Week 533 · St. Kilda · Melbourne · The Espy · Luna Park
Leaving
When I told people that I was moving to, or later that I lived in, St. Kilda, I always got a reaction: Cool. Edgy. Dangerous. Overrun by homeless and drugs. Near beach. Used to be nice. Is nice. Lots of hookers. Good restaurants and entertainment. Crappy food. Cute for an Expat. St. Kilda was all of those things and more — except we didn't see many hookers.
Although Venice Beach is the closest US comparable I have been to, St. Kilda was a definite couple of levels lower on the intensity and homelessness. The location of our apartment helped as well — we were literally on the border with St. Kilda West, which is a quiet neighbourhood, and Albert Park, which is awesome in its own right. We could pick a different place to eat every night, from cheap to expensive, if we wanted to — and we could be in the park or at the beach in less than 10 minutes. Probably the best view I'll ever have from a balcony.
Heading back to the US for a while to celebrate Alex and Pat's big day — then returning for one last stint in Australia. We'll be living a couple of miles away in a much quieter neighbourhood called Port Melbourne. It will be winter again anyway.
The Espy — the Esplanade Hotel — has about 5 bars, a bandroom, and a couple of nice restaurants. It is a St. Kilda institution. Downstairs at the Espy: about 35 years younger than us. Upstairs, through the restaurant windows: frozen in time, with views of the beach and ferris wheel. We were out of town when "Live Baby Live" was playing at one of the local bandrooms — a bummer. About 40,000 people ended up on our street for the Pride parade. And for the F1, the bus stops hosted advertising — they went all out for the LA stop, with real homeless people moving in.
Lady Peacock — a good older-person establishment. Key criteria: not too loud. All the paintings are painted replicas of famous works. Initially they had 2 questions to answer about the paintings — I got them up to 10 and a full painting scavenger hunt. Get all 10 right and you get a free drink. There was also another older Art Deco bar nearby, and the tram to work every day came out of a clown mouth.
Graham Nash at the Palais Theatre — worth attending just for the visit. Didn't realise Graham Nash was in the Hollies — but then he didn't play many of their songs either. Unlike the Espy, Sharon and I were the youngest. The Palais is a stunning venue. Sharon at the Luna Park entrance after the show.
"Probably the best view I'll ever have from a balcony."
Hot air balloons every typical morning — sunrise flight, usually from the right side. Sharon wanted to take the flight. I was reluctant. Then a hot air balloon crashed in the park across the street. I googled to find details of the crash — this one didn't show up, but many other crashes did. So this is off the list.
