A Nostalgic Walk Along Carlisle St

Today I took Cameron for his last double bass lesson in St Kilda.  We have been doing this drive together for over a year now, and I am feeling the sadness that comes when you do something for the last time.  I have a feeling this is the first in what will become a long series of lasts over the next few months.  Cameron hasn't given up the double bass, but his teacher is moving over the weekend, and it is not clear exactly where his lessons will be in the future.   

This was taken about thirteen months ago, around the time of Cameron's first lesson

The drive to St Kilda was often a pain due to the traffic in the late afternoons, but for the most part I enjoyed this time with my son.  It gave us a chance to chat without interruptions from siblings.  I even conquered parallel parking after more than two years of avoiding it so that we could park as close as possible to his teacher's apartment.  

Cameron's initial enthusiasm for playing this large instrument subsided somewhat when he figured out that it was going to be rather more difficult than he anticipated. Under the kind but firm instruction from his teacher, he has persevered and made some progress. Occasionally he even remembers to practice without being reminded.

Once I had Cameron settled with his teacher, I usually took a walk to Carlisle St to do some shopping. Around the corner from her apartment was an alleway that I eventually realised was a handy shortcut. The walls are mostly covered with street art--or grafitti, depending on your perspective.  Recently I learned that is is a copyright violation to publish photos of street art, unless you are taking a photo of the surroundings and street art happens to be in the background.  So for the record, the next two photos are officially of the alleyway.

The alleyway leads to a park, a place I would stop with James if he happened to be with me.  Beyond the park are several narrow streets lined with cottages which open into the back of the St Kilda library.

If you walk through the library, you end up on Carlisle St, a world which is rather different than the streets closer to our home.  On Carlisle St you are much more likely to encounter purple hair, for example, or unique ways of dressing which I associate with a more artsy, bohemian neighborhood.

 

 

The Chapel St tram at the intersection of

Chapel St and Carlisle St

 

I discovered the Baker in the Rye during Cameron's first lesson. Filled with patrons and workers speaking Polish, the bakery offers up to eight different kinds of rye bread. It also sells our personal favorite, a cherry cheese loaf which reminds me of a decadent breakfast bread my grandmother often made for us when I was growing up. 

The Cherry Cheese Loaf

Finishing off the cherry cheese loaf helped to dispel some of my sadness.  It was almost as sweet as playing the accompanying piano music a few days later while Cameron practiced the two new bass solos assigned by his teacher.  Making music together has been an unexpected but nevertheless delightful result of thirteen months of hard work.

Comments

[Shanda]

Such a lovely post, Christie. Good for you in parallel parking! I'm impressed. And that bread! I've never seen such a tempting loaf of bread. You might want to share your Grandma's recipe on here if it is similar! And post a video of you and Cameron playing together!
Hugs.

[Sarah]

Just letting you know, there are 16 types of rye and they speak Russian! It's also a cherry and cheese danish, not so much a loaf. Haha- can you tell we go there every second day? Cute blog!!

[Christie]

Thanks for the corrections Sarah. I should have gone in and asked for an interview to verify all of my details before posting! I did double check the name of the of the cherry cheese loaf however---I agree that it's much more like a danish, but found it interesting that my grandmother's recipe also called a similar cherry concoction a 'loaf.'