Leaving with Laura: Dinner with Family!

Until this post, it has been a little known fact that I have family in Melbourne. We have been looking forward to visiting with my (second) cousin Lisa, her husband Lawrence, and daughter Zoe, and today was the day.

The price of bananas!

We met for a get acquainted/reacquainted Japanese noodle lunch near the Victoria Market. John Roy chatted so much his lunch barely looked touched. Alan made his ramen vanish in no time flat, though.

You can see the meat hooks near the ceiling.

This market is a wide eyed experience. It has a 'swap meet' section for merchandise, but it's the food market that really grabs the attention. There is a green grocer section,

a deli section and a fish and meat market section. Lisa told me that Australia imports very little produce. It was amazing that there was domestic pineapple in season at the same time as strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus, citrus and apples. We were there near to the end of the selling day, and the butchers were actively hawking the meat. It was a very old world experience to be able to shop for food this way, and very attractive. We each selected the meat we wanted to eat for dinner: sea trout for Lisa, lamb for Mark, Lawrence and myself, a beef sausage for Zoe and rump steak for JR and Alan. We had a little more time to gawk, and then set out for the train to Lisa & Lawrence's home.

We're still digesting our mixed grill dinner, with greens, fresh chips from the seller down the street, and Lebanese pastry for desert. We also got to play with Quinn, the labradoodle, and learn a little Japanese from Zoe. Basically, it was just great to spend a Saturday evening in a home with nice conversation, and we are grateful for the hospitality. We hope they like the Pleasant Valley, New York maple syrup we carried over for a hostess gift. We also hope we can have a chance to return the dinner sometime. We are advertising Mark's beer can chicken as an enticement.