October/November means springtime in Australia, and the spring season in Melbourne is marked by weeks of celebration known as the "Melbourne Spring Racing Festival." It's basically a series of important horse races, with the biggest one being the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup takes place on a Tuesday and it's actually a public holiday -- we were all off work that day. Apparently over 100,000 people ended up going to this thing (us included) to admire and bet on the insanely expensive Thoroughbred horses that are flown in from all around the world just to race at this event.But really, it's just an excuse for people to get dressed up all spiffy and stuff and then spend several hours getting SNOCKERED. The alcohol flowethed aplenty.
Men wear suits, women wear dresses and hats or "fascinators." I had never heard of a fascinator before, but basically, they're just fanciful little things that go in your hair. They usually have lace or feathers or flowers or beads. Or they can be shaped like little hats. Here are a couple of examples of fascinators, including one worn by my sorta-celeb-lookalike, Kate Middleton:
I had a black feather one with lace:
Of course, the term "fascinator" could be used in other contexts. For example, while we were there, a drunken guy yelled at this at an attractive girl: "YEAH! Show us your fascinator, baby!"
The Melbourne Cup brings in big money for those lucky enough to bet on the winner (like my friend Patricia) and tears for those unlucky enough to lose big time (like me. I lost ten dollars thanks to a worthless piece of horseflesh named Americain who was favored to win and ended up fourth. Outrage.)
Here's the horse that ended up winning (in a photo finish):
Here was the horse I bet on:
Can't complain too much though because in the race afterward, I did bet $10 on another horse that won me $47! Yay!
Overall it was a good day, despite some rainy and cold weather. Here's a view of the racecourse with the Melbourne skyline behind it.
Me and Patricia:
Lovely ladies! (Catherine and Patricia)
Me and Catherine:
Coincidentally, the night before the Melbourne Cup holiday was Halloween! OK, so it's really hard for me to associate "Halloween" with "springtime" -- but that's how it is in Australia. And although Halloween's not realllllllly big in Halloween, there's at least a tiny bit of interest in it. So I can't say it's not celebrated...but there's definitely none of the grandeur it gets back home. No jack o'lanterns in people's windows, no trick-or-treating.
Nevertheless, we dressed up in costumes and went to a Halloween party that was Thriller-themed, with a Michael Jackson tribute. Fun stuff.
I was an angel. (Stop laughing.)
Dunno what Triana's doing with her bottle there! lol
