While traveling solo there are a few things that are great doing alone: walking around a city, hiking, writing a blog, taking photos ect. While I've done all of those, one thing I imagined would be awkward was to go to a bar, dance club, ect. While I've still not done either I've now come very close without intending to, by going to an art show. I can now say it was perfectly fine.
Image by: Madelaine Papp Source:http://project-loop.blogspot.com.au
I ventured out to go to RAW Artists, an art show featuring 40 artists of all types, without my camera due to the rain. The venue, the Melbourne Pavilion, was beautiful and massive. It glittered with about 15 chandeliers and 5 disco ball as well as thumped with djs on the 2 stages. Above me were 30 or more models are being decked out in rooms that could be seen from the floor. People poured in. It was if they were in a fashion show themselves. Most looked as if they were going to "the event" wearing heels and cocktail dresses. The rest were a mix of artsy people making sure we knew they were artsy. There were also a few men who clearly had no idea where their girlfriends were taking them (and figuratively had yet to figure that out) thrown in for good measure.
Image by: Madelaine Papp Source:http://project-loop.blogspot.com.au
Wearing about half the clothes I brought all at once with lipstick and my hair piled on my head made me fit in with the artsy crowd as long as I kept a look of mild annoyance and boredom on my face. Before I left, Patrice had told me about the hats she wore to weddings in the 80s. I'm thinking now if I had borrowed a hat it would have completed my outfit.
On my way I took a wrong turn and ended up in a pedestrian tunnel unsure of where to turn. I saw an elderly woman so asked her. She turned to me and said, "oh you'll be lucky if you make it" in a rather forboding tone before reaching up to reveal a bluetooth device. She had no clue where I was heading, but I preferred that response. Luckily man pushing a stroller knew exactly where I was going. (Look at me following safety 101-- only talking to strangers I could easily outrun.)
Image by: Madelaine Papp Source:http://project-loop.blogspot.com.au
Despite the mc making everyone uncomfortable by being so awful once the acts started things looked up. There were numerous musical, performance and dance acts (most burlesque) in a mishmashed show. My favorite was the juggler who wowed everyone with her fancy footwork. The four hour show ended with fashion show:
Image by: Madelaine Papp Source:http://project-loop.blogspot.com.au
After, I managed to catch a tram, & chatted with a chef who had helped me with public transport. My accent proves to be a blessing and a curse as I have so many people help me (blessing) but then normally inform me that they feel compelled to help out the ignorant American (curse.) The most amazing part of our conversation was that I found out since she moved away from her home to receive her training, the government was subsidizing her rent by half! While living with parents well into your twenties seems to be very much the standard here (I'll be completely honest and admit it's weird to me) I was fascinated by how the policy would reflect that. Isn't policy cool?
On my train I chatted with an illustrator and we watched as a group of people next to me got arrested (clearly the excitement of the police officer's night.)
It certainly was an interesting night.
(Also, I'd like to just apologize if there are/have been many spelling mistakes. My app doesn't spellcheck for me, and as a true child of the modern era, that hurts.)
