Twelve hours of sleep feels great. Finally getting through the muddy feeling from all that travel and the jet lag is done. We check out a couple of other Melbourne neighborhoods that are in walking distance. A "Greek" section is just a block of Greek restaurants--I'm sure the 1 million Greeks who live here are elsewhere. Chinatown has the requisite China Gates at each end of its several blocks. At a glance, which is what we are doing on this walk, it feels like Chinatowns in San Francisco, New York, Phila, etc.
Here I am at the lead-in to an alley of "sketch art" aka graffitti. But taken to another level.....truly street art the images are amazing. I've scoped out two streets for this and cameras clicking, we take photos from every angle. There are some "sketchy: characters hanging out on a stoop, but well-outnumbered by us and more tourists who have come to check out this scene.
My big event here is getting to the Australian Open! I'm in tennis heaven as we head in, surroundings similar to the US Open (did they hire them as consultants or just copy-cat things like the lead-in of signs featuring mens and womens past champions, the food courts, the giant screen TVs?). Here I am showing off my new "tatoo", kicking back in a sling chair, sipping a beer, all of us soaking up the sun from a cloudless blue sky. Ah perfect!
Inside Rod Laver areana it is packed, roof open. Court gets prepped--they vacuum our courts at Cheltenham, don't they?! ;-) And then it isi time for the intros for Roger Federer and Jo Tsonga. The match has some great points at the start, and then Federer just starts hitting so cleanly you can hear every shot ripping down the lines, cross-court, and then a delicate drop shot....pouring in winner after winner. The match is so one-sided that in the 3rd set someone yells, "C'mon Roger, give him a chance!" All over in less than 2 hours, one great display from the GOAT in tennis.
I take a bazillon photos, and finally realize as someone asks me if I have a quiet setting on my camera--oops! I've been the rude American and feel a bit bummed at forgetting to work out how to silence the shutter sounds.
Melbourne at night is beautiful as I walk back to the hotel.
Inside Rod Laver areana it is packed, roof open. Court gets prepped--they vacuum our courts at Cheltenham, don't they?! ;-) And then it isi time for the intros for Roger Federer and Jo Tsonga. The match has some great points at the start, and then Federer just starts hitting so cleanly you can hear every shot ripping down the lines, cross-court, and then a delicate drop shot....pouring in winner after winner. The match is so one-sided that in the 3rd set someone yells, "C'mon Roger, give him a chance!" All over in less than 2 hours, one great display from the GOAT in tennis.
Looks great John! Glad to see you having a great time at the Open!
ReplyDelete