Fat Disneyland

So I've said in previous entries (and in many conversations) that my mission in Melbourne is to eat my way through it. Today, I might have partially accomplished that mission.

This morning we had a tour of the Victoria Market, one of the biggest and most famous landmarks in Melbourne. It's a big outdoor-indoor market that has been around since the early 19th century and has two blocks worth of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, and a huge section of souvenirs, clothing, and gifts. We had a 7 am tour (meaning we had to leave at 6:30 am this morning) so that we could adequately see everything before 9 am class (Victoria Market also closes at around 2 pm, I think).

I was annoyed when we got there but was immediately excited when I saw the vast open-air vegetable and fruit area. There were so many interesting fruits from different parts of Southeast Asia, and everything was dirt cheap. It made me definitely long to have a kitchen so I could cook, which is crazy because I don't even know how. At that area, we got samples of fresh-squeezed fruit juice, and I was lucky enough to obtain one of the coveted watermelon juices. Mmm.

Next, we went into the huge meat section. The whole indoor area is cooled to -5 degrees Celsius every morning so that the meat can be transported and butchered anywhere in the building. They have these huge racks on the ceiling that can transport whole pigs and cows down the market. It was kind of gross. You can buy any kind of cut of meat, or in some cases, whole pigs or goats. We walked by a place that sold cow brains, stomach-linings, and ox hearts. Ew.

Then we got to the seafood area. We were told that this is where we got to sample something, but at first I wasn't sure what it could be since nothing was ready-made to eat. Then the seafood guy pulled out a big box of raw oysters and we were told to "dig in." I don't think I've ever had oysters before (I don't remember them if I did) and I'd definitely never had a raw one, but we all sucked them down. It was disgusting! It tasted like salt water and I swear there was a little bit of sand or something on mine. The texture was really slimy and chewy and I generally wanted to spit mine out, but I managed to choke it down.

Then we went back out to another fruit market where they specialize in more exotic fruits. We tried two different kinds of fresh mandarin oranges (I've had a lot of mandarins, but these were really excellent) and then a blood orange, which I've had before but was still very good. We then went back inside to an area that was historically the dairy but has since been turned into a ready-made food area with a lot of specialty food stores, still in a market-style atmosphere. We got fresh-baked bread and two kinds of spreads: tzatziki and pesto with feta. I basically couldn't stand up after the pesto - it was the most amazing pesto I've ever had! It was wonderful.

Then we went over to a sausage stand and were able to try crocodile sausage and spicy goat sausage. The crocodile tasted like a mixture between chicken and fish (which makes sense if you think about it) and I really enjoyed it. The goat sausage, though, was really amazing.

After that we went out to a coffee shop and got pastries and hot chocolate to clean the pallette and get the nasty oyster taste out of our mouths. Mmm, oysters at 7 am.

In class we watched "Gallipoli," which I fell asleep though and apparently snored loudly at one point. Marie had bought a starfruit and a mangosteen at the market so we shared those as we watched the film. Mmm.

After a long nap, Edith, Derek, Kim, and I went to Lygon Street to eat sushi for lunch. I've never seen tempura rolls or teriyaki chicken rolls in the states, but they seem to have a lot of those here, so I had a teriyaki roll, a crab roll, and a spicy prawn roll. Mmmm.

Then we went to Brunetti and I had a chocolate mousse with flaky white chocolate topping. It was amazing. Mmm again.

Afterwards, we went down to Melbourne Central, which is a really large mall that I wanted to continue to explore. I took another nap when we got back. I never get enough sleep here because of the late nights and the fact that we have to get up so early, so I take multiple naps throughout the day. It was funny though because today when my alarm went off at 6 pm, the parrots outside my window started copying the beeping noise. That's Australia right there.

And Melbourne is delicious.