Mellow Melbourne

As Geoff had never been to Melbourne before, we made sure to check out at least a little bit of the city while we were there.  

We met our walking tour mid-afternoon (perhaps not the smartest time considering the 35 degree temperature) at Federation Square, the major meeting place in Melbourne.  The Square, like many of the other landmarks and walkways in the city, was designed to reflect the city's cultural diversity.  The Square’s design, however, has been controversial, coming in well-above the budgeted price tag and generating mixed reviews about final look (which we felt looked a little too much like the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Berlin, a beautiful building but certainly not one which was meant to feel inviting and comfortable).  Nonetheless, Melbourne make great use of the Square, with lots of people out watching the tennis matches playing on a big screen.

Melbourne is known for its active sports and arts scenes.  There are stadiums, sports grounds and big parks all around the city and there are several galleries and nightly music/band options all over town.  A unique part of Melbourne is the alley culture, with lots of little hidden streets sporting hip and funky restaurants and bars.  Some of these alleys have actually been turned into pedestrian streets and are lined with all types of restaurants and coffee shops.

Embracing its promotion of the arts, many of these alleys showcase "street art" (different than graffiti because it is allowed/encouraged/commissioned), where local talents can come and design.  The street art changes frequently as new people come to make their mark. 

Melbourne, similar to Canada, is a diverse city, made up primarily of immigrants.  And similar to Canada, Melbourne has embraced the great parts of these different cultures into all aspects, and considers this blend of ethnicities to be its city's culture.  Perhaps this explains why they are known as one of the friendliest cities in the world…   

Neon Lights

There was a definite and unexpected wardrobe trend for all Nike-sponsored tennis players  – neon yellow and pink.  Some people took the neon too far….

Aussie Awesomeness...

You would never have guessed it was just the first week of the Australian Open.  People were playing to win.  Even unseeded players forced the top ranked players to perform their best.  

Maria Sharapova went to the 7 games and 3 sets to beat countrywoman Panova, Federer took 4 sets to beat his opponent in Round 2, and Kohlschreiber went down to hometown favourite, Tomic.   Canadians Bouchard and Raonic powered through their rounds, with Bouchard winning her second round match in less than an hour and Raonic playing serves in the high 220km/hr range.  

Our new tennis fave, Goran Ivansevic, took on the role of coach for Malek Taziri when he learned on the IPTL tour that Taziri was ranked 70^th in the world but didn’t have a coach and didn’t even train because there were no facilities in his home country of Tunisia.  With Goran’s main pupil, Marin Cilic, out of the tournament with an injury, Goran decided to stick around and work with Taziri.  Although he lost to local fan favourite Kyrgios in the third round, he played remarkably competitively – where this guy could go with some formal training!

The unexpected match for us, however, was Roger Federer versus Italian player, Seppi.  We thought it was going to be an easy match for Federer but after 3 hours playing in the blazing heat, Seppi won the game in four sets.  Federer, ever the sportsman, actually clapped for his competitor after a dramatic and thrilling tournament.

It was 50 hours of travel to get to Australia for just a four day stopover but the awesome tennis was totally worth it!

There was even a spot of controversy as the post-game interviewer demonstrated the cultural and gender sensitivity that Australians are famous for by asking the men about their tactics and strategy used to win their matches, while asking the women to twirl and show off their wardrobes. 

An Australian Fly By?

We have learned during our travels that we are real "enablers" of each other.  When sending in our ticket applications for Wimbledon just days before the deadline, we all of a sudden realized that the Australian Open was starting in January and wondered if we would have time to swing by quickly to see a few matches en route back to Dubai.  Normal people would have determined this to be a ridiculous idea – 50 hours of flying and a 19 hour time change just to see some tennis was simply ludicrous.  But, once one of us suggested it, the other jumped right on board and before we knew it we were looking into flights and hotels and how to get tickets.

The 25 hour commute from San Diego to Melbourne went by remarkably quickly.  We arrived at the hotel too early for our room to be ready but the Hotel Lindrum staff kindly allowed us to use the staff shower (with its pesky broken door) to freshen up.  Feeling surprisingly energetic, we headed out to get some lunch and wander around the city.  In fact, we were obviously so excited to be in Melbourne that we headed over to the Australian Open to see if we could get some last minute tickets to the matches that evening.

