I woke up today after a very full night of sleep, fully rested and ready for adventures. Also, I was suddenly fifty years old! Anyway, I had a long drive ahead of me today, but I decided that didn’t need to happen until I’d had breakfast and a short walk around the neighborhood.
First up, I found breakfast across the street at the Lenna of Hobart Hotel, which was built into an 1800s mansion that overlooks the harbor. Their dining accommodations for the morning is either a continental breakfast or a couple other things, but I felt that one of the couple of other things would definitely be tasty:
It had been a very long time since I’d had porridge, and that is indeed something they had. I’m not sure what the base grain was, but it was dressed with local honey, pepitos, and almonds. Simple and tasty!
After that, I wandered around the nearby art market. Yes, an art market! I was just going to stop in at a couple spots on the street, but it turned into about 90 minutes of exploring old buildings full of artisan shops. There were artisans of metal, glass, wool, alcohol, textiles, canvas, wood… a little of everything. There was even a Very Good Shop Dog named Dassie.
One of the shops I turned immediately into was one that focused on metal smithing and casting, with several different artists displaying their wares. I veered immediately in because I smelled something I haven’t smelled in years: the scent of lost-wax casting. It’s a very specific thing, and it took me back to when I was experimenting with it in the 1990s. Anyway, I had a chat with the guy running the shop, and I remarked that I expected it was a quiet Tuesday morning for him. He replied that yes, there probably wasn’t a cruise ship today. I hadn’t realized Hobart was a cruise destination, but it makes all the sense in the world, and it also makes sense that all the artisans collected right near the harbor to sell their stuff.
The same metal shop included this stunning item in the front window, made out of aluminum pan lids:
I was also fascinated by the haberdashery:
And finally, there was a bookshop that I could have lost days in. I didn’t find any old Agatha Christie paperbacks, though.
Finally, in a square behind the main art market building lived a giant chess board. I found this quaint in itself, but I was most amused that one piece was missing (white king) and it had been replaced by an empty bucket of chocolate ice cream.
