Snails & Market Tales

French restaurants always fill me with a sense of trepidation...creamy sauces, richly garnished miniature portions of everything and sweet selections that make even the sourest of palettes cry in divine agony at the choice. So when I was informed that for the final dinner with our wonderfully accommodating and gracious hosts (Glamazon's Aunt and Uncle), was going to be French, I will admit to a gut knotting wave of terror sweeping over me. I will say now, for the record, i had nothing to fear. This was French as I like it...CLEAN! I had to have snails to start, after all when in Rome...and they did not have frogs legs on offer, so Snails it was (and they were really, really good!). Fish for mains and a sneaky taste of Glamazon's dessert and we were done.
Sadly we did not get to see the cellar of the this, the largest in Latin America boasting a wide variety of global wines including some of our very special Victorian varieties.

So to MARKET, to MARKET we went the following day. What a spectacular and vibrant way to spend a few hours. Silver, food, homewares, figurines,paper flowers all hand made...anything you could imagine and many things you never would have (a figure carved our of the top of a match head, so small you needed a magnifying glass to see the details). The highlight of all this wonderous oddness...the fortune telling finch who chose my fortune upon command from his master and after this little bird gave me some careful consideration here is what the fortune said:"The oracle says that your future will be brilliant....you are ambitious and work hard and will set yourself up in business...you will meet kind and honest people who will make journeys with you that prove most worthwhile..."So there you have it, direct from the insightful 'oracle-bird', too cute for words.
With a final Starbucks quadruple shot espresso (the only way you could actually get a decent Ozzie standard coffee hit). We bade farewell to Mexico I paid $100 in excess baggage (damn shoes)and began the 15hours haul back to Melbourne.

What a wonderful trip, amazing competition results (the official placings came in as 8th in the World, OMG), what gorgeous new friends were made. As well as a newly discovered thirst to see even more of this unique part of the world. On my personal development agenda, learning Spanish, which I plan to be quite adept at this time next year.

So, as we landed in Melbourne this morning at 5am to be greeted by a balmy 17 degrees outside, I welcomed in another year as both older and wiser and certainly fitter (which is always my goal)...33 and proud to say happy, fulfilled and super excited about just what gems the next 12 months will hold for me. In an attempt to beat the jet lag I have been able to stay awake all day. I have trained, I have blogged and I am now I am very flogged and very ready to sleep, for the first time in 3 weeks, in my own bed. Oh the bliss!

"dulces sueños a todos, buenas noches" -sweet dreams to you all, good night xxxxxxx