Given we’ve had a staycation these summer school holidays, we decided an impromptu day trip to St Kilda was in order this past weekend. It’s not in the north-east but it definitely still is the star of the southern suburbs. There’s something about being by the water, palm trees and beautiful Art Deco buildings from another time, which make you feel like you’re on holiday (plus the fact that a lot of international tourists are there).
We had a walk along the Esplanade checking out the Sunday market – I did buy a tea towel (further below) as a keepsake from Kirsten Haworth and have previously bought one from her online as a gift. From there, we had lunch al fresco at Beachcomber Cafe looking out on to the water – they have some delicious Mediterranean-inspired food on offer, which we enjoyed – the boys following this up with icecream (there’s a gelati bar indoors) and a walk along the St Kilda pier.
We had some time in the sun on the beach strip out the front of the St Kilda Sea Baths where an Indian wedding reception was taking place complete with women and girls in beautiful, colourful saris – a bit further down all the groovers were hanging out at the re-built Stokehouse. There were also a lot of dogs! 
We did have a quick squiz at Luna Park but decided to save the rides for another day as the lure of coffee and cake on Acland Street was beckoning and we succumbed to vanilla slice. We walked back to our car along Blessington Street and enjoyed the music of the cool jazz trio playing out the front of Sorsi e Morsi. A change, as they say, is as good as a holiday.
Mr Rosanna and I have had a couple of other foodie experiences over the past couple of weeks including lunch at the Healesville Hotel which is currently holding a Summer Sundays Garden BBQ outside (packed when we visited) plus a quick CBD pit stop at Bar Lourinha who also do great Mediterranean food (try the prawn croqueta and sardine cigars!) – we’ll go back for a meal at some future stage. I hope you’re enjoying the summer time whether you’re at home or work.
Miss Rosanna 