Home: St Kilda

I have travelled to 48 countries in the world, and consider myself a seasoned traveller. However so far my blog has only touched on my adventures of the past two years. So I have decided to challenge myself to relive the other places I have been and share with you the great, the harrowing, the stunning, the historic and the wonderful experiences I have had a long the way.  I will continue to write about my tales of today, but I am also challenging myself to write about a different country each week.

So this week, starting from the top of the list I write about Home; Australia.  In particular, the little part of the world that is my local, the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne. I lived in this area for 15 years, I chose to buy, demolish and build a house there. Why?

St Kilda is a bayside suburb of Melbourne that makes the most of its great sea front.  People rollerblade on the shore path, you can sit all afternoon in front of the sea enjoying a glass of wine or two and some great wood fired pizza, or you can walk to the end of the pier and even see some gorgeous penguins that now call it home.

Of course, I couldn’t possibly love a place that didn’t have great food, and St Kilda has some of the best places to eat in Melbourne (well at least in my opinion).  Across the road from my house were two fabulous Italian wine bars, The Carlisle Wine Bar and Ilona Staller.  I was a semi-regular fixture on their bar stools, reading a book and just chilling out. Other favourites were Claypots for fresh seafood, Blue Corn for Mexican and Banff for cheap pizza and wine.

Melbourne is also the home of great cafes and St Kilda is certainly the place for sipping lattes all day whilst pondering the world.  My favourites were Batch, Las Chicas and Wall 280, all within a few minutes walk of my home, which was perfect when stumbling out of bed on a Sunday morning searching for caffeine to kick start my day.

Yes clearly after nearly two years in India my taste buds are yearning for St Kilda.

For those that know Melbourne, you would no doubt have worked out that I lived in East St Kilda.  Home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Melbourne.  This was one of the things I loved about the area.  The continental feel as Hasidic Jews walked through the streets during Sabbath, the family atmosphere and of course the best boiled bagels in town!

St Kilda means many things to me, but the only word that stays top of my mind is Home. I don’t think it will matter how long I live in Bombay, or anywhere else for that matter, St Kilda is where my heart will always be.

As I plan to visit Melbourne for a short while, and of course return to my beloved St Kilda, I am a little apprehensive to see whether my memories are rose coloured, or if my home has changed. I guess I will find out soon.