My Day in the City

AKA Christmas in Melbourne AKA The Heatwave AKA I Went to the Cat Cafe Again ??! AKA Severe Photospam

It was more like a half-day really, and it was very hot (it reached 39oC / 102oF), but it was one of the most enjoyable days I'd had in a long time.

I had a coffee at Melbourne Central and picked up a book from the Little Library before heading out to the Cat Cafe. (The book was The Stone Menagerie by Ann Fine.) There were several of these neon Christmas trees throughout the shopping centre. It wasn't as dark in there as it looks in the photo!

A sign of things to come ...

This lovely pastel wreath in the window of a bar caught my eye on the way there:

The cats were all sleepy and sluggish in the heat -- who can blame them! I spent the time sitting with them, researching a few things on the internet and writing a few poems.

The Cafe has a big Christmas Tree with cat-toy ornaments. So cute!

HOT.

Next I took the tram out to the Alexandra Gardens and went for a walk around.

This is the first time I've seen the floral clock up close in years! That's parsley all around the edge. The colours of the flowers were stunning in the bright sunlight.

I sat in a shady spot for a while and read, and wrote some haiku. There were a family of ducks that were just adorable! But they climbed out of the water and went to nap under some bushes before I thought to take a photo of them.

This Japanese maple looked incredible against the bright green background.

It was lunchtime, and I decided to walk back into the city proper instead of taking the tram. It's only 3 blocks, but it was 39oC after all!

I'm glad I did walk, because I got to see the lego Christmas Tree at Federation Square.

One boy of about 12 ran up to it, had a quick glance and said, "hmph, it's made out of pieces that are larger than normal!" and walked off again. I was impressed, though. And it was cool seeing it on the big screen in the square.

Really hot.

All of the trees along the City Square had Christmas-themed yarn bombing on them! I've seen a lot of yarn-bombing on the trees around the Town Hall lately, so I can only assume it's council-approved. It was particularly delightful to see the red and green colours with snowflake motifs, etc.

One man saw me taking a photo of the trees. He turned around to see what I was taking a picture of, and did a double-take with a WTF look on his face. I couldn't help laughing.

For lunch I went to Go Go Sushi on Swanston Street. It's been a couple of years since I've had sushi train, and I have to admit that I ate way too much. But it was so fun. They even had plates with mochi balls and dorayaki on them.

There were several families with children in, and it was fun watching the way they reacted to the platesful of various exotic items. Afterwards I met up with some friends I normally only see once a year, at Christmas. We always talk about our past year and what might be in store for us next year. One thing is sure, I'd like to have more days like this!