That evening, sitting in Margaret Court Arena, we saw two awesome matches.  The first match was admittedly less competitive with Serena Williams dominating her competitor.  But just seeing her in action was awesome - she is so powerful!  The second match was anything but a cake walk.  Fan favourite, Gael Monfils, was taking on fellow French newcomer, Lucas Pouille (who the crowd joyfully called “Pooey”) and lost the first two sets.  Perhaps because of the supportive crowd and because he “promised his parents he would play well this year”, Monfils fought back and won the last three sets to take the match.  This started what was going to be an incredible few days of tennis…

Equilibrium

Having picked up a few warmer clothes pieces for San Diego's cooler climate (and Dubai's oncoming winter season), we made a quick stop at the Salvation Army to donate some of our other pieces.   Our strict “one in, one out” policy is actually become a bit easier and Beth even embraced a “one in, TWO out” policy on this leg of the trip! (ED: this was by necessity as it was only through last minute bag rearranging of taking Beth's heavier items and stuffing them in Geoff's underweight suitcase that Beth was able to fly from Thailand to Dubai)

Guiding Lights

For our final free day in San Diego, we hiked over to Banker’s Hill for lunch and then headed up to Point Loma in search of whales. 

The southern tip of San Diego is part of the migration route for blue whales as they make their way south from Alaska and it is not unusual to see whales swimming through the water at this time of year.

 

Although we did not manage to spot any whales, we took the chance while we were up there to see the Cabrillo National Monument.   This statue commemorates the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, the head of the first European expedition that had set foot on the West Coast of the US.    Interestingly, there are no real records of exactly where the expedition landed but historical research pins this as the most likely spot!

Near the monument is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. The lighthouse was commissioned just 19 days after California became a state in 1850.  Its position at the highest peak of Point Loma, however, proved to be a challenge as the lighthouse was so high that it could not be seen by boats on foggy days.  As such, several years later a new lighthouse was commissioned on a lower plot of land.

The Lighthouse now stands as a museum highlighting the history of Point Loma and showcasing once again the role that women played in San Diego and beyond.  The Museum explained that managing lighthouses was one of the first leadership roles for women in the government.

Surprisingly, it was the drive to Point Loma that really made an impression.  The panoramic views stretched far and wide, allowing us to see not only Coronado Island from above but also Tijuana, Mexico, and beyond.  On the drive up, we also saw a number of military installations, such as coastal artillery batteries, as well as thousands of military graves covering the surrounding plains.  Reminiscent of Arlington Cemetery, the simple but elegant tombstones  run in precise rows, surrounded by beautiful gardens and the rushing water below.  A calm and peaceful resting place for those who served.

Haunted

As San Diego’s nightlife in mid-January was a little quiet, we decided to spruce things up one evening and take The Original Haunted San Diego Ghost Tour.

With fairly low expectations, we arrived at the tour departure point to find our tour guide dressed up as an 19^th century maid and wondered if we should quietly sneak away before the tour got started.

As we set off, however, to see "America’s Most Haunted House" and several other spooky properties around town, our tour guide masterfully wove puns and anecdotes into her ghost stories, making for an incredibly entertaining evening. We thought that Beth would have had her fill of wit and charm from her travelling companion, but she demonstrated a never-ending appetite as the most appreciative consumer of all the jokes that the tour guide could dole out.

Although we will never remember all the stories and details she told us, we will likely never forget how passionate our fellow tour mates were about the afterlife and just how many shows there are on television about ghost hunters.  Truly scary!

In the line of duty

San Diego has a very large military presence.  And the city has done a wonderful job in creating the USS Midway Museum so visitors and residents can learn more about the life of a Naval man.

The USS Midway, which carried approximately 200,000 sailors over the course of its active life, was the USA’s longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20^th century and sailed from 1945 to 1992.

Since its retirement, the enormous carrier has been turned into a museum and now offers people the opportunity to see the sailors' bunks, mess hall, laundry, post office, flight  control stations, ready rooms and lots of fighter jets that are housed on this enormous ship.

The audio guide that accompanied the tour offered excerpts from sailors and captains and really helped to give a sense of what life must have been like living on this ship.  Most surprising was the very close quarters of the 4,000 sailors who lived on the ship, with bunks stacked three rows high and each given just a small locker and drawer to store all of their belongings.  This was necessary, however, in order to accommodate all of the sailors as well as all of the tools, ammunition and the incredible number of jets and planes they needed for their missions.

The ship was a true design marvel. It was also great to see the MIA table, which is a table kept constantly set for those sailors Missing In Action. This serves as a reminder to all those serving of the danger they experience, and the importance of taking care of their fellow servicemen and their families.

A trip to the zoo...

The San Diego Zoo is a city landmark.  Developed in 1915 (another of the incredible 1915 San Diego Expo initiatives), the zoo pioneered the concept of the open-air "cage" in an attempt to recreate the animals' natural habitats as closely as possible.

