have had two weeks of spring and as long as I have suitable clothing I am ok with the return to winter. I bought three new woollies in Melbourne. On the first trip into Zara I was uninspired as I still had my head in the spring collection I had just seen in Madrid but on return a day later, I had clicked into winter and bought some good stuff including a beautiful long length singlet with wide straps. I need to hot foot it to the local store and see if I can find another as I can see it is my go to layering singlet having worn it every day for a week.
Melbourne was full of excellent sales and we shopped well. The Langham hotel is super comfy if you're looking for a recommendation, with an enormous bathroom and the softest, most pillow like beds.
We walked (and ate) a ton. Saw an excellent exhibition on design and illustration from the V&A at the library including some nice Thackeray prints (who knew he was an illustrator as well as novelist?), pretended to be wealthy in admiring the furniture shops of Fitzroy (sadly, there is someone hoping for the order of a 12 seater table to be shipped to WA at Great Dane), and sampled the delights of Gelato Messina (I am dreaming about the salted coconut sorbet lunarover had, I had the lime cheesecake with ginger crunch which was great till I tasted hers). Sadly, we were a month too early for the David Bowie exhibition but since I now discover I have to go for work in July I am planning to fit it in then.
We ate at Radio Mexico (two for one margaritas!), Panama Dining Rooms (great food, duck fat potatoes, woeful service) and Chin Chin. The latter was my favourite even though we waited nearly two hours for a table. There was an excellent bar and thoughtful cocktails. The food was amazing - we had beef rendang with a salad of papaya and something else I can't remember and it was all great. It was so fast we ordered dessert to make sure we spent at least an hour at the table.
It was an excellent mini break - a long time in the planning but even better in the execution.
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