Home Without Baggage. Brunetti, Carlton.

I’ve been to Melbourne and now I’m back. Just me, not my checked in baggage. All the self check in baggage scanners at the Qantas terminal in Melbourne’s domestic airport crashed yesterday. Fortunately, the human scanners still worked so the hundreds of us that were flying out got onto our flights but I’m not quite sure where that leaves the bags. Will they all be on a flight of their own? Sitting in the seats in a bid to help clear the massive backlog.

All of which made me a bit too disorganized and unsettled to blog last night. Thankfully, today is another day (even if it is a Monday) and I had my camera in my carry on. Let the Melbourne debrief begin.

First things first, I’m very happy with my $2.80 Daiso bag hook. Look at it being a quiet achiever in the departure lounge whilst I had my coffee/breakfast before flying out. Coffee fuelled the whole weekend, actually. It was a busy 36 hours away but a lot of fun, food and good chat was had along the way. The way it always seems to be for me in Melbourne. I should be more tired than I am but that’s the fun of a power getaway, they leave you mentally energized again and your body just does what it’s told.

The most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in on a visit to a hotel in Melbourne.

My mind can’t take all the credit for my hitting the ground running back home in Sydney. My hotel room in Melbourne was fantastic. I stayed at the Hilton South Wharf which is rather new. I had trouble getting out of my bed in the morning, the bed was so comfortable. Aside from the spacious rooms and fantastic art work on display, it’s a 2 minute walk to the best DFO in Australia. More about the DFO later….

The toiletries at the Hilton South Wharf are Peter Thomas Roth which I believe is an American skincare brand.

It didn’t take long for me to get back to the DFO, did it? DFO South Wharf and the Melbourne Convention Centre sit on either side of the hotel. What more could a studious conference attendee like myself need? Would it surprise anyone reading this that my friend and I shopped the Metalicus outlet after registration and before the opening address?

I’m a new convert to Metalicus. I’ve always admired their timeless, travel friendly, free size pieces from afar but somehow never got around to buying a piece. Until now. The outlet is in the basement level of the DFO. Down the way from Burberry, Armani, Lisa Ho and the usual high street labels. No one will be more relieved than my credit card to discover that the only place I actually bought anything was at Metalicus.

The two dresses I bought were photographed in my hotel room. See what I mean about the decor? I love that orange against the dark wood accents in the furniture. There was also plenty of natural light streaming in from the floor length window.

Dress – Metalicus, down to $69 from around $189. Will be wearing with my ‘Run For Office’ necklace by RPE.

This purple dress is going to be in my bag for London as a conference outfit or even for dinner. It’s got a roll neck with a button down neckline and will layer well. It will only look better for being rolled up in my suitcase….

This grey dress just has to get a spot in the suitcase too. It is a thicker fabric, wool blend I think. Again, it could be worn for a variety of situations in London and is easy to get in and out of whilst clothes shopping. Which is a very necessary criteria when choosing clothes to bring to London. I just hope I get my suitcase back in time for me to bring everything to London.

It wasn’t all about clothes, conferences and hotels in Melbourne. I couldn’t visit without a trip to Brunetti. The planets aligned when my friends had the same idea and the step machine at the hotel gym was out of order. That second point cut my gym time short by about 15 minutes enabling me to be ready in time for the 7.10am taxi with my friends to Brunetti’s in Carlton.

Because we were there so early, I managed to take these photos of all the baked goods available for the day. The hard part was deciding what to have for breakfast. Aside from two rooms packed with baked goods, cakes and confectionary, Brunetti also has a breakfast menu.

A classic Italian baked good such as the donuts or pastries?

Or abandoning any pretence of being good by going for some cannoli or cheesecake squares?

I chose an almond frangipane crossaint. My go to breakfast croissant. It was delicious. A hint of citrus in the pastry and a generous amount of almond filling within. My mocha was perfect, the coffees are so good here, the local taxi drivers stop here for their fix. Which is a huge compliment considering that Lygon Street has amazing coffee up and down both sides of the street.

My friends were more adventurous and chose these crepes from the breakfast menu. They arrived with a flourish, the plates covered by a silver dish en route to our table.