Visiting the zoo with Duncan was a great way to see this key place in San Diego.  Duncan had a genuine enthusiasm for the monkeys and although he also found delight in activities such as picking seed buds out of the drains nearby, he showed a contagious enthusiasm and curiosity about the different animals and habitats.

As the zoo is so large, we were told that the best way to see it was via the bus tour, which takes you to almost 85% of the zoo.  As such, after strolling through the monkeys, gorillas and bird sanctuaries, we headed over to the bus depot to hop on the tour.

We clearly had the same idea as many others and so waited in line for almost an hour to get onto the bus.  In retrospect, we probably could have walked the zoo in almost that amount of time!  Creative Duncan, however, found a good way to pass the time, stretching himself out on the pavement to play with his trains.  He somehow slithered along the ground as we moved forward, helping to keep the line progressing without delay.  He was incredibly patient throughout when even Beth started to begin losing her patience about the long lines.  Perhaps she should have played with some trains too...

Sadly, the wait was likely not worth it, with the bus ride being less than inspired.  One side of the bus was clearly the right side to sit, showcasing almost all of the wildlife while the other side had very frequent views of the nearby highway and storage sheds.  Nonetheless, there was a redeeming feature of sitting on the "sub-optimal" side - getting to see the three polar bears run out of their resting spot and plunge into the cold water nearby.

Although the bus tour was a little disappointing, we were impressed with the layout of the zoo and the attempt to create more natural habitats for the wildlife.  We were also impressed at the number of volunteers onsite who were anxious to help you find your way and tell you more about the animals.  In fact, many of the volunteers spoke eloquently about the endangered animals and actually gave tips on how you could help save these animals simply through making better purchasing decisions.  This, equipped with a pamphlet outlining these ideas, made you feel like the zoo was genuinely interested in the well-being of these amazing animals.

Our final stop at the zoo was to visit the pandas.  They were smaller than we had imagined but no less adorable and they sat comfortably munching on their bamboo shoots while a long row of visitors wandered by to take a look.

Although we have mixed feelings about zoos, we really enjoyed our visit to this one and hope that they can make an important impact in protecting these endangered animals.

A step back in time....

With the sun shining, we headed over to Old Town to wander around this historic landmark and also check out the touristy handicrafts (Geoff was particularly excited about this part!).

Old Town is considered the "birthplace" of California, housing its first permanent settlement in 1769.  The original mission was built on the hillside overlooking what is now Old Town, a small Mexican community of adobe buildings lining the base of the hill.    In 1834, the Mexican government granted the small community the status of Pueblo, or chartered town, and although the town's population declined over time due to the town's far distance from the water, it remained the heart of the city until the 1860s when the current San Diego downtown began to develop.

Although it has an intimate feel to it, San Diego's Old Town actually has 9 hotels, 100 specialty shops, 12 art galleries and 27 historic buildings!  We naturally did not hit all of these landmarks, instead visiting a few of the key ones such as the old schoolhouse, the stables, the tin  shop, the court house and the Wells Fargo Bank Museum.

Boasting an original Concord Coach from the 1860s which showed the complexity of transporting money and people across the country, the Bank Museum highlighted the different way that banks conducted business 150 years ago. The most poignant piece for us was the large manual "photocopier" which through a continuous twisting motion could create a photocopy in only three minutes!

Although Geoff didn't buy any handicrafts, Natalie and Chantal did find a couple of trinkets to take home and Duncan made out with the best prize -  a churro snack and a handy new song about "beans" that helped him happily pass the time waiting for the slightly delayed train back to the Gas Lamp District.

Playing in the rain...

We were thrilled when our friend, Natalie (with son, Duncan, and sister, Chantal) were able to make it out to San Diego for a visit.

Although we wanted to welcome them with some warmer and sunnier weather than what they were currently experiencing in Toronto, their first full day was met with unseasonal rain, San Diego's first rainfall in 4 months!

Undeterred, they were troopers and continued with a full day of indoor and outdoor activities.  With an early start of 3am, they had already made an hour long trek to Target and visited the Model Railroad Museum before Beth met them in the late morning!

Lucky for us, the outdoor Spreckels Organ Concert in Balboa Park was scheduled to play "rain or shine", an unusual clause negotiated as part of the funding donation for the concerts.  As such, Natalie and Beth made their way over to the concert as Duncan and Chantal headed back to the Model Railroad museum for a second visit.  The concert was understandably sparsely attended, with many guests actually invited to sit up on the stage in appreciation of their dedication to attending even in the wet weather.  Nonetheless, we opted instead to stand under a nearby covered walkway to listen.  Drier and with an easier escape route if necessary, this definitely seemed the best option!

