Yes it really is Summer in Melbourne

First day in Melbourne it is so beautiful, maybe we will follow the sun and summer every year.  We eat lunch outdoors at Federation Square.  A super public space, tourists and locals gathered to watch the Aussie Open on a giant screen, cafes around an expanse of paved brick that reminds me of the Piazza del Campo in Sienna, Italy, and several cool museums.  Zach slips into the ACMI--Australian Centre for Moving Images and gets himself in a mini-video that makes a leaping kick look like the Matrix--pretty cool!

The weather is spectacular, so we spend most of the afternoon outdoors, sightseeing near the Yarra River that runs next to the square.  We check out the National Gallary of Victoria (NGV).  Zach acts like one of the sheep sculptures outdoors, and Caroline stalks some great shots of the architecture.  Actually, we All have our cameras out,clicking away, the Stritzinger family photo shoot on location.

One exhibit in the NGV is a video of blond models in bikinis sawing through surfboards.  Visually an eye-grabber, and intellectually engages in word plays with the phrase "dead board" as in a surf board gone bad and un-rideable, and "dead bored" as in, um, tall blonds in bikinis with nothing to do.

Great views of the city centre remind me of Chicago. More so when we go jogging in the morning along the river--a world-class waterfront and view of skyscrapers that inspires.