Where Does Time Go?

Happy Birthday to my beloved son Anton who turned 21 today. I look at these photos and can't believe how quickly time has gone. My little boy is a man now! One thing hasn't changed though, he is still the most beautiful human being I have ever met. I am so proud of him and how the world is better because he is in it. I love you my son, you are such a treasure. I hope you will be as happy in your adult life as you were in your childhood/adolescence and youth. Be happy, that is all we need to be!

Father's Day and Spring in Melbourne

Today is the first day of Spring in Melbourne and to celebrate the beautiful weather, the mower rattled over the weeds and white little flowers in the yard and left the lawns looking green and fresh. The aroma of freshly cut grass refreshed the house and left me feeling energised.
After gardening it was time to go out into town and celebrate Father's Day. Lots on interesting things happened, the most notorious was walking by this street performer who upon seeing us asked Ric if he knew something about computers...the poor guy had to troubleshoot even on his day off. Hilarious!!
Loved seeing these locks on the bridge...I had this thought that it would be a collection of secrets, but upon inspecting them up close I noticed that everyone of them has a couple's name on it...I guess the idea being that once is there and you throw the key in the water, the love stays there forever..kind of romantic.

Energised by Art

I really feel energised after visiting an Art Gallery, I think it stirs something at the core of my soul. We went to Federation Square (Ian Potter Gallery) and watched an interesting exhibition of film and photography called Suburban by artist Ian Strange. I really liked the film, shown it three screens it featured these houses from different angles, close ups and far with music that added to the atmosphere. The houses, painted by the artist prior to filming, really depicted something odd in the midst of suburbia. There was an uneasiness to it, seeing the camera roll and take in these images (without our prior knowledge that the artist had painted them). The film lasted 8 minutes and builds up the tension until one of the houses burns to the ground. Recommend people to see it, it is free.

Very Funny

In the Midst of Winter

How cold and rainy it was this weekend! No matter, winter won't stop us from getting out there. Despite the rain and seriously cold weather, we still did our Sunday walk to the heart of Melbourne and savoured a deliciously bitter long black by the banks of the Yarra river.
We also happened to stumble on an amazing photo exhibition on sustainability at Federation Square. I would hardly recommend people to go see it except that it ended today. Accompanying the images were pages of interesting facts about our city and sustainability. It really inspire me to continue my work with my students on the topic this week.

Que frio y lluvioso que estuvo este fin de semana! No importo, el invierno no nos parara. Seguiremos saliendo, y disfrutando de los espacios abiertos. A pesar de la lluvia y el frio, aun salimos a hacer nuestra caminata dominguera hasta el corazon de Melbourne y disfrutamos de un delicioso y amargo cafe negro a las orillas del rio Yarra.
Tambien nos encontramos de casualidad con una exhibicion fotografica sobre el medio ambiente en Federation Square. Recomendaria que la vieran, pero lamentablemte terminaba hoy. Acompanando las imagenes habia paginas y paginas de informacion sobre nuestra ciudad y ecologia.

Weekend in Melbourne

I think I can say with a 99.9% accuracy that Grill'd has the best chips I tasted in Melbourne. They are served always hot, crunchy, golden and sprinkled with oregano. I really love them! We enjoyed them on Saturday afternoonish as late lunch after I paid a visit to Casa Iberica to fill my cupboard with yerba mate and dulce de leche. I also bought a packet of a delicious bizcochitos con grasa to have with my mate. What are those bizcochitos you may ask...well, they are a type of savoury biscuit probably cooked with far too much butter or lard or something that makes them very tasty and that is surely really bad for you. However, I must admit that there is no better combination that drinking hot mates with these bizcochitos. 

On Sunday I had a day of abstinence and ate nothing. I also went to the gym and walked to the city. I took this photo of the view by the banks of the Yarra river. I was sort of mesmerised looking at how beautiful and peaceful our city really is. I have now recharged to start a new week.

Tathra: Winter Holidays 2013

This year for our winter holidays we went to Tathra, NSW. Tathra is a very small coastal town just 30 km past Merimbula. This year we went without Anton, who had to stay back for work. So the two of us headed off with new music in the car and had a different kind of holiday, just by ourselves. It's really very unusual to travel by yourself after your kids have grown up. It's nice, because you don't have to worry about them being entertained, but you have to find yourself again. It is kind of a soul searching holiday. I guess you get used to it, but it must take time. 

Este ano para las vacaciones de invierno nos fuimos a Tathra, NSW. Tathra es un pueblito costero muy chico a 30 km de Merimbula. Este ano fuimos win Anton, quien se tuvo que quedar en Melbourne por razones laborales. Asique los dos partimos con nueva musica para el auto y tuvimos unas vacaciones un poquito diferentes, los dos solos. Es como raro viajar solos despues de que los hijos crecen. Es lindo, porque uno no tiene que preocuparse por el entretenimiento de ellos, pero es raro porque se extrana y uno se siente como por la mitad y uno tiene que encontrarse a si mismo otra vez. Es como una especie de busqueda...supongo que uno se acostumbra, pero debe llevar tiempo.

We really enjoyed the trip, as usual, talking, listening to new music and looking at the scenery, which really improves after a few hours into the trip. We stopped a couple of times, once to buy coffee and pastries for breakfast in a small town on the way, which I forgot the name now, and another in Lakes Entrance to stretch our legs. When we arrived, we were once again mesmerised by the beauty of this place, amazing beach, perfect waves and sunny skies. We did a lot of bush walking and discovered hidden beauties. We also did lots of cooking in the cabin and relaxing. I read my book, had coffees and had an amazing time. Here are some photos of our holiday.

La verdad que disfrutamos mucho el viaje, como siempre, hablando, esuchando musica y mirando los paisajes, que empiezan a mejorar despues de unos cuantos cientos de km. Paramos un par de veces, una a comprar cafe y facturas para el desayuno y otra para estirar las piernas en Lakes Entrance. Cuando llegamos otra vez nos sorprendio la belleza de este lugar, las playas hermosas, las olas perfectas y los cielos celestes. Hicimos muchas caminatas y descubrimos lugares escondidos. Tambien cocinamos mucho en la cabana, lei mi libro, tomamos cafes y la pasamos barbaro. Aca hay algunas fotos de las vacaciones.

Day 2

Day 3

On the way back...