2013.03.03 Wine and Food Festival and a rooftop Barbie

Throughout my first full weekend here I really spent much of it actually settling into my new home for 4 months.  This meant that yes, I finally got sheets onto my bed.  I even went out and got a towel, since I forgot to pack one, so that I didn't need to keep using my hoodie to dry myself off after showers.  And the best part was that I unpacked my suitcase and bags as well.  I got my clothes into my dresser, shirts hung up, all my bathroom necessities organized into the shelves, etc.

After a non-stop first week I was ready to slow down and relax, and I wasn't the only one.  So throughout the day Saturday we spent some time fully exploring the strip of stores on Glenferrie Road, checking out the local grocery market spots, and grabbing food together.  Some students even cooked a barbie (I need to start using some Australian slang sometime) for dinner.

Sunday morning Julia and Tania were nice enough to invite several of us over for pancakes.  Me, being my naive self, was expecting fluffy American pancakes with syrup all over the top.  But what she was cooking was the European style pancakes, a thin pancake filled with any one of the array of topics they prepared for us (they are like crepes, essentially).  With Nutella, bananas, apples with cinnamon, grape and apricot jam, a pepper spread, and more fillings to choose from, the pancakes were delicious.  It was an awesome way to start off a Sunday - thanks Julia and Tania!

After that, rather than relaxing on campus for the remainder of the day we decided to go on another beach trip - SwinMates had organized some free food and drink on Brighton Beach for whoever wanted to join.  We made the familiar trip down but hiked a mile or so down to a new stretch of beach where SwinMates had organized the event.

Once we got there, we spent most of the time in the water playing with an Australian style football.  Afterwards we relaxed on the beach with a group of other exchange students, ate free food and drank sodas.

Again, I got burned.

After three or four hours we decided to head back, and on our way stopped at a food and wine festival taking place just a few minutes walk from where we were situated.  There seem to be a ton of food, wine, beer, music, and light festivals that take place in Melbourne!

At this festival they had cooking presentations set up, several booths with different food, wines, and beers, and ... some sort of dancing show with men on stilts in blow up chef costumes?

Anyway, on our way back Dennis decided he wanted to do another barbie and this time I tagged along.  Once back on Hawthorn we made a trip to the grocery store, Coles, grabbed some chicken kebabs, steaks, vegetables, buffalo wings, sausages, corn, salad ingredients, and more.  We took our food up to the UniLodge 3rd floor balcony patio where free grills are placed and cooked up a decent dinner.

Afterwards we decided to relax for the rest of the night before classes start the next day!