We’re starting to feel like we actually live here

I bought our first plant for the apartment this weekend. If that doesn’t say “home” I don’t know what does! ;)
We are starting to get into a great routine and are settling into our life here nicely. We FINALLY got the internet hooked up in the house this weekend (if you want to get either of us fired up just ask for the long story) and took a long walk along the Manly Scenic Walkway (MSW) to Reef Beach. The beach was formally a nudist beach but with the onset of the development around Manly (e.g. families with kids) they banned the practice. If any of you come to visit us we will have to do this walk (not to become nudists, of course!). The vegetation is so lush and interesting, the birds sound like they’re electronic and the views are unbelievable! There are plaques along the walk explaining how the Aborigines used to have settlements on the land. It’s interesting to learn about the history – where they lived and how they caught the shellfish.
Friday night we went to a really cool wine tasting. It was at a wine bar called Wine Odyssey. The “Experience Room” is upstairs. There is a video interview with the wine makers of 6 different wines. They talk about their techniques and what makes their wine unique. After each interview the video walks you through the look, smell and taste of each wine, explaining what you should experience as you taste. It’s always been fascinating to me watching experienced tasters pick out subtle smells and flavors. Having the wine makers tell us what to look for really helped me to pick out the individual characteristics I’ve missed in the past. After the tasting, we went into the aroma room where we smelled the individual essence of 20-30 smells. There’s a section in the room where they focus on the undesirable smells/tastes in a wine which was almost as interesting as the favorable smells! I didn’t realize I had smelled some of the examples before until we spent some time studying the room.
Sunday night we went out to an Indian restaurant with some friends. Truth be told, I had never really had true Indian food before. It was great! We’ve mentioned this before but one of the coolest things about many restaurants in this town is that you can bring your own wine to dinner. What a great concept! Charge a small corking fee (literally around $2) and allow your guests to enjoy what ever wine they prefer. Genius! The trick is knowing ahead of time if the restaurant you’re going to is BYO. It stinks getting caught without for a nice meal ;)
Time to make dinner. Maple glazed salmon with nutmeg zucchini and potato pancakes. Did I mention that I’ve been getting into cooking since we arrived? Miss you all! =)
Smiles, LAA