L'il Background

Just to contextualize Jay's and Steph's posts of our phat pad... We are staying in an area known as the Docklands, which is some waterfront property undergoing serious renovation/rejuvenation by the city of Melbourne. I would equate it to an area like the Inner Harbor of Baltimore or perhaps the South St Seaport in NYC, but way cooler because it's in the Southern Hemisphere, and people have accents. There are lots of restaurants, bars and cafes, and a boardwalk. Also, there are some big honking boats docked in the harbour.

From our living room balcony, the views posted below are of downtown Melbourne. You can also see the light green arch railings decorating the top of the Telstra Dome, a sports arena. It is a quick tram ride, or nice walk into the city's center, where classes are. The apartment itself is in a high rise, modern looking tower. We have three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Jay and I share a little area off the main hallway that includes two bedrooms with a shared smaller balcony, a full bathroom, and amazing views east. El and Steph are in the master suite, and Josh has his own one bedroom upstairs in the same building. We also have a laundry room in our apartment. Sadly enough, the rate I'm paying here, which includes utitlies, maid service and broadband internet is still cheaper than my ol' Alphabet City digs before calculating utilities.

Weather so far has been mild and cloudy with bursts of serious sunshine. I'd say in the 70s. When they say there's no ozone, they're not kidding. From some incidental rays yesterday while wandering around the city with Jay I picked up a little pink following the lines of my wifebeater. It's sunscreen everyday for this pasty lady. Or at least until I build up a good base tan lounging on the sun deck by the pool... oh yeah, did I mention we had a pool? We have a pool.