Turtle and Sarah’s adventures in Melbourne – Part 1

03 Jul Turtle and Sarah’s adventures in Melbourne – Part 1

Hooray!! Hooray 🙂 I am pretty sure that Turtle is visiting Melbourne this July. 🙂 He did tell me we could meet in July (many months ago now). Yesterday, I thought to myself ‘Well it is JULY now!!’ And ((now)) I believe that he is HERE!! How exciting is THAT?! ((yay))

I’m not sure when he arrived, exactly, but yesterday (later in the afternoon), after I found that he was here (excited, jump up and down emoji!) he was saying ‘Vietnam’, and I wasn’t quite SURE what he meant by that!

Me being me, I suggested we meet up for a drink in the afternoon. I didn’t hear back from him saying he would come, but I went to the pub anyway. And it was a FUN adventure!!

THE NAPIER HOTEL, Fitzroy

I chose the Napier Hotel because it was such a frosty afternoon in Melbourne, and my idea was to go somewhere with a fire. When I turned up, it was warm and cosy inside. I checked out the different rooms (as you would). I was a bit early (deliberately), because I wanted to get my bearings before (and if) Turtle arrived.

I sat in a lovely room with a fire in it. I drank a pint of beer which I don’t remember the name of, but had a green label, and sat in there, facing the entry, reading the news and drinking my beer.

I was actually so absorbed in what I was reading that I barely noticed that 5:30 pm came and went, and Turtle wasn’t THERE! I figured that he wasn’t coming (he didn’t SAY he would come), and said as much to him, via our methods of communication.

He communicated back, and I thought he might have said that he was in the CBD. (It can be confusing sometimes!! Heh)

Dinner at the Napier Hotel

After I finished my beer, my mind turned to FOOD. And as I overheard someone say something about supporting our community, I decided to stay and eat. The specials board in another little room (they have a networked system of smaller rooms, just like in those old hotels in Australia), had some tasty-sounding meaty dishes on it, but when I looked at their main menu, I couldn’t go past the Spaghetti Marinara.

I also bought a glass of Tempranillo that the bar person suggested. It had a little sweetness to it. So lovely!

The spaghetti was something else!! So yummy. .. The seafood was exquisitely fresh and included shellfish, scallops, some fish and a little calamari. The sauce was a light and tasty garlic and parsley herb sauce, and the whole thing was a wonderful sensory experience. It was a little too much food for me, but I didn’t want to waste the incredible morsels of seafood, so I ate all of it. (I thought that perhaps cafes and restaurants make BIGGER serves (often) because they may be feeding a MAN, and so, , , for a woman, it can be a little bit MUCH!)

The chef at the Napier has been there for 10 years (already!?) so he clearly knows a thing or two about how to make these incredibly delicious plates. The specials looked interesting (if somewhat meaty), but I did feel partial to a duck stew (perhaps). I am trying to be good though, and eat as much vegetarian (or sometimes pescatarian) food as possible.

It was such a lovely meal!

After dinner in the city

After I had finished my glass of wine, I began my journey home. It was pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that I went on a spending SPREE in the green super on the way home, hehe. All I wanted was some chocolate, cookies and maybe some baked beans. I came out with three BAGS FULL (hehe) of all sorts of wonderful things to make my home nice and to warm my cockles.

We chatted a little before bed, and then I took Balthazar and hugged him tight to fall asleep.

It was an unusual night sleep, because I had some visions of shadows of plants that were dancing in front of my eyes, and a few other night disturbances.

Now it is the 3rd of July 2024 and I am excited. What will the day BRING??