Aug 27 - Brickhouse

I woke up this morning with a feeling that I just wanted to get out. This, of course, did not happen at the break of dawn, because by the gathering of an outing partner and our readiness did not completely take effect until after lunch. So Kim and I headed to the Smith street outlets and the Fitzroy area of cafes and shops.

It took us about a 40 min tram ride to our stop and we traveled along the streets, going in and out of shops. I found one shop with promising items, but had no desire to try on and I wasnt really out to buy... I was just out! Kim, by 5:30, had purchased 3 pairs of shoes. They were good deals and looked cute on her, so good for her. I just didnt feel the need to buy anything at that time.

I found a local mag with information about the shops and cafes and noticed there was a tapas bar called Bebida (means drink - in espanol) with happy hour from 6-7. So we headed there and started off with a pot of tea (pre-6pm) and ordered some food. The food was just so-so, but the atmosphere was good. It was really cozy and small, and along with 3-5 others, had the place mostly to ourselves until 8 when the live music started. It was just two guys on the guitar and they brought their groupies, so we took off soon after, having had 2 mulled wines at $2.50 each.

From Bebida we walked a couple blocks to Father Flanigan's. We were told by the security at the door to watch ourselves because it was all primarily booze buses, 21s (21st birthdays here are a big deal, though there is no advantage to turning 21 -as in, no new priveleges unlike our 21 with alcohol), and hen parties (bachelorettes). He was not kidding. We cued up for the loo and had one drink while listening to the regular cover soloist (he's good)... but then we got the heck out of there! I kept getting bumped into, stepped on, and one girl even had the audacity to look at me in her drunken state and just drop her glass off her table and onto my foot! I hate drunk people!

So Kim and I walked to the tram stop to head farther into the city. It was only around 9pm and she had a friend hosting a house party in town. I called Aidan for some directional advice and we we grabbed the tram to one stop and another tram to the stop closest her house. And man, we did it right! We stepped off the tram and her house was RIGHT there! A couple other people on the tram were headed there too, so in we went.

The house was cool - it's pretty much the same style as most of these houses in the city, especially in that neighborhood - Carlton area. The turn out was pretty good, but I was done drinking and instead just started chatting with people. We met some cool guys, and we even met another American there who had come to LTU on a study abroad and liked it so much that after he graduated, he came back to do his masters in zoology. He's apparently researching cod fish and he claims to not like fish. Pretty funny.

By 11:30 I advised Kim that in order to catch the necessary trams back, we needed to get a move on. So off we went. We had some waiting to do at each stop, but we made it back just a little more than an hour later.