On Wednesday, we had stopped at small gift shop in one of the little lanes that slip in and out of Melbourne’s bigger streets. Steve had noticed an interesting shop there on a previous day and wanted to find a particular item. While the incredibly nice owner didn’t stock it, she did re commend another shop in a multi-story mixed retail and office mall right next to the lovely Novotel hotel we had decamped to when the A/C situation had not been resolved in our accommodation and it and I were becoming impossible to live with.

Well, we found another nice shopping mall with many very upscale shops, but we couldn’t figure out where this “all-Australian made” shop was. We took an elevator up to the third floor and found ourselves in a warren of specialist doctors and solicitors offices. So, we went back down again, and tried another elevator and again, seemed to enter a Dickensian world where we expected that we might me the learned Messrs. Jarndyce and Jarndyce and their way to the Assizes. But we did not lose faith in our quest and continued down passages and found our way to the establishment. We found a delightful young lady to help us and several souvenirs to bring home. As we were preparing to leave, she mentioned that we might consider leaving by an alternate route to admire some stained-glass windows that had been left in-place in a stairwell used mostly by tenants of the building, but open to all. Below are 4 of the windows we saw as we walked down the three floors of steps.

This was just another example of the “cool stuff” we encountered during our days in Melbourne. Speaking of cool stuff, as we were on our “walkabout,” we noticed two more pieces of public art in the CBD.

As you can see, the first one was being enjoyed by some shoppers and I have not found any information on it. This art piece was commissioned by the Grollo – Ruzzene Foundation to commemorate Italian Immigration and all migrants, to Australia. It is called “The Reuniting Family. I was absolutely touched by it and its universality.

To close off the early part of the day, we crossed the Yarra River again found our way to Marvel Stadium, where what we and our Aussie cousins call soccer and their version of what we call football is also played. Visions of finally purchasing my Australia Sockeroos tee shirt danced in my head.

Foiled again, upon arriving at the entrance level of the stadium, we found it undergoing extensive renovations and the stadium shop long gone! We did find a place to buy a bottle of water, though and had a good think and a bit of a chuckle about our pick first and review the information later approach to “spur of the moment” choices. On our way down to a nearby tram station to take us back toward our hotel, we did notice a couple of impressive views across the river from the stadium.

There is always something worth looking at in Melbourne, even if it is not what you expected to see.

We had decided to make time for a bit of an afternoon rest since my deal friend Lesley who hails from the Edenborough Scotland region, but settled in Normandy, France had arranged for us to meet her friend Lita, a local lady from a Melbourne exurb. Lita had once been a member of a local government Council and had met Lesley when she worked for Caen City. For those who have not heard the tale, I met Lesley when I first started working on the Alexandria, VA-Caen, France Sister City Committee. As Lita and I will both attest, you meet Lesley and very quickly become part of her extended family and start making connections. Lesley and her two incredible daughters are certainly part of my extended family today.

Lita was a charming, funny, enjoyable and generous dinner companion that Steve and I both enjoyed. She met us at Kenzan Japanese Restaurant and the food there, like the conversation, was fantastic. We had some great laughs and I think both Steve

and I learned a bit more about Australia and Australians and I learned something more about single parents of adult children as that is something that my two dinner companions have in common, very successful adult sons. Lita and I agreed that we would love it if we could all meet next time in Normandy. I think I’ve convinced Steve that he needs to get there too, though I know it has been on his list. Sorry for no picture of the three of us, a bit too much Champagne I suspect. We’ll get one with Lesley next time we are all together!

As I prepared to begin blogging today, I realized I had a small group of pictures from our visit to the Koorie Heritage Centre, another interesting building in a great new civic space called Federation Square, near the venerable railway station and close to the Yarra River which Steve and I have enjoyed during our Melbourne days. The Koorie Centre has space for temporary exhibitions of work by local indigenous artists as well as a place for indigenous elders and experts on traditional crafts. We were a bit disappointed that we had missed the most recent exhibition, but Steve and I both like the gift shop. Steve liked it a lot!

There were several interesting works of art on display at the centre that I thought you might want to see.

Sorry I missed these in the previous blog. I hesitate to call it “yesterday’s blog,” because we crossed the International Date Line again today and I’m not really sure how to measure the past few days, let alone sync my watch, android phone, and fitbit app.

So, this edition will speak of ACCA, MRC, Koorie, and of course, Australia’s royal family. On another beautiful morning in Melbourne, a fully recovered Steve and I decided we would visit the Australian Center for Contemporary Art (or ACCA). This had proved to be a tough place to get to and find open for various reasons but, at last we made it! It is housed in an interesting building.

This is how ACCA describes its current exhibition: “Data Relations brings together artist-led projects that lyrically wrestle with some of the key issues and challenges of our contemporary data-driven society. The exhibition includes major new commissions and site-specific installations by Australian and international artists and collectives who critically and speculatively engage with the ways in which the data economy and related technological developments manifest in inter-personal and wider social relationships.”

This is how I describe it— it blew my mind! Looking at these installations through my perspective of how the digital world has grown from infancy during the beginning of my professional career to where it is the subject of philosophical musings that covered topics including surrogacy, how data is being misused, using data as a memorialization of people whose lives are disappeared or destroyed by totalitarian regimes, to data retraining our ways of using words and feelings. I had a few moments to discuss my reactions with one of the young staff members who seemed genuinely interested and excited at my reaction to the exhibition.

On our way back toward the Central Business District (CBD) we noticed several interesting buildings (yes that greenish thing in the middle of the center photo is a building), see below. I particularly liked the Melbourne Recital Center and a couple of skyscrapers that were in the Melbourne Arts Precinct.

Our next stop was at the edge of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. We had noticed a lovely floral clock on our way out to the ACCA and wanted to get a picture of it on our way back. I noticed a statue behind the clock, of and we soon found that it was King George VI, the son of Queen Victoria.

Below, a small island in the garden, a folly, and some roses.

And finally, for this session, this interesting piece of public sculpture called the Genie. It reminded me of my dear friend Jeanne Green. Melbourne, like every city we have visited in this wonderful country has a wealth of public art in its streets, plazas and public gardens. I have one or two more posts to do, but it is now time to close for today.

As we continued our unsuccessful battles with our rotten, no-good host over the non-working A/C, a day out seemed a good idea. Melbourne, like London, is a great city for walking about and exploring. After wandering down a few small streets and byways, I found myself across from Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral.

By now, you know me and a good cathedral, so in I went. Needless to say, it is a lovely place, and I enjoyed my visit. I do regret not taking a picture of the full immersion baptismal pool at the back of the church. This looked like “the real deal, at first glance, I thought it might have been the top of a stairway to a crypt or something. Getting closer, I realized, it was, indeed a baptismal (or christening) pool. Below are a few pictures I did take.

Above, two traditional and one modern stained-glass windows, plus a look at the lovely floor tiles in the cathedral.

What better way to balance the day than a quick tram ride to the Australian Sports Museum, located at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The approach to the grounds and museum is through lovely, landscaped grounds, including this tree canopied walkway.

The museum is surrounded by statues of Australian sports heroes.

Above are two exhibits and photos typical in the museum. It also contains plenty of interactive games for “kids” of all ages. Like most of the museums I have been to in Australia, this one definitely caters to young folks and would be the kind of place that children would want to return to.

These three photos represent, for me, the whimsical side of the museum and made the visit fun, as well as educational. The little cricket figure on the right will be remembered because just after I took his picture, a little girl with blonde curls was so excited to see him she ran up and hugged him–Another magic Aussie moment for me,