Ah yes, fun and games at Daughters school… hhmmmm
(Her) STEINER school operating out of the historic Abbotsford Convent faces closure after local residents successfully rallied against its expansion into an adjacent paddock.
The Sophia Mundi Steiner School sought to build five new classrooms on Abbotsford Convent land next to the Collingwood Children’s Farm.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/schools-hard-knock-over-field-of-dreams-20110611-1fymz.html
How’s this for a stroke of luck?
Last weekend was one of the few celebration days for my birthday (don’t ask!). I decided that I would treat Daughter and I by having a sleepover at the 5-star Hotel Windsor in Melbourne. Onto to wotif.com I went, securing us a “Superior Room” with 2pm check out and 2 full buffet breakfasts. Excellent shopping.
Daughter and I then dawdled in around 4pm. The main man asked us to wait a moment, and then presented us with keys to a suite as our room wasn’t available! So we went in search…
Low and behold, we arrive at the stain-glass door of the Sir Winston Churchill suite. As the key did fit, and did work, we went in.
This was not your average Superior Room, oh no no no. It was an apartment, complete with lounge, dining, 2 bedrooms and bathroom with spa. We couldn’t believe our eyes.
As we had already planned to meet a few VBFs (very best friends) for drinks and dinner, we changed plans slightly and invited them for pre-going-out drinks in our room, without revealing the full extent of what they were also to experience. Suffice to say, they got as much of a surprise as we did.
I must say we all thoroughly enjoyed sitting around the dining room table sipping champagne and scoffing canapes!
What a way to be able to celebrate. What a way to be able to entertain good mates. What a way to lead into a delightful, albeit filling, teppenyaki dinner in Chinatown. What a way to do coffee and birthday cake upon return. What a way to spoil yourself, because you can!
Given we were on a roll, we invited the family to come and join us Sunday morning for the full-buffet breakfast in the restaurant – 111 Spring St. They did and all was very pleasant. We of course invited them for coffee and cake upstairs, after breakfast was consumed and a little newspaper-reading was done. They too were chuffed once they settled in the leather chesterfield lounge suite! “We could all get used to this”.
Sadly, the time came to check out. As much as we resisted it, the clock ticked closer and closer towards 2pm. That was the time to turn back into mere mortals; ready to jump on the train at Parliament Station and head on home…
How ever that was arranged, I thank you!
Sunny Melbourne received us warmly.
The flight on Aerolineas Argentina was right on time, and they looked after us well (except the food is crap, and they need to get the TVs in the back of the seats…). We were most pleased to be sitting together in our own little twosome, which made sleeping, using the bathroom and general lounging somewhat easier and more comfortable.
After sleeping as much of the 13 hour leg to Auckland as possible, it was then try-and-stay-awake time for the remainder. We arrived Sydney on time at 11:00am (in fact, it might have even been a little early). We got through Customs without any drama, double bag checks or declarations of any kind so breezing through was just as we wanted it, and as it should be.
But then we had to sit in Virgin Domestic for 2 hours – bugger! and then there was a delay of another hour – double bugger! Hard to stay awake by this stage though, but then the airport chairs are not known for comfort! Plus, we did have the Australian Open tennis to keep us entertained. We eventually got to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport around 5pm, just in time for Grammy to pick us up out the front.
All in all, an eventless 29 hour journey all up (thank goodness).
Now to the catch-up of domestic and business chores… they never go away do they!
Buenos Aires; we had gone full circle. After leaving here 5 weeks earlier, we had made it back in one piece with many more adventure stories to share.
After finding our way to our last B&B, Palermo Viejo in the district of the same name, we got ourselves settled and showered, and headed out to dinner. We were famished after our Iguazu Falls very full play day!
Not sure where to go, we wandered aimlessly for a while, even tried on an outfit or two until the hunger pangs kicked in, and then we got down to finding food business. Found this great little restaurant off the main drag, not far from where we were staying, which had a courtyard out the back, mood lighting, a great menu, and a waiter that spoke fabulous English. Just what the doctor ordered. To top it all off, it was classic Argentinian ice-cream for dessert on the way back… perfecto!
Given how hot it was, eg 35 oC one day and 36 oC the next, we structured our sight-seeing accordingly. Which translates to mainly moving from shopping centre to shopping centre, checking out the main bits on the way.
Day one was in Recoleta mainly. El Ateneo – the most amazing bookshop based in an old theatre, gorgeous. Lots of great shopping at Patio Bullrich, which we had been starved of up until this point. Just a great area to spend time in really. We could have all done serious damage to the credit card… well we did do a little, but nothing to savage!
Day two was spent in the city centre; the Obelisk, the Plaza del Mayo, the Presidential abode etc, but then it got too hot again. So another shopping centre was sought. Only lunch this time, no shopping. Had another good look around, and then went in search of ice-cream to top it off. Once done, we piled into a cab to head back to our pad. Nearly didn´t make it though as the taxi-driver almost took on a bus with the nose of the car, but no harm done and we made it back safe and sound.
After a little R&R, and a preliminary packing of the bags, it was time to wander the local streets in search of whatever really; oh and dinner. Our return flight heading to Melbourne was at 2:30am, meaning we were leaving the B&B at approx midnight, so plenty of time to loiter with intent!
Except… we got caught in a full-on storm, wind and heavy rain lasting approx 30 mins, and serious enough to make all of us really wet. Fortunately it wasn’t cold, other than when the breeze blew, so we decided to push on regardless. We did know though that we were not after a dining place with full-blown air-conditioning blasting away. That would have been too much like torture!
Given how early we were by Argentinian standards (ie restaurants open for dinner at 9pm), we found a delightful place not far from our pad that were serving “snacks”. Now I have to tell you, we’re talking full on hamburgers and sandwiches which were enormous, but nothing overly fancy schmancy. We were by this stage, more than happy with that arrangement.
So we scoffed our snacks, used the time to reflect on the highlights and the not so experiences of the previous 5-6 weeks, moved on to the ice-cream shop for our one last chance at dessert (my, the Argentinians do a fabulous ice-cream) and headed back to finalise flight preparation! You know, showers, comfortable clothes, last decent cup of tea…
Before we knew it, the taxi was out front and we were piling into it. Said all our goodbyes, congratulating ourselves on yet another successful adventure and then we were whisked off into the midnight sky, on route to the airport.
What a trip…
What an adventure…
What to do next?
Antartica is on the radar. Alaska would be good too. Back to South America, like Brazil and Chile, would also be wonderful… so many choices!
They are spectacular, there is no denying it.
To find out all about Iguazu Falls, click here…
The bit we loved the best though was the getting wet part – this was achieved by being in a boat and going straight under two of the falls. No doubt they were probably the lamest two on offer, however, they were big enough to give you one hell of a fright, a notion of the power in the big kahunas, and get you incredibly wet without trying too hard. We had planned to do this so had our bathers on together with clothing coverage. But, we forgot to take the shoes off. I swear we were walking around in our own puddles for the rest of the day…
Mind you, the National Park itself is tourist heaven. There´s a train and guided walks and fast food; very theme park really.
Nonetheless, you cannot take away from the splendour of the Falls themselves. Another reminder of Mother Nature at her most majestic.
We stayed at a great little hotel, the Rio Tropic. They were so helpful. Just another example of Argentinian courtesy. Except for our border crossing, and subsequent passport control episode when first re-entering, many of the locals could not be more helpful.
We only had 24 hours in Iguazu, so we made the most of it. To the point where we got changed at the airport into dry clothes, before loading the bags and boarding for our last internal fight to Buenos Aires…