Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne after a twelve-hour bus ride through the night, to a chilly spring morning. Mary immediately put on her down coat to keep warm and we walked to our YHA hostel, were we had a private room. After a little nap we ventured out into the city. The first thing we saw was the Queen Victoria Market – a bustling large market opened Wednesday through Sunday that sells locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as other tasty treats. The highlight of the market for Mary was the premade mixture of cranberries and almonds! A favorite treat of hers back home, of which we bought over a kilo for snacking on our upcoming train ride through the outback in a couple of days. After wondering through the market for over an hour and gathering all the samples we could - we were stuffed – and decided to go on a late afternoon walk to explore the city. Along the way we came upon Federation Square, just one of Melbourne’s many interesting and unique artistic architectural attractions, where we stumbled across a concert playing an assortment of music, from opera to country, in an atrium overlooking the river that runs through Melbourne. After the concert we were a bit hungry again and found this cheap Portuguese restaurant where we had a late dinner. The next day after our morning coffee we went to Melbourne’s modern art museum as well as a museum that focused on Aboriginal art. Melbourne also had many outdoor and ski shops and many of the people dressed similar to people back home in Alaska. We also found Mary a pair of Birkenstock sandals that she couldn’t find in the states and are all the rage in Australia. In addition Melbourne has gone green in a big way, the hostel we stayed at was run by solar power, recycled, didn’t use paper towels etc. Melbourne was a pleasant surprise of big city, amazing art, good food, and the familiarity of home. Only later did we find out that Victoria, where Melbourne is located has recently surpassed Queensland, where the Great Barrier Reef is located, in tourism, and we can definitely see why.