Lights Festival

What a great idea to dress an ugly building with beautiful light. The Light Festival was on this weekend in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. As you walked along the street you could see different surfaces being used as projection screens. Shop windows, walls, and buildings showed a variety of images. By far the best were those projections on the face of these ugly old housing buildings. The Festival runs till the 29th July. The photos are blurry cause I only had my son's camera with me.

Que buena idea la de usar arte para vestir un edicificio feo con luces. El Fesival de luces y proyecciones abrio este fin de semana en Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. El festival utiliza superficies de todo tipo para usar como pantallas de proyeccion. Vidrieras, paredes, pisos y esculturas cambiaban su apariencia mientras uno caminaba. Una de las mejores fueron las proyecciones sobre este viejo edificio de alojamiento el cual se transformaba delante de nuesstros ojos. El festival esta hasta el 29 de Julio por la calle Gertrude. Las fotos estan todas movidas porque solo tenia la camara de Anton conmigo.

Wet and Cold and Sick of Traffic

What a dreadful day it was yesterday! Wet, cold and very unappealing. I went with Ric to Chapel Street in Windsor to take his guitar amp back to the store to get it fixed. The way there was tolerable (at 2.30ish pm), still quite a lot more traffic that what one would like on a wet day. We found a parking spot easily (to our surprise) and once the amp was sorted we headed back towards Punt Road to come back on the Eastern Freeway, thinking this will be the quickest way to come back home. Man! How mistaken we were! The traffic crawl all the way from High Street to the freeway and then once on the freeway it kept crawling like a struggling metal snake trying to find a warm spot. It was simply awful. I really don't understand how people can cope with this everyday of their lives whilst commuting to work. Please Melbourninans, let's do something about it. Hours and hours of your life are simply lost inside your little metal cube.

Mandalay Bay (Vietnamese food)

We love this restaurant. It's called Mandalay Bay and it is on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. The place is nothing special, the decor very bright and simple, but the food is delicious and so cheap!!! We went twice this holidays and tried different dishes. The good thing about Vietnamese food is that is spicy without being too hot and it is not very oily.

Nos encanta ester restaurant llamado Mandalay Bay en Brunswick Stree, Fitzroy. El lugar no es nada especial, la decoracion muy brillante (verdes y amarillos) y sencilla, pero la comida es deliciosa y tan barata! Fuimos dos veces estas vacaciones y probamos cosas diferentes. Lo bueno de la comida vietnamita es que esta bien condimentada pero no muy picante y no es para nada aceitosa! 

Boredom leads to Gastronomy

One thing is for sure, cooking helps get rid off the boredom blues. Not sure what is going on this holidays, but I feel quite unmotivated and very house-bound. I don't feel like doing much and three times I cancelled plans to go to Lorne. May be that I simply need the rest and my body is making me listen to its needs. I have been busy re-decorating my home. Bought a couple of new things, re-arranged furniture and cleaned some cupboards in my kitchen. That has kept me busy, except of course for the odd afternoon when all was done and I didn't know that to do. It just so happened that Anton was in the same boat, so we decided to bake choc-chip cookies. Here is an easy recipe. It is just worth making them for their baking aroma.

Una cosa es segura, cocinar ayuda a sacudir los blues del aburrimiento. No estoy segura que me esta pasando estas vacaciones pero me siento bastante unmotivada y muy apegada al hogar. No tengo ganas de hacer mucho y tres veces cancele la salida a Lorne. Debe ser que simplemente necesito el descanso y mi cuerpo me esta haciendo que lo escuche. Me mantuve ocupada re-decorando mi casa. Compre un par de cosas nuevas, di vuelta los muebles y limpie algunos armarios de la cocina. Eso me mantuvo bastante ocupada, exceptuando la rara tarde cuando todo estaba hecho y no sabia como ocupar el tiempo. Se dio justo que Anton estaba en la misma situacion y nos pusimos a hacer galletitas con pedacitos de chocolate. Puedo traducir la receta si alguien lo pide. Vale la pena hacerlas solo por el aroma que dejan en la cocina.

