Off to Market

One of our great delights while in France and on our 2006 trip which took us thru the south of France and off to Italy were the markets. The Campo de Fiori market outside our apartment door in Rome was memorable as was the smaller markets of St Remy and St Chinian in the south of France.

Sue would rush off to the market with me in tow (sometimes I feel like Le Banque & Le Donkey) to pay & carry the produce she purchased to experiment with. At least I become Le taster. So often I'm disappointed when we go out for dinner after being served a superb dinner by Sue.

Anyway, this Saturday we are off to the Dandenong Market which I will report on with photos, prices and a general description of local produce.

We are currently experiencing a very chilly winter back here in Melbourne and even have snow falling in some areas of Melbourne. Our ski fields look like having a bumper season and the bushfire effected areas of Kinglake and Marysville have a layer of white over the chard ground. Burnt black tree trunks are a stark contrast to the powder white snow covered ground.

The paragraph below comes from a "History of Melbourne" website that on ocassion I will draw from adding to our own personal accounts & experiences of our home.
"Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, and home to close to 4 million people. Many of the citizens of Melbourne live in the suburbs that east and south of the Yarra River, sprawled around Port Phillip Bay and extending as far east as Mount Dandenong. Melbourne was founded on the Yarra River in 1835 after an abortive bid in 1803 to establish a settlement inside the Port Phillip Bay heads. The Port Phillip District gained independence from New South Wales in 1850. Melbourne boomed in the 1850's as a result of the gold rush in the region to the north. Melbourne has a reputation as being more refined than its northerly neighbour Sydney, boasting the country's finest restaurants and is acknowledged as the country's most important financial centre. "

Melbourne is one of the last cities to use trams in Australia. Although now electrified, early trams were cable driven, similar to San Francisco today. Many of the cable houses have today been converted to apartments or upmarket offices.