Melbun (April 30-May 2)

The flight to Melbourne and the cab ride into the city went without a hitch.  We arrived at Darling Towers an hour early for check in so we dropped our bags off and walked around South Yarra, sharing a lunch of a Turkish pide sandwich and a Greek salad.  Afterwords we picked up the keys and hiked a couple blocks to our apartment.  Once we were settled, we put on our running shoes and took a nice long jog through the Botanical Gardens.  We returned to the apartment, cleaned up, and then walked into the city.  We got downtown early in the evening, so we grabbed a beer down by the Yarra River and watched the sun set over Melbourne.  At around 7pm we met a friend/colleague of mine from Townsville (Jeremy) and his partner Claire at a bar called Transit.  It was a hip and happening rooftop bar overlooking the city.  We had a few Fat Yaks and Savs and then ordered a massive smorgasbord of starters including saganaki, meatballs, and spanakopita.

After dinner we all walked to the Palace Theater and saw a pretty cool Xavier Rudd concert.   The show didn’t start until about 10, so by the time we hit the bed at around 1am we were dead to the world.  Which means we're getting pretty old.

The next morning we slept in a bit, then got up and went for another run around the city.  Lindsay worked for a few hours and afterwords we caught a train into the city to wander.  We started our wandering at the Queen Victoria markets, which were amazing - Lindsay's favorite of all markets.  Take the best deli, fruit stand, bakery, and TJ Maxx you’ve ever seen and put them under one roof and you have the Victoria Markets.  After grabbing a couple of boreks for lunch, we explored the city, ending up at Federal Square, the social heart of the city.  There we watched a free jazz concert, took in an amazing moving images museum, shared a cheap $10 jug o’ beer, and enjoyed the sunshine.  Later we took a leisurely stroll down the south bank of the Yarra River, stopping to listen to