Choc-chip cookies recipe:

200 g butter (softened, but not melted!)
1 tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
self rising flour (not sure the amount, but you will
know when you don't need anymore)
1 pk choc-chips (I prefer Cadbury)

Precedure

Pre-heat oven and butter a few trays

1- Soften the butter in a bowl
2- Stir in condensed milk
3- Add vanilla essence
4- Sift flour in and mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes too hard to stir
5- Fold in 3/4 of the choc-chips
6- Add flour until the dough resembles playdough and you can knead it with your hands
7- Roll into a thick cylinder
8- you can cut 2cm slices with a knife or alternatively you can break pieces of the dough with your hands, roll them in the palm of your hands and place on tray
9- Add the remaining choc-chips on top of the cookies
10- Bake in a moderate oven aproximately 10 minutes or until golden

ENJOY

Walking around Melbourne in the Freezing Cold

What a cold day today! I think I saw the sun for about 15 minutes and then it hid behind a thick grey cloud, leaving only the blue hue of a freezing day underneath. Rugged up and armed with a strong will I left the warmth of the house, caught the bus and headed to the city. Got off at Fitzroy Gardens and walked across to Federation Square. The park looked so winterly with fresh new mulch just laid out and no leaves on the boughs above.

Que dia frio hoy! Creo que vi el sol por solo 15 minutos esta manana y despues se escondio detras de una capa gruesa de nubes grises, dejando por debajo solo el color azulado de un dia helado. Abrigada y armada de una enorme fuerza de voluntad deje el calorcito del hogar, tome el colectivo y fui hasta la city. Nos bajamos en Fitzroy Gardens y lo cruzamos hacia Federation Square. El parque se veia than invernal con tierra fresca recien puesta y ni una hoja en las ramas de los arboles.


At Fed Square we visited a gallery and bought a couple of funky key-rings at the ACMI shop. I love the design of that new space, it looks so modern and awesome. It made me think that I would really enjoy designing interior spaces like that. Maybe in my next life.

En Fed Square visitamos una galeria y compramos unos llaveritos copados en el negocio de ACMI. Me encanta el diseno de ese nuevo espacio, se ve tan moderno y colorido. Me hizo pensar en cuanto disfrutaria si mi profesion fuera disenar espacios como ese, quiza en mi otra vida.


On the walk back through Fitzroy we had a coffee and crepe at the French Fraperie and stopped at Casa Iberica for some yerba mate, dulce de leche and quince paste. Now watching The Tour of France to finish the night.

En el camino de vuelta a traves de Fitzroy tomamos un capuccino con un panqueque en la Panquequeria Francesa y paramos en Casa Iberica a comprar yerba, dulce de leche y membrillo. Ahora miro el Tour de France para terminar la noche.

A little sunshine

I guess I was lucky to have been at the right place, at the right time to capture a little ray of sunshine as it filtered through the thick grey clouds above. No Photoshop, simply good camera control :)

My Birthday

Another birthday has passed wrapped in the bustle and hustle of a busy working day. I had early parent-teacher interviews, a normal school day and after school interviews as well, but starting from the early morning I had beautiful surprises. My son made me pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast even though he was on uni holidays and only got up at 6.30 am to surprise me with a lovely breakie.
At school my students fought their way into the room to be the first to give me a card, or flowers or a present  and tried hard to behave and be extra good for me on my birthday. I shared some cup-cakes with them and cake with the staff and came home to a delicious 'merienda' and a table full of presents including a Spanish delight of chorizo, jamon serrano and dulce de leche. My husband and son bought me a gorgeous handbag, just like I wanted, a pair of boots, an awesome picture for my kitchen and a thermal t-shirt to keep warm. They took me to Lygon Street for dinner and ice-cream at the Argentinian ice-cream place, "Jauja", where I had the best dulce de leche con sal icecream. When I came home I had some lovely phone calls from my sisters, parents and in-laws to complete the day and blew a candle on a cake baked my husband. It was a really nice birthday, thank you for making it so special for me.


