First, Jean and I met Chris and bobo (chris' dog who walks around on 3 legs because one of her hind leg is bad) for breckie at Chris' regular cafe near St Kilda's beach although I wouldn't really call that miserable stretch a beach but nonetheless, it was an interesting joint which had the coffee and cakes counter in the centre of the cafe and table all around it.
After breckie, we paid a visit to Chris' home to drop of his yellow saab convertible. Mmm... convertible. I LIKE. Anyway, Chris has a really cool bachelor's pad. His house is a tastefully done up two-bedder with nice art, a cool fireplace and cow skin rugs strewn around. A real bachelor's pad. =)
We took jean's beat up suzuki swift to Dandenong. This little red car makes the most awful noises when starting up and heaves and chugs going up slopes. The drive to Dandenong took forever and after a couple of wrong turns (Jean had this compulsion to turn left all the time) we were finally on the right road up the mountain. By this time, it was well past midday and we were getting peckish again.
A few kilometres up the mountain, in Olinda we stopped at Mrs Marples Tearoom for a wonderful tea. If you ever go to Dandenong, you have to try this place. Mrs Marples has a nice rustic atmostphere with a roaring fireplace. All the tables have nice floral printed table clothes and scones are served in nice baskets with matching linen. Rustic teapots are displayed throughout the restaurant/cafe and old pictures hang on the walls. It was very cottagey and was an enormous welcome from the brisk cold outside.
We ordered cottage beef pie (very apt), scones with homemade jam and cream, bread and butter pudding with ice cream and tea (but of course). The tea was some supposedly awarding winning blend in Britain. The whole get up was so very English.
After tea, we drove up further to a lookout point in Dandenong. The drive through the mountain was really beautiful as well with towering trees on both sides of the road. At the lookout, we could see the light of the setting sun on the mountain tops in the distance. We took a short bushwalk and saw huge trees which had a red tinge and looked like furry tails from a distance. The furry branches started from the base of the trunk and obscured the view of the tree trunks entirely. We didn't go very far before Bobo started slowing down her pace in protest.
As Dandenong is a mountain resorty sort of area, there were alot of quaint shops and after the look-out, we went shopping in these shops. We chanced upon a shop that had over 300 variety of teas and teapots of all shapes and sizes. I went crazy and bought 3 different kinds of tea there. We also went crazy at a shop selling body cremes and butters.
By this time, it was 5 and time to go home so we started the long and arduous drive back to Chapel Street where we had dinner at the Borsch, Vodka and Tears restaurant for yummy russian/polish food. Melbourne is slightly different to Sydney and getting a liquor licence is easier. Hence, All of the restaurants and cafes here sell liquor as well as food. Sydney has more BYOs - bring your own alcohol.
Borch, Vodka and Tears is a dimly lit restaurant with an old feel that somehow feels a little melancholic. I think anything Russian associated tends to exude that sort of melancholia. According to Chris, the restaurant hired a russian designer to intentionally make the place old looking. Here's a couple of pics of what BVT looks like. The restaurant at night is much darker.
The food was pretty good although I've never had borsch or dumplings in russia. An interesting experience anyway and plus the company was great.
One of the best days I've had in a really long time
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