We decided we would walk into the city along the Yarra River which meanders through it. Our route took us past a number of sports stadiums – there were noticeable remnants of both the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.  It all felt very sporty!

We arrived in Federation Square to find that, like most places these days, Monday is the new Sunday in Melbourne so a lot of things were closed.  However, the Treasures of the Hermitage exhibition was still on and we had not seen it in London so we opted for Catherine the Great and all that she entailed. It was really interesting and spurred us on to think we should get to St Petersburg next year as part of Keith’s birthday celebrations – not that we are going to do so much travelling…,,,,!

the Hermitage and its art and tales of Catgerine (did not quite get why she had to change her name from Sofia..) behind us, it was time for lunch  Paul had recommended a Tapas place but I had left my map with the details behind.  Nothing lost,  a quick Google and we were off to Movida   It was somewhere Keith had always wanted to go and is keen to get one of their recipe books so it would have been rude not to try it out.    It was excellent   I thought my chicken escabeche was the best ever   They also had their version of a Santiago Tart very much associated with the food on the pilgrimage where we met.  It had to be done – we shared one  it was nothing like anything we had in Galicia – it was nectar of the gods!

I think this shows me enjoying it a bit too much ……

Lunch and a great conversation with some visitors from Perth, we wondered back along the river towards home, did a it of shopping for supplies and the a bit of rest and recuperation back at the apartment, prior to being picked up by Mr Fanthorpe again (this time in a rather posh truck – I am sure it has a name)  for ‘tea’ in the Vietnamese quarter and then an evening sightseeing tour of Melbourne.

it all worked very well. We picked up a bottle of wine on the way and then had a very good Vietnamese repast.  It was jolly good and even got me eating squid which did not taste of elastic bands. Yummy!

Our night tour of Melbourne with Paul showing us the city he loves gave us a very different view of Melbourne.  it has so many facets – the markets (Victoria -huge – and South Melbourne – THE place to go for food we were told), the botanical gardens, museums, art galleries, the war memorial and the race track.  All were pointed out and commented on.  We will never get to see them all in our time here but the tour around gave us a much better sense of the city

And so to bed! Another interesting day to tuck into the kaleidoscope that is proving to be the Australian experience!