Otro cumpleaños ha pasado envuelto en el caos y el bullicio de un ajetreado día de trabajo. Tuve entrevistas con padres temprano a la manana, un día normal de escuela y después de clases mas entrevistas, pero asi y todo desde la manana temprano, tuve hermosas sorpresas. Mi hijo me hizo panqueques con jarabe de arce (maple syrup) para el desayuno a pesar de que el estaba de vacaciones de la universidad y sólo se levantó a las 6.30 para sorprenderme con un desayuno especial. En la escuela mis alumnos se apuraban para ser los primeros en darme una tarjeta, o flores o un regalo y trataron de comportarse y de ser extra buenos para mí en mi cumpleaños. Compartí algunas tortitas con ellos y la torta con mis colegas y volvi a casa para uns deliciosa 'merienda' y una mesa llena de regalos, incluyendo una delicia española de chorizo, jamón serrano y dulce de leche. Mi marido y mi hijo me compraron una cartera preciosa, exactamente como la que yo quería, un par de botas, un cuadro lindismo para mi cocina y una camiseta térmica para mantener el calor. Me llevaron a la calle Lygon para la cena y helado en la heladeria Argentina, "Jauja", donde tome el mejor helado de dulce de leche con sal (que ahora me doy cuenta es el ingrediente differente del helado de La Veneciana). Cuando llegué a casa tuve algunas llamadas telefónicas hermosas de mis hermanas, padres y suegros para completar el día y sople una vela en una torta hecha por mi marido. Fue un cumpleaños muy lindo, gracias por hacerlo tan especial para mí.

Winter is here, inevitably.

I must confess to be a winter lover. I'm not so sure if it is because of my hatred for hot weather, because I love wearing more than one layer of clothing or because I was born in winter. I heard once that you tend to love the season you are born in, I always wondered if this was true for everyone. Perhaps there is something that one unconsciously remembers from the first moments into the world, when the simple things like a mother's cuddle or a full tummy was all that mattered.

I must admit though that I prefer very cold but sunny days and not grey, dull and wet ones, like the ones we have been having for so long. I have been feeling a little dull lately without anything exciting on the weekends to look forward to. It is like we had dropped from the high of travelling and now this feeling of being stuck is getting to me. I want to go somewhere on the winter holidays, even if it is for a couple of days to see the open road, the countryside and the ocean. Yes, the ocean. I think I miss the ocean.

Debo confesar que soy una amante del invierno. No estoy seguro si es por mi odio de la temperatura excedidamente calurosa, porque me gusta usar mas de una capa de ropa o porque naci en invierno. Una vez escuche que uno tiende a amar la estacion en la que nacio, siempre me pregunte si esto es cierto para la mayoria de las personas. A lo mejor hay algo que uno inconcientemente recuerda de sus primeros momentos en este mundo, cuando las simples cosas como el calor de la madre o un estomago lleno de leche era todo lo que importaba.


Admito que prefiero esos dias invernales super frios pero soleados. No como los dias grises, opacos y mojados como los que estamos teniendo desde hace un tiempo ya. Me siento un poco opaca yo misma sin nada planeado entretenido para hacer los fines de semana. Es como caimos de la altura que nos dio el viajar casi semanalmente a algun lado por tanto tiempo y ese sentimiento de encierro me esta tocando. Quiero ir a algun lado este invierno, aunque sea por un par de dias a ver la ruta, el campo y el oceano. Si, el oceano. Creo que extrano el oceano.

Bad Weather

Despite the bad, horrible, cold, rainy weather we managed to squeeze two short outings this weekend. The first on Saturday afternoon to The Fitz, where we had some tapas (calamari, chips and meatballs). We stayed sitting there looking out the window for a while as the rain kept falling thicker by the minute. The outfits people wear in Fitzroy are quite a sight, so entertainment is always available. On Sunday the rain eased so we caught the bus to Fitzroy Gardens and walked to Federation Square to visit the designers market. Such lovely things to see there, but not terribly affordable. Fitzroy Gardens looked like a gigantic postcard. The last leaves strongly hanging on to the trees not letting go of the life supply.

A pesar de la lluvia y el frio nos las arreglamos para hacer un par de saliditas cortas este fin de semana. La primera, el sabado a la tardecita al Fitz cafe a comer unas tapas ( calamares, papas fritas y albondigas). Nos sentamos ahi un buen rato mirando por la ventana, ya que la lluvia no nos invitaba a salir. Siempre hay algo para mirar ahi, gente con ropa super rara, que atrae atencion y que son una forma de entretenimiento. El domingo la lluvia paro asique tomamos el colectivo hasta los jardines Fitzroy y caminamos hasta Federation Square para visitar la feria de los disenadores. Cosas muy lindas para mirar pero muy caras para comprar. Fitzroy Gardens parecian una postal gigante, con las hojas de los arboles todavia colgadas no dejando que el suministro de vida se desvanesca.