Monday, March 21, 2016

Finding Marilyn

We're in the middle of a road trip - through Yass, Gundagai, Albury and Wodonga on Saturday - with a long, late lunch at the Bridge Road Brewers at Beechworth and then an overnight stay at sleepy Rutherglen, in the middle of one of Victoria's great wine producing areas.

We missed our chance to do breakfast at The Pickled sisters Cafe at Cofield Winery yesterday morning (they were closed for a private function) so made do at the very satisfactory Doc Yarrum Cafe in Corowa instead.

We paid our respects to the region through a visit to the nearby picturesque Pfeiffer Wines on Distillery Road in Wahgunyah. 


It felt too early in the day to taste their renowned Muscats and Topaques so we tried their dry crisp Riesling and a sparky Tempranillo. 
We loved the setting of Pfeiffer's, with its historic old cellars and acres of old vines set on the banks of beautiful Sunday Creek, a tributary of the Murray River. Rob was excited to see his first native platypus swimming just below the old timber bridge (but we missed it) and we all saw dozens of turtles and schools of oversize carp in the mirror smooth water.


We made it to Bendigo yesterday afternoon just in time to book into our funky Art Series Hotel - The Schaller Studio - and walk (briskly) to the Bendigo Art Gallery by 3.00pm - our pre-booked timed entry into the gallery's big ticket Marilyn Munroe exhibition (in collaboration with twentieth century Fox). 

The exhibition includes her iconic costumes, studio portraits, fabulous film material, personal items and letters. Fabulous, talented and beautiful Marilyn was evident in all her glory in the exhibition - but what remained an enigma was the tragic Norma Jean who created her. Marilyn's star shone brightly for barely a decade, but what a gorgeous (though fragile) creature she was!



We mused over all this at the historic old Rifle Brigade Hotel opposite the gallery on View Street as we downed some pots of locally brewed Southern Ocean Pale Ale.
We love our funky Schaller Studio hotel. There is original art work, superb design and stimulating spaces everywhere we look. It would be fun to spend a longer time here - and with some good eating and drinking places close by too.


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