When Luke asked me if I wanted to make the trip to Melbourne with him I was beyond thrilled! We’ve been trying to figure out a good time for me to go with him when he had to go for work and this worked so that we could go Wednesday and come back Sunday. In case you are wondering, the correct Australian pronunciation for Melbourne is Mel-Ben.
Our flight left very early on Wednesday morning. I couldn’t believe the low security measures they have at the airport. I would assume it seemed this way because of the extreme measures we have in the US. I didn’t even show my ID to anyone. Quantas serves full meals on their flights. The flight from Sydney to Melbourne is only an hour and half so basically like flying KC to Colorado. The flight is pretty short so I was shocked when they came by with a full brekky. I chose sleeping instead!
When we landed in Melbourne it was only 8:30 a.m. so we grabbed a coffee, dropped off our luggage at the hotel, and Luke went to the office. So there I was again alone in a new, massive city. All of a sudden I had that familiar nervous, unsettling, awful feeling come over me. Then I knew I had two options- 1. Walk around the blocks surrounding Luke’s office building and play it safe or 2. Figure this new place out and get moving. I took a breath and chose number 2 because I KNEW I’d be fine. I found a book store and searched for a couple of travel books about Melbourne. I found a really good one and also a new book of traveling in Australia written by an Aussie. Sorry, Mr. Frommer!!!
I wandered all over and got acquainted with the streets so I could find my way back. They use trams for their main transportation. The tram system looked fairly easy but I decided to just walk for this first day and tackle the tram tomorrow. I found a great place for lunch and had a little table outside. I included a picture of what I would call “a beautiful lunch” complete with a blood orange granita to drink. A granita is just a frozen juice, sugar, and water that are served similar to the consistency of a slushee. Oh, how I miss a good Sonic slush!!!! I stayed for a couple of hours going through my new travel books and trying to figure out things to check out for the rest of the week.
I finally called Luke after 4pm to see if we could get into the hotel yet. I met up with him there and I took a quick nap. When I woke up, I told him the things I found for us to do for the rest of the evening. We decided to have dinner in Chinatown at a place called Spicy Fish. It was the first real Chinese place that we found several options on the menu that weren’t too sketchy. We had a delicious dinner and then walked to the Queen Victoria Market that just happened to have a night market on Wednesday nights. We have really enjoyed going to the different little markets all over Sydney but this one was very big and had a very different selection than what we’ve seen so far. I’ll definitely come here again!
It was after 10:30 by the time we started walking back to the hotel but we decided to walk around a little longer. Luke was seeing familiar places from when he was here 10 years ago. We walked over to Federation Square and the Flinders Street Station. There is a large open area with chairs and a big screen at Fed Square. The Australian Open was on so there were several people watching. We kept walking down towards where the Open was being played. Even from far away you could hear the cheering and the grunting when they hit the ball! We contemplated getting a day ticket during our short visit but we had just as much fun watching it on TV and being right there.
Something very unique about Melbourne is the “arcades” that line the streets. The arcades are side streets or alleys that are full of little shops, restaurants, and cafes. We really liked the way they were just tucked away to the side and included so many places along each one.
You’ll see what looks like graffiti in one picture but these are actually part of their artwork displays in some areas. The public arts program calls it the Laneway Commissions so that local and international artists can create public art displays in these little areas. I wish I would have took more time to look around and find others. Next time!
I found a few places over here with “Rush” in the name. I had to include the pictures, so I apologize! But you know no one over here has ever known me as Lisa Rush so I thought I’d share with you. J
I would say that Day 1 in Melbourne was a success! I’m so glad I was able to take full advantage!
A "beautiful" lunch
It's the little things that make you smile! :)
an arcade
arcade
Chinatown
You can rent a bike for the whole day for only a few dollars but you have to wear a helmet because it's against the law if you don't. 
Queen Victoria Market
art laneway
art laneway
very nice little arcade
Chinatown at night
Flinders Street Station
Federation Park
No comments:
Post a Comment