Great Places To Visit.

Southgate Friday night. What to do for something different for date night? Ok. So maybe a train trip into the city. Get off at Flinders Street station and walk across the road to Birrarung marr. Take a leisurely walk along the Yarra and check out the Noodle Markets. We're early, so no crowds yet. Had a look about and then we decided we rather sit at one of the pub/restaurants on the river, enjoy an ale and some tapas. It's Melbourne right? We have multiple choices. So we wandered back from the Noodle Markets, left those to the rest of Melbourne and went to Pilgrams, found an indoor seat (the outdoor ones were already full) facing the gorgeous brick archway, made ourselves comfortable, and our waitress magically appeared with menus and took our drinks order while we were deciding what to eat.  Sat back in our comfy soft chairs we managed to snaffle, sipped on our icy cold Carlton Draught and watched the city, the people, and the Yarra in front of us.   Nice way to spend

Spent a lovely day wandering around beautiful Ballarat.  The Archibald Art Exhibition was held in the Ballarat Art Gallery again this year....it's last one in Ballarat, Vic. A small group of friends and I travelled by train from Melbourne to view the exhibition and spend a day out of the city. The train trip from Melb to Ballarat was relaxing. We passed the time with chit chat and scenery watching or snoozing. Walked from the train station up to the exhibition, which was a short easy walk, browsed around the gallery, then selected a spot for lunch, enjoyed a nice glass of wine with lunch, then a gentle stroll back to the train station to catch the 2.20pm train back to Melb.  Back in time to catch the local train home before peak hour rush. A tired but happy bunch of Archibald wanders! Recommend a train trip to Ballarat even without the Archibald Art Exhibition. The Art Gallery itself is worth a trip to visit and then wander around the town.  Nice area of the country and

Polenta topped with Beans. Mango salsa on the side. Garnished with coriander (celantro). Here is a delicious, healthy, dish . It's easy to make, but takes a little time as there are 3 components to it. Worth the effort as any leftovers can be turned into an assortment of other dishes. This amount serves about 4-6 depending on how hungry you are! I make it for myself and eat it in an assortment of ways for the next couple of days, so it makes easy cooking for me after the initial recipe. Firstly make your polenta, then your salsa as these need time.  Then lastly cook your bean mix. As the bean mix is cooking, take your polenta out of the refrigerator, slice it and place onto baking paper lined slice tray and lightly brown in the oven; about 15mins at 180C. Place on serving plate, top with bean mix and garnish with coriander. Put a generous dollop of mango salsa on the side.   The beans and salsa are delicious in a wrap of any kind, i.e. tortilla's, with chopped f