It occurred to me that I never posted any of the adventures we had with Mom/Anne when she was here over the holidays. We had such a nice visit with her I hate to not tell you all about it!
The snippets below are from a series of 4 emails that mom sent back to loved ones in the states describing her trip - I thought she described her stay so well, I thought I would plagiarize a bit ;) Thanks Mom!
Chapter 1 (by Mom/Anne)
G'day Mates!!
Manly is a charming town on the water. It's kind of like a cross between W. Europe and Northern Caribbean! The Corso is a cobbled pedestrian boulevard that feels alot like a small version of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It's full of cafes, little shops and lots of people! The shops and cafes are all opened to the street, just like in Europe, and with a feeling we never seem to be able to pull off in the US. There is lots of sitting, drinking Cappuccino or beer, and chatting, chatting, chatting.
Last night we cooked a fabulous dinner of Australian Red Snapper (AU $34.99/ KG!!!! Hello??) and to get the necessary ingredients we stopped at the baker, the fish monger, the green grocer.... and then the bank, because we used all our money to buy it all! When Linds & David say it's a lot more expensive to live here they're not just whistling Waltzing Matilda! Anyway, we also found that there is no Latino influence in Manly. Not surprising, I suppose, but coming from Atlanta where everything is bilingual now, it's still a shock. Not only could we not find tomatillos for our recipe, they have never heard of them! Canned green chiles? I don't think so!
The beach is sandy, long and full of people, both locals and visitors. There is a walkway that's been built along the shoreline that is obviously a favorite spot for strolling, power walking, skate boarding and scootering. There are surfers and scuba divers aplenty. David says the diving isn't great here because the water isn't very clear, but it is only steps from their door, so that makes up for a lot! Some of the surfers use paddles to get around, instead of the power of the waves. They look for a spot that isn't too wavy, and then stand on their board and paddle away. Seems kind of a strange use of a surf board to me, but what do I know. All in all it feels a lot like a Caribbean island, with a European town attached!
We had a lovely Christmas together. Linds and I shared her kitchen without knocking each other over, although when David tried to help it did get a bit too crowded. It was great fun to cook together again. Their apartment is very warm and inviting, as you would expect. The guest room is perfect, and the dresser is empty, so there's plenty of room for your things if you come down under for weeks at a time…
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