365 Pink Feather Boas All in a Row - Day 170 (Saturday 19 June 2010) : Can You Hear the Shrill Excitement in Andrew's Voice, Fernando?

After our awfully big adventure the night before, and a 1 a.m. shut eye, my lovely guy and I slept in some what, only making it our for brunch around 10 or so. But what a gorgeous brunch it was. Steve took me through some of the wonderful arcades such as The Block (see above) that intersect the buildings of Melbourne, and up and down many of the alleyways that Melbourne is justifiably famous for. Some of them are well polished, full of glitzy cafes and shops; others, like Centre Place, where we ended up, are chaotic, full of people, garage doors covered with very colourful, beautifully rendered graffiti art that is everywhere in the City, with hole in the wall cafes in every nook and cranny.

The one we ended up at, Lorca, was Spanish influenced, the staff were friendly (and cute it has to be said), and the food was delicious. We were chomping on down on the yummy food when Steve's lovely sister Carolyn turned up to join us - her hot chocolate took forever to arrive, the only flaw in a perfect brunch - and we hit it off immediately. We share a love of books, Glee, music - one of the stops later on was to JB HiFi to buy the new Glee CD - and her easy charm and sense of humour meant that once again any nerves vapourised as quickly as Kevin Rudd's commitment to an ETS. Hanging out with her was easy and we spent the time looking for a gift for my guy's nephew, Noah - TechDeck anyone? - buying Smurfs (I found a store that sold them!), and laughing and really enjoying each other's company.

The nascent relationship reached a whole new stratospheric height when we reached Federation Square (Fed Square) and found out, after a wander inside it, that we could get tickets to ABBAWorld!!! Excited does not begin to describe it. I was beside myself with excitement, and voicing said excitement at the of pitches only dogs and enebriated pixies can hear. The exhibition was fantasically interactive, starting with getting our photo taken and picking which ABBA member we wanted to be for the tour - I picked Bjorn; Steve picked Benny although he wanted to be Agnetha...think Benny was the better pick since Bjorn and Agnetha eventually divorced, not something I wanted hanging over us, even for a brief tour! - and moving onto geting our faces inserted on ABBA's album covers, singing Money Money Money in a karaoke booth, and even sitting in the Arrival helicopter! Inbetween all this was jam-packed exhibit after jam-packed exhibit, showing off ABBA's studio, tailor's work area, their costumes, the cottage Bjorn and Benny worked in writing their songs and giving us all sorts of insights into ABBA's career. Every time you interacted with an exhibit, you ahd to swipe your ticket, and everything you did was put on the ABBAWorld site where you have 7 days to download all the content you created! So cool, and SOOOO much fun! All three of us had an absolute ball... it was like I was 10 years old again and back buying ABBA bubblegum cards at the corner milk bar. I naturally bought tons of stuff at the souvenir shop, and will have to go back for 2 towels and some glasses in October, when we're back in Melbourne.

Absolutely on cloud nine after that unexpected joy of reliving my love of ABBA all over again, and getting to spend some quality time with Carolyn and my gorgeous guy, I didn't feel a single shot of nerves as Carolyn drove us to my guy's parents' place in Ashwood, where he grew up. They were, as expected, simply delightful, with my yummy guy's Mum laying a delicious afternoon tea spread (she even made a lovely pumpkin and pesto bite-sized nibbles dish based on a recipe on a book Steve gave her) which we ate with Steve's other brother Briand & his wife Sue and two of their three kids, who unexpectedly dropped in. Sue brought a yummy apple flan with her so we ended up eating quite a bit in their warm loungeroom, while drinking something like three glasses of wine. It was a lazy, fun afternoon, getting along famously with his mum & dad, and brother & sister in law - do you sense a pattern here? They are such wonderful people, every last one of them! - and seeing more of what my guy the sweet, beautiful man that has captured my heart. It worried them not one bit that I was a guy going out with their son - as far as they were concerned, I was Stephen's partner and that's all that mattered. I felt so much a part of the family.

After warm farewells, we headed back to the City by taxi with quite possibly the most monosyllablic, unresponsive taxi driver I have ever been with. But nothing could quench my joy, exhausted though I was, and after changing quickly, we jumped into another taxi which took us to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy for dinner at a restaurant called Blue Chillies (Malaysian fusion food). Yes this weekend had a definite Asian flavour!). We were seated at a private table against the window, and as a constant parade of people passed by on what is a very funky street (much like King Street but with way more bars; there are so many bars in Melbourne!), we talked constantly, and affectionately, and ate a whole snapper in a delicious sauce, and Ayam Kapitan, which is like a rendang but with succulent soft chicken in place of the beef. Couple all that with a bottle of Pepper Tree Verdelho, and we had a delightful night that was augmented by a friendly service, and capped off by a lovely long walk up and down both sides of the strip so we could walk off all the yummy food.

We were going to try one of the bars, but after lots of walking, we were both too tired, and we headed back to the hotel for a sort of earlier night. Even though I was bone tired, I ddin't want to sleep on what was, so far, one of the loveliest weekends of my life.

I am so lucky to be with the wonderful man I am...what a gift he is.