The biggest reason Barnadi gave for wanting to move back to Melbourne was the quality of life, something I am yet to be convinced about. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying living here, but I would not say it was any better than living in Bath. Our life seems firmly centered around shopping plazas. Most Melbourne suburbs, especially the newer ones, are built around a shopping plaza and our lives seem to have become inexplicably centred on them.
My own link is not that inexplicable, I work in one. The pharmacy I work in is based in Epping Plaza and so I spend most of my days there. It is not too bad a place to work, it is right next door to a GP surgery so it stays quite busy. This was made even worse last week when there was a plaza wide sale event to 'celebrate' the plaza's re branding. It took me almost half an hour just to get a space in the plaza's car park.
Barnadi's plaza of choice is Northcote Plaza, not starting work until 4:30 in the afternoon gives him plenty of time each morning to spend shopping. Despite our best intentions to do a big weekly shop in Preston market each week, Barnadi now tends to do all our food shopping in Northcote. Although Coles is good for bread and milk, there are several other good shops in Northcote plaza, including a butcher and a nice Italian shop. His most frequent destinations however include his friends at the Tattslotto stall.
The best thing about living in Northcote is not however the plaza, it is the high street. The northern end of the high street is a little grungy, but south of Nothcote plaza you get to one of the trendiest spots in Melbourne today (As endorsed by Lady Gaga, who had a night out in Northcote Social Club during her recent tour).
Barnadi had to have a fasting blood test today and after a trip to the pathology centre we were ready for a big breakfast and so where better to go than Northcote high street. Just opposite the Pathology centre we discovered a small Italian bistro called Joe Green and so popped in for our brunch. The place is set in a large open space with high ceilings and a very eclectic collection of art on the walls. I am not sure what brand of coffee they use, but the latte was the best I'd had in a while. Barnadi had fried polenta with spinach and mushroom, and I had green eggs and ham (green due to being cooked with spinach and pesto). I really liked my breakfast, but Barnadi found his had a bit too much garlic. The place is open for dinner and we are seriously tempted to go back.
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