Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Visiting the Market

On my recent visit to Melbourne, I deliberately booked a hotel within walking
distance of the Queen Victoria Market.
I don't like going out at night alone in a big city, so I planned to buy supplies
at the market, and enjoy some of the great variety of delicious food available.



Melbourne has large populations of Greeks, Italians, Germans, Lebanese...
a liquorice allsorts of nationalities.
I think they all have food stalls in the deli area of the market!



I enjoy just walking around looking at all of the different choices - so many!
I bought ciabatta bread, still warm. I chose spicy Italian sopressa, German cheese, Greek yoghurt - all made near Melbourne by recent immigrants or second-, third-, ninth-generation Australians. I bought tomatoes, grapes, melon, olives... all so beautiful, so fresh. I dined like royalty every night.



Everybody seems to enjoy the ambiance of the market...


 One of the things I miss about living in a small town is the markets that big cities have, so the Queen Vic market was a highlight of my 2 weeks in Australia.
 
Don't worry, I had plenty of great lunches in fabulous restaurants, thanks to 
friends and relatives. 
But I have to confess I enjoyed my delicious solitary 'picnics'. 

Oh - and (sorry, Aussie mates) I only bought New Zealand wine!!


And - I'm on a diet ....

7 comments:

  1. Markets are always a treat. I really like our local Farmers' Markets and love to be able to buy my food directly from the person who has grown it, prepared it or cooked it.

    It sounds as if you had a wonderful holiday - which is great.

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    1. I love Melbourne - and I had a great time with my daughter and her family in Adelaide, too.

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  2. What a lovely time you had, and these photos are almost as good as being there. Wow, I have to laugh at some of your comments, except the wine! But you and I have much in common especially the quality of being alone time too. It's so important to keep in touch with ourselves, and it offers so much more chance at seeing and feeling as one with what is around us. Alexia, Thank you for such a lovely escape.

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    1. Thank you, Karen. Yes, time alone is very important to me, especially as I spend my days surrounded by big talkative (and delightful) 17-18 year olds. Silence is good, too!
      :D

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  3. Ah yes...I miss the Green Market in Manhattan, more than anything else.

    Lovely pictures, Alexia!
    ~

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    1. Thank you thunder - we have a small farmers' market out at the beach on Sunday mornings during the summer, but that has finished until next season.

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  4. We lived in Melbourne and your pictures have been a lovely rminder of the good bits. It is a liveable city, you have to bear with some stuff but usually it's good. The Vic (pronounced Veec) market is rather good and there are some very nice other markets all over the place. They have big one off food markets in country Victoria which are worth going to. We went to the market at Hanging Rock and, yes, had a picnic. It was stinking hot that day which is the real downside of Melbourne. It can really heat up it seems to be getting worse. Also they are starting to get into water shortage troubles. Check up on that before you move there. But it is a nice place and you can drink Yarra valley wines. You could live in Bendigo or Ballarat and avoid city hassles and it's only an hour away by car or train.

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