Jay Turns 40
10 October 2011
In July, Jay started a new job at the local studio of Electronic Arts. At the end of the month, Jay turned 40. We planned to mark this similarly to my birthday last year, this time Jay chose the itinerary and the trip was to Europe rather than North America. Fortunately our time away had been negotiated as part of taking the new job.
On the actual day we had a cake with my family, similar to last year (including the photo), and then went to Ezard for their excellent degustation menu. The following day we left for three weeks vacation in Europe.
We boarded the Celebrity Silhouette in Rome and spent ten days in the Western Mediterranean, visiting La Spezia, Nice, Barcelona, Ibiza, Tunis, Naples, Ajaccio and then returning to Rome. This was longer than either of the cruises we had previously done together and after ten days we were ready for a rest from the frantic pace of daytime shore excursions and evening dancing by the pool. The previous cruises were seven days which left us wanting a little more, and in retrospect that was a better length for a cruise.
The highlights of the shore visits were the cities we had not previously visited, particularly Ajaccio as Corsica was very beautiful. It was also very interesting to visit Tunis only a few months after their jasmine revolution and while their presidential palace was still unoccupied. Here we are climbing Mt Vesuvius. When they said the bus would take us up all but the last 600ft, I didn’t realize they meant vertical feet. I made a photo album from the cruise and the following weeks in Europe.
On returning to Rome, we stayed a few days and saw some of the sights we had missed on our previous visit, including the Vatican Museum. From Rome, we caught the train to Venice.
Except for being crowded with other tourists, Venice was very pleasant. The weather was perfect and we had time to walk around many of the sights. With the strength of the Australian dollar, the prices seemed reasonable rather than outrageous and the hotel we stayed in was great value.
From Venice we flew to Paris where we had rented a small apartment in the Marais for a week. It was good to be able to do some laundry and have access to a kitchen and from our bedroom we could see the light show on the Eiffel Tower at night. In Paris we met up with some friends from Melbourne, some new friends from the cruise who lived there and also Kelvan, a friend from San Francisco who was visiting during his Summer vacation. Here Jay is surprising him on the street.
We spent much of our time visiting museums and galleries in Paris, as well as going to Versailles for the day. The history of the French Revolution provided an interesting counterpoint to the inequalities of wealth and resulting dissatisfaction and unrest in the US, or at least that’s how my mind was working at the time.
By the time we returned to Melbourne, there was only one week of Winter left. The lengthening days made it easier to get up for work in the morning and the weather has been pretty good.
I had a conference in Sydney shortly after we returned. It was a chance to see friends there and also to have dinner with some of my work friends at Quay, a restaurant I was not familiar with as I didn’t watch Masterchef, but which provided an exciting and beautifully presented meal.
Many of our friends are also turning 40. Haris had drinks for his birthday and also for his surprise announcement that he is moving to Sydney, so it was an occasion of mixed emotions. I’m sure we will still see him regularly at social events.
September is the time for AFL football finals in Melbourne. We went to one of the Preliminary Finals and saw a rather one-sided game. It was our first trip to the football since the pre-season match we attended with Jay’s parents, so we didn’t have a very good attendance record this year. For the Grand Final we went to a barbecue and watched it with friends. This was probably a good choice as the weather was cool and wet though the game itself was exciting.
Now we start what would be “the holidays” in North America, but since there is no Hallowe’en or Thanksgiving celebrated here, it’s just the lead up to Summer and Christmas. We may plan a Thanksgiving dinner for whatever expatriate Americans we can find and as a practice for family Christmas which will be here this year.
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On the actual day we had a cake with my family, similar to last year (including the photo), and then went to Ezard for their excellent degustation menu. The following day we left for three weeks vacation in Europe.
We boarded the Celebrity Silhouette in Rome and spent ten days in the Western Mediterranean, visiting La Spezia, Nice, Barcelona, Ibiza, Tunis, Naples, Ajaccio and then returning to Rome. This was longer than either of the cruises we had previously done together and after ten days we were ready for a rest from the frantic pace of daytime shore excursions and evening dancing by the pool. The previous cruises were seven days which left us wanting a little more, and in retrospect that was a better length for a cruise.
The highlights of the shore visits were the cities we had not previously visited, particularly Ajaccio as Corsica was very beautiful. It was also very interesting to visit Tunis only a few months after their jasmine revolution and while their presidential palace was still unoccupied. Here we are climbing Mt Vesuvius. When they said the bus would take us up all but the last 600ft, I didn’t realize they meant vertical feet. I made a photo album from the cruise and the following weeks in Europe.
On returning to Rome, we stayed a few days and saw some of the sights we had missed on our previous visit, including the Vatican Museum. From Rome, we caught the train to Venice.
Except for being crowded with other tourists, Venice was very pleasant. The weather was perfect and we had time to walk around many of the sights. With the strength of the Australian dollar, the prices seemed reasonable rather than outrageous and the hotel we stayed in was great value.
From Venice we flew to Paris where we had rented a small apartment in the Marais for a week. It was good to be able to do some laundry and have access to a kitchen and from our bedroom we could see the light show on the Eiffel Tower at night. In Paris we met up with some friends from Melbourne, some new friends from the cruise who lived there and also Kelvan, a friend from San Francisco who was visiting during his Summer vacation. Here Jay is surprising him on the street.
We spent much of our time visiting museums and galleries in Paris, as well as going to Versailles for the day. The history of the French Revolution provided an interesting counterpoint to the inequalities of wealth and resulting dissatisfaction and unrest in the US, or at least that’s how my mind was working at the time.
By the time we returned to Melbourne, there was only one week of Winter left. The lengthening days made it easier to get up for work in the morning and the weather has been pretty good.
I had a conference in Sydney shortly after we returned. It was a chance to see friends there and also to have dinner with some of my work friends at Quay, a restaurant I was not familiar with as I didn’t watch Masterchef, but which provided an exciting and beautifully presented meal.
Many of our friends are also turning 40. Haris had drinks for his birthday and also for his surprise announcement that he is moving to Sydney, so it was an occasion of mixed emotions. I’m sure we will still see him regularly at social events.
September is the time for AFL football finals in Melbourne. We went to one of the Preliminary Finals and saw a rather one-sided game. It was our first trip to the football since the pre-season match we attended with Jay’s parents, so we didn’t have a very good attendance record this year. For the Grand Final we went to a barbecue and watched it with friends. This was probably a good choice as the weather was cool and wet though the game itself was exciting.
Now we start what would be “the holidays” in North America, but since there is no Hallowe’en or Thanksgiving celebrated here, it’s just the lead up to Summer and Christmas. We may plan a Thanksgiving dinner for whatever expatriate Americans we can find and as a practice for family Christmas which will be here this year.
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