When I think of Sunday Sessions what springs to mind are the large outdoor beer gardens that come alive every Summer….Belgium Bier Cafe in St Kilda Road, The Anglers Tavern in Maribrynong, even the little back gardens of pubs such as The Pinnacle in Fitzroy North that comes alive with various live acts playing to crowds of friends squished into a space that would be much more catered towards restaurant dining than that desired when chilling out and listening to a gig.
One place that does not spring to mind when a friend throws forward the idea of a Sunday session is Honey Bar in South Melbourne. Granted, I had never been there before, but the name – and location, being in the middle of posh South Melbourne’s Clarendon Street – do not assist in the creation of the perfect place to spend a Sunday. Yes it sounds like the place I would head to for a few after-work drinks on a Friday night, or even the kind of place I would love a first date to take me too so that we could share drinks and a (hopefully!) new found passion for everything each of us brings to the table, but Honey Bar does not sound like the kind of venue where large groups of friends would meet up, debrief on what exactly had happened in last night’s shenanigans, and drink enough beer, wine and cider so that Monday morning would end up much more unpleasant than need be.
So what was it like? Drizzly grey rain, the deafening roar of Schumaker, Webber and Hamilton racing in the F1 Grand Prix around Albert Park, and a fairly empty purse did nothing to put a damper on this place. A friend of a friend has recently taken up Salsa Dancing; and in an effort to drum up new dancers her teachers had organised this day. Intertwining chilled out tunes with some salsa music, where all the salsa dancers would swivel sexily around the dance floor, hair swinging and hips moving in a way I could never imagine mine to, gave the bar a novelty factor that drew people together.
Salsa dancing takes me back to my time in Argentina and Brazil, where my lack of Spanish meant the only thing I could say to the would-be-romeos I would meet out on the town would be ‘Salsa?’ So, yes, I know the seductive and sexy nature of this dance, the way you give in all control to your sexy Lationo partner…unfortunately for me, however, I have attempted this once before since my return from South America. Two minutes of twirling and feeling as sexy as can be, before Wham! I crash to the ground with a dislocated knee that resulted in me visiting the very unfriendly and scary place that is a Hospital Emergency Room, early one Friday morning, and hobbling through the city streets on crutches for the next two weeks. So alas, I am extremely anti-salsa dancing with anybody that was not brought up from birth in a latino, salsa loving family where all family get together’s result in an impromptu salsa dance.
Fortunately for me, I was among extremely good company, the wooden outdoor table settings where covered by large hair-friendly umbrellas and the cocktails were CHEAP! Hello good times! Jugs of Sangria for $15 and Mojito’s for $20…..with five girls this worked out perfect, especially when the very minty mojito managed to leave debris on our pearly whites! Four hours of gossips and giggles, a round each and we all managed to waste away a Sunday afternoon in an extremely relaxing and pleasant state. No flirting and no romance, but who needs that when a group of girl friends entertain you with their hilarious tales of love gone wrong?
xxx
Tags: Cocktails, Honey Bar, Salsa Dancing, South Melbourne, Sunday Session
