The Morrows

Kerry and Mike flew over from Adelaide last weekend - Mike just celebrated year number 32, which was cause for festivities in its own right, they just bought a new house, plus they've got other friends here in Melbourne. They arrived Saturday morning and we caught up with them for an afternoon outing to Chadstone - the single biggest mall I've ever encountered in my life. I'd heard about Chadstone and thought to myself, "well, I'm sure it's a 'big' mall in a cute little Australian way." But turns out it was big in more of a huge, over-the-top, American kind of way. In fact, it is the "Fashion Capital" of Melbourne, which effectively makes it the fashion capital of Australia. I lost all sense of direction upon entering this behemoth of a shopping center. Uta and I came away empty handed - Uta's trying to limit shopping until she has a job, and I let out a small scream every time I looked at a price tag (but then, I'm really cheap).

We got cleaned up and then met up again that night at The Beach on the bay. Uta and I arrived first and proceeded to cause trouble. While discussing drink options with the bartender, one of us (not me) accidentally knocked a glass containing straws off the bar. The glass proceeded to fall behind the bar onto a metal countertop, where it shattered, spilling jagged shards of glass into (of course) the bar's stash of ice. There were many apologies, to which the bartender asked, "where are you from". One of us (not me) answered "Germany". The bartender then asked, "Is that what Germans do?"

Fortunately, our comrades arrived about this time allowing us to retreat to another part of the establishment, where we consumed some food (including some particularly tasty fries/chips), and ogled half-naked women, particularly one whose outfit gave new meaning to the term "V-neck". I hope she's there every weekend. . .

Alas, we probably shouldn't have opted to run a 10k the same weekend we had friends in town, as Uta and I couldn't motivate to do anything after Sunday's run. Uta caught up with Kerry and Mike on Monday (holiday in South Australia), but I had to return to the rock pile.