spring in melbourne.

Spring is finally here! We've been getting more sunshine and blue skies, and warmer weather, although it's not very consistent - some days get up to 80 degrees fahrenheit, other days it's in the 60's. And also, there's more wind - if that's even possible. For some reason, nobody really talks about how windy it gets here. So, take it from me: Melbourne is WINDY. Year-round. 

Here are some random Spring pictures from around town:

Halloween was pretty uneventful for us. I'm sure there were all sorts of fun activities to do around Melbourne, but we're lazy old people, so we stayed in and watched Donnie Darko to celebrate. 

our local grocery store got all decked out for the holiday...

Spring is a time for some pretty big sporting events here, such as the AFL Finals. We still have no idea how to follow Footy, but we decided to visit Federation Square to see the crowd of people gathered in front of the outdoor screen.

huge crowd watching the AFL Finals on the big screen at Fed Square

November 4th was Melbourne Cup Day - a horse racing event known as "the race that stops the nation." Beginning in the mid 1800's in the midst of the gold rush, the event attracted thousands of people from all over Australia and is now an annual public holiday in Victoria, normally held on the first Tuesday of every November. The holiday seems quite controversial nowadays (like most holidays I suppose), due to protests of animal cruelty. We didn't attend the race, but decided to check out the Cup parade in the CBD the day before. We saw lots of previous winning horses, jockeys and their families riding on cars, local celebrities, and even a rousing dance number from the musical "Newsies."

Melbourne Cup parade

A few months ago, I won some free tickets to see an exhibit at the State Library of Victoria. "Victor Hugo: Les Miserables - From Page to Stage" featured the life story of Victor Hugo and his writing, various artwork inspired by the time period and events of Les Miserables, and the history of its various screen and stage adaptations, including Boublil and Schonberg's broadway musical. I've been a huge fan of the musical for years, so it was a lot of fun for me to see the costumes, photos, and posters from productions from around the world. It's pretty incredible how a story about such a specific historical event has touched so many people from different backgrounds. Nice job, Hugo.

"Les Miserables - From Page to Stage" exhibition at the State Library of Victoria

the inside of the State Library of Victoria is pretty cool

Anyway, that's all for now!

CK