We stayed for about half the concert, impressed by the organ's diverse sounds.  It was almost overpowering during its more dramatic moments but subtle and understated during its quieter times.  In between pieces, the organist spoke at length about the intricacies of the organ, noting that each organ is unique with different sounds and even a different number of keys, making each experience a completely unique one.

Despite the rain, we took the opportunity to walk around some of the enormous park, taking in the botanical gardens, the large fountain and peaking at the Japanese Friendship Garden before heading into the Museum of Photographic Arts to take a look.

The Museum itself was fairly small but it boasted exquisite old photos from around the world.  It is hard to imagine photographers in the 1850s travelling to Egypt and setting up their cameras to take photographs of the vast desert.  What a challenging, lengthy and involved process that must have been.

We met up with Chantal and Duncan and headed to the park for a short visit.  Duncan loved his new Target "sand pails" and a friendly-looking plastic panda sculpture and was totally unphased by the grey weather.  He also loved the bus ride home, pointing out the traffic signals and stoplights and making sure that everyone had their tickets.

After an afternoon of conference calls and football, Geoff met us and we headed to Little Italy for some dinner.  The weather had dried and so we took the opportunity to sit outside.

Being a Sunday, the area was much quieter than the Friday night buzz we had enjoyed a couple of days prior but was still much better than the pure quiet we had experienced earlier in the week.  We had expected that January in San Diego is not the busiest time for tourists or eating out but were taken by surprise at just how quiet the historic downtown and surrounding areas can be during the week here.  You can honestly have a table in any restaurant and get tickets to any event.  Earlier in the week, for example, Beth and Geoff had gone to see a recent release and until the movie started were the only two people in the 400 person theater!

At the end of the first day, although Natalie, Chantal and Duncan had been very good sports about the awful weather, we walked home that night hoping that we had seen the last of the rain!

Coronado

Having heard great things about Coronado Island (which actually isn't just an island but rather a combination of an island and tombolo!), we headed over on the weekend to check it out.

The easiest and fastest way to get there is to take a ferry, which goes from the main harbor in the Gas Lamp District and takes about 15 minutes.  The ferry costs $4.50 but locals can use it for free at certain times to commute to work during the week.

We had arrived mid-morning, expecting to spend a couple of hours wandering in and out of the shops on the Island’s main drag, Orange Street, before walking over to the other side of the island to have lunch at the famous Hotel Del Coronado.  It turns out, however, that the main shopping street was much smaller than we had anticipated, having only about two boutique shops and a few more practical shops.  As such, we strolled through the residential areas of Coronado to see the different houses and areas before heading to the Hotel.

Coronado is a charming area, with cottage inspired houses and a small neighbourhood feel.  The island is compact and safe and seems very well-suited for families with young children.  The island feels so secure, in fact, that many people just use open-air golf carts to get around town and often just leave their bags on the golf cart seats.  

The Hotel Del Coronado was built in 1888 by John Spreckels as a way to attract people to the area.  When it first opened, the hotel was the largest in the world.  Currently, it is the second largest wooden structure in the US, just smaller than the Tillook Air Museum in Oregon.  It is listed as a National Historic Landmark and appeared in films such as Some Like It Hot.  It was also supposedly the inspiration for the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz, although other places have also claimed that honour.  

The Hotel dwarfs the surrounding shops and areas and was swarming with people coming to use the public beach and have a seaside lunch.  In fact, the Hotel is one of the stops of the "Hop On, Hop Off" bus and flooded the resort with so many tourists that  we worried whether the actual hotel guests could enjoy any relaxation here.  Perhaps they had a separate "guests only" area in the hotel?

Nonetheless, we joined in the barrage of local tourists and enjoyed lunch outside near the beachfront.  The hotel's lunch was mediocre but was made much more enjoyable by the aggressive and pesky seagulls who would dash in to steal food from the unsuspecting diners.  

Although busy, the Hotel had a majestic feel and we could imagine how remarkable and cutting-edge it must have been when it was first built.  It was not surprising to learn that many Presidents as well as sports and movie celebrities used to be frequent guests. 

After lunch, we walked the remainder of the island back to the boat dock, taking in the attractive and well-maintained houses and the lush green parks. Although we can’t really understand how people could pay $1 million for a small two bedroom teardown house here, we can certainly understand the appeal of this charming and quiet little suburb town.