31. Men I Salute you (continuing Melbourne tales)

We stayed in a Hotel overlooking Albert Park and its Lake, not far from where me and Bryan used to live when I first went to Melbourne to model.

We actually took the kids there to our old house to have a look and they were suitably impressed although whilst we were trying to find it we were all starting to doubt whether this huge walk would be worth it.

We do like to walk though and spend a lot of time doing that, great exercise and also you get to see and feel a city. We had dinners in some great restaurants along the Yarra and caught trams and busses and trains and taxis too and enjoyed the outdoor spa at the hotel, I had the pleasure of Hillivis company a couple of mornings in the gym, but in the end they all opted for a sleep in, while I still slogged it out.

The Melbourne Aquarium is always a favourite with us but this time we also visited the Titanic exhibition which was really good.

What got me really thinking was that on your way into the exhibition they handed you a boarding card. Everyone got one, and it had the name of an actual passenger that was on that voyage, also the background of that person, who they were travelling with and married to and what reason they had for being on the ship.

We all read our own and then each other’s and it really gave you a great insight into their lives. Then at the end of the exhibition you had to check your Boarding card against a huge board with the names of who lived or who perished in the disaster.

Two of us lived and two died, now this happened in 1912 however we all still felt it in the pit of our stomachs for those poor people who lost their life’s that night. Many more people in 3^rd and 2^nd class died than in the first class and of course many more men lost their lives than ladies. So many brave men who gave their lives for women and children they never even knew, so very very admirable.

I must add here that I think men are often vilified, I know that there are some bad apples out there. However from my experience, the men in my life have all been fantastic; my son, husband, brother, father, grandfathers and nearly every man that I have ever met have been lovely. So thank you fellows and from the bottom of my heart, Men I Salute YOU!

Here are the last words of John Jacob Astor IV, the richest man in the world, saying farewell to his lover as he gave up his seat on an escaping lifeboat from the sinking Titanic for a female passenger;

“The ladies have to go first…Get in the lifeboat, to please me…Goodbye dearie, I’ll see you later”

Till next time,

Love Marie xx (c)

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