Decadent Day 2/22

On the morning of the 22nd I had to take the train downtown for an interview. Since I was going down early in the morning I decided I was determined to stay down there as long as I possibly could. I was pretty early for my interview so I walked over to the Art Centre to pick up some ballet tickets I had purchased earlier. I grabbed a coffee and a muffin and sat on a bench by the Yarra River and read for a bit to kill another half hour. The interview only went so so, the GM didn't seem to thrilled with the idea of me being there on work holiday, I still haven't heard back from them. Leaving the interview i was pretty bummed so I meandered around a little bit, checking out some bridges I hadn't been over previously, taking pictures and checking things out. I also checked out the river cruises available. I thought about going on one that day but decided instead to go check out a museum.
Right next door to the Art Centre is the National Gallery of Victoria. This museum is HUGE! Walking in I couldn't really tell if there was an entry fee so I headed toward a sign that read "Tickets". Turns out the tickets are actually just for the special exhibit so I bought one and enjoyed that first. The exhibit was a number of works by Andreas Gursky. He takes photographs on a huge scale of different things. A few of my favorites were of the shelves in a 99 cent store because they were very bright and there were lots of things to look at, a picture of thousands of Chinese dancers forming flowers and patterns, and one of the outside of a large Parisian apartment complex with different things in each window.
After I finished up there I headed upstairs for the European exhibits. It would take volumes to describe everything I saw in there. It began with the 1500's and went exhibit by exhibit all the way to more modern pieces. For the 15 - 1600's almost every piece was religiously based. Lots of beautiful stuff and very interesting to look at. 17-1800's had a lot of pieces that were dignitaries and their families. I wish I could have taken pictures inside. It is quite possible I could have but I always thought it was frowned upon.
They had a number of pieces by Rembrandt and even a Picasso. I can't lie, I was very disappointed in myself that I wasn't more impressed. I think i realized i am much more impressed by pieces that have been painted but look almost real. The Picasso just looked like something I could have painted. Maybe not but it was just not as impressive as i had always thought it would be. After making my way through all the European exhibits and then through some of the Asian art exhibits well I was getting pretty hungry. I decided to sit down in the Tea Room in the NGV. I got a glass of Muscato and an open faced gravlox and creme fraiche sandwich, (basically smoked salmon on toast). It was really tasted and I felt like quite the lady having my little lunch reading my book after walking around the gallery. By this point it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. Csaba and I had decided earlier that we would go out to dinner that night so I decided I would just continue to putz around till then and just have him meet me out rather than taking the train all the way home just to take it back out again. I checked out one last exhibit of fashion pieces then headed out.
From the NGV I decided i would try to find my way to the bar 1806 where Csaba and I are planning to go to a cocktail making class, I was hoping to just sign us up in person. Before trying to find it I stopped in Federation Square at the Melbourne Visitor center to check out what they had. Turns out there is tons of info on different attraction, I probably grabbed 10 different little pamphlets of wine trips and other outings for Csaba and I to do later. I also got a very handy map of the downtown area that I used to find my way to 1806. Unfortunately after quite a few blocks of walking it turned out it was closed. I was kinda bummed because it looks like I'll have to try to sign us up on line. Once I had finished there I really didn't have much else to do downtown so I decided I'd take the train down to the Chapel st area. Csaba and I had decided to meet at FOG for dinner so I figured I could kill a little more time till he got down there. I had to take two trains this time and was very proud of myself that I figured it out all on my own!
Once I got off the train I headed toward FOG. Since it would be about an hour or so before Csaba got down there I decided to stop at a funky little cafe and get a drink an dread some more of my book. It happened to be ladies night so even though I only ordered Orange Juice I also got a glass of champagne (free champagne for ladies 5pm - 7:30pm). I took a seat outside on a funky couch and settled in with my book. A couple of 30 something ladies sat next to me gossipping away and enjoying there champagne. They made sure i got a second free glass when they did and also insisted i share the peanuts that came with the appetizer they ordered. They were a crack up it was quite enjoyable for me to eavesdrop on their conversation. Finally around 6:30 Csaba came down and i met him at the train. We had a great time at dinner, I had a couple yummy "french martini's" - chambord, pinapple juice and vodka. For an appetizer (or as they call them entrees) I had zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta cheese and herbs and Csaba had beef tartar one of his favs. For my main dish i had gnocchi with lobster (OMG ridiculously decadent) and Csaba had a steak. We definitely probably spent more than we should have but we had a good time and headed home on the train. Our waitress who we had been joking and talking with all evening even gave us a logo wine glass to take home which was really nice. Over all quite the decadent day, I wouldn't mind at all if every day could be like that!
Here is a link to my facebook album that includes pictures from this day along with others