Our Weekend!

This weekend we finally ventured out and got to explore the city. We went to the Prahran Market, St. Kilda beach and to the Australia Centre for Contemporary Art.

On the way to the market we stumbled across a great little place called Palate and ate breakfast. The food was good and affordable but we were both definitely missing the usual addition of hot sauce, Cholula specifically. Send us some, please. At the Prahran Market we went to a cafe called Market Lane Coffee. I had an excellent single origin espresso and we both enjoyed great cups of pour over coffee, a rarity in Australia. On top of impressive coffee we also received excellent service and even got some great cafe recommendations from our barista. We will definitely be going back.

From there we headed to St. Kilda. We walked down Acland St. which is famous for it's cake shops. Rightfully so, the pastries we had were delicious. Then we took a relaxing stroll by the beach.

Happy belated mother's day to our moms!

On Sunday we went to the Australia Center for Contemporary Art. The current exhibit showcases emerging Australian artists and it was really a lot of fun to see. We took a lot of pictures.

Things we have learned so far:

We are finally getting settled here in Melbourne, one week after arriving. Apologies for the lack of updates, things have been a little overwhelming but we are going to try to post on a more regular basis from here on out. Not much has happened yet. Andy started work and I am getting better at not getting lost...sort of. Here are some things we have learned so far:

• There is no yellow cheese. At least none that we've seen. 
• Katie is bad at directions.
• Andy is good at directions.
• Public transit is confusing. Listed times are merely suggestions and if you don't know when your stop is coming you will miss it. They don't announce it nor is there a screen telling you what's next. Or a map anywhere inside the busses. 
• Kangaroo is on the menu. Best served rare.
• The change in your pocket is actually worth money. Always forgetting that.
• Coffee is really good but ordered quite differently. More on that later.
• KFC is everywhere.
• We haven't run into any other Americans.
• Peanut Butter is really salty. Everything is really salty.

Needless to say, the strangest thing so far is that everything is very familiar but just a little bit off. No huge culture shocks yet but it's only been a week.

Katie and Andy