Well it is hard to believe it has been 2 weeks since we started our vacation or as they say here in Australia "Holiday." Our last full day here was a busy one.
We started out the day walking to church. Thinking it was farther than it was we got there quite early so we walked around the grounds. They have lots of areas for meditation/reflection. The picture of the walkway is actually a fountain that water flows from the steps down the walkway. It was not working as it is under renovation. The church was cold inside both in appearance (comparing it to the cathedral in Sydney)and temperature. Heating that place would be very difficult but as the mass continued I started to feel heat and realized that there were heaters in the seats (placed under the seat.) So you definitely got a hot seat at mass. The other strange thing was that the seat depth of the pew was very small. If you put your bulletin on the seat it extended beyond the edge of the seat. The music books they used were 24 years old. I looked in the back for some of our older favorites but none were in there...no "Hear I Am Lord," "Hail Mary Gentle Woman" or "Sing of the Lord's Goodness". Our opening song was "I Am the Bread of Life" but the slowest rendition on organ I have ever heard. The other thing that we have noticed is how much they use incense during their masses. When you enter the church you immediately recognize that odor.
We started out the day walking to church. Thinking it was farther than it was we got there quite early so we walked around the grounds. They have lots of areas for meditation/reflection. The picture of the walkway is actually a fountain that water flows from the steps down the walkway. It was not working as it is under renovation. The church was cold inside both in appearance (comparing it to the cathedral in Sydney)and temperature. Heating that place would be very difficult but as the mass continued I started to feel heat and realized that there were heaters in the seats (placed under the seat.) So you definitely got a hot seat at mass. The other strange thing was that the seat depth of the pew was very small. If you put your bulletin on the seat it extended beyond the edge of the seat. The music books they used were 24 years old. I looked in the back for some of our older favorites but none were in there...no "Hear I Am Lord," "Hail Mary Gentle Woman" or "Sing of the Lord's Goodness". Our opening song was "I Am the Bread of Life" but the slowest rendition on organ I have ever heard. The other thing that we have noticed is how much they use incense during their masses. When you enter the church you immediately recognize that odor.
After mass we headed back towards Queen Victoria's Market. What a market. It is at least 10 times bigger than our market. It has everything you can imagine...produce, meats, food courts, clothes, knickknacks, purses shoes, etc. We ate breakfast there and the food was good. When we had finished exploring the area we walked to Lygon Street. This had been recommended by the Boyle,s as a place to get good Italian food. Even though the weather was a little cooler today, we still ate outside. the heaters out on the sidewalks really do keep you warm.
From there we headed back to our hotel to rest before heading out again. Before getting there we stopped at the Treasury Gardens. There is a memorial to JFK near the lake.
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