Our weekend with Jo

Last night I said good bye to a friend I first met eight years ago.  When we first met, Jo was a student traveling from Melbourne Australia to attend a summer program at Harvard University.  Because her flight was delayed she arrived in Boston too late to check-in at Harvard and she was in a bit of a panic trying to figure out where she might spend the night.  My other half offered our place as well as a drive the next day to Harvard to help her get checked-in.  Since that time we've remained excellent friends and stayed in touch via e-mail and the occassional call.

When we booked our trip to Australia, we immediately called Jo to let her know we would be stopping in Melbourne to see her again and to meet her family.  However, Jo surprised us both when she told us she would be finishing her MBA program at Duke University and would be in N.C. when we were in Melbourne.  Fortunately, she was able to come up and visit us this weekend.  We had a wonderful time showing her Boston and bringing her back to the Harvard campus to see her old dorm and other places which she remembered so fondly.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we spent all day Sunday walking Newbury and Boylston Street.  We ate well too with dinners at Rocca and Mistral, which made each evening quite special.

Jo has provided us with some excellent tips for our upcoming trip so we will spend the next day or two revising our itinerary by adding an extra night in Melbourne - we now have been invited to dinner at her grandparents house. She has also helped us identify the perfect place to stay for an overnight in Daylesford which is approximately 1 hours drive from Melbourne called, Peppers Hepburn Springs Retreat. They have some lovely photographs of the spa / resort here.