One day holiday

We arrived in Melbourne yesterday afternoon in preparation for my scheduled surgery on Thursday morning. We were picked up by Ian's sister and brother-in-law (Ruth & Darren) who took us to their 'new' house for the afternoon.  Their house is new to us because the last time either of us was in Melbourne was when they had just signed a contract on it and were waiting for settlement.

At the end of the afternoon, just before we went out to dinner, we were able to meet their cat, Coco, who came in to be fed.  We went to dinner at a nice Indian restaurant, after which we were dropped off at my sister's (Alicia's) place. Alicia and her family are actually on holiday in Queensland so we are house-sitting for her while they are away.  Originally we were disappointed that we'd miss their visit to Queensland but this works well in that there is room for us at their place while they are away and they get house-sitters.  We did actually catch up a bit on Sunday, when we got keys.

Today I had a one-day-holiday in Melbourne before my admission tomorrow afternoon.  We had a leisurely breakfast, walked to the local train station where we bought public transport tickets and then walked through the local shopping mall to Sydney Road to catch a tram to the Queen Victoria Market.

At the markets, I took Ian to Invita, a vegetarian cafe where most options are actually vegan.  Ian bought a couple of biscuits and I bought a cupcake for morning tea.  Then we wandered through the markets but didn't buy anything apart from a tomato and a couple of mandarins, partly because we didn't want to carry anything heavy during the rest of the day.

Then we went back to Invita for lunch.  I had a baby spinach, yellow lentil soup and Ian had a "shepherd's" pie.  We'd actually call this cottage pie as there was no meat in the dish.  We also shared a mango, soy milk 'smoothie'.  Ian thinks it should be called a 'thickie' as the spoon that came with it could stand up unaided in it.  All in all our meal, was delicious and we got a couple of extra treats for 'ron'.

Then we trekked over to the Melbourne Museum to see the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Exhibition.  We went for the full shebang of the exhibit ($29.50) plus the optional extras of the audio tour ($7.50) and the 3D movie ($8.50).  I think the audio tour was better value than the 3D movie so if you're going and have the funds for one add-on but not both, I'd recommend the audio tour.

After that, I decided that I'd like to have a hot chocolate from San Churro.  It took us a while to find it as first up I didn't remember where one was so we just meandered towards the city, then when I remembered that we could probably find one with Ian's smart phone, it lead us up a bit of a garden path, first directing us to the wrong place on Swanston St, then it seemed to suggest (to my eyes, although Ian read it otherwise) a street a block away.  Anyway, we finally managed to get to the outlet in the Queen Victoria Centre.  San Churro hot chocolate 'drinks' are a bit like Greek coffee - very thick and dark.  Basically they melt chocolate and add milk so it's more liquid chocolate with a dash of milk than a chocolate flavoured milk drink.

My enjoyment of my Mint Magnifico would have been greater if there hadn't been a table full of smokers at the doorway whose smoke drifted into the interior of the store.  We assume that Victoria's laws about how close to a doorway, to a public place, that people can smoke are rather different from Queensland's.

After this we headed back to the tram line to catch a tram to Alicia's street.  Fortunately for us we ended up sitting across the aisle from a lady who not only was going to the same street (so we knew to get off with her) but has also experienced being a patient at Epworth Private Hospital, Richmond and says it is a top hospital.

At home we cooked dinner which, although a little different from how we would make the same dish in our own kitchen, I thoroughly enjoyed as I expect I won't have a 'home'-cooked meal by Ian for a while as tomorrow night I should be eating hospital food.

Speaking of which, I still haven't heard from the hospital (maybe there are messages back on our answering machine in Logan) so I'm hoping that they received my information pack which detailed my dietary requirements.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived home, and answered a couple of phone calls, it was 10 minutes past the admissions closing time (8pm) so I will have to call early in the morning (they open at 6am) to check that everything is on track.  At least I know that the surgeon is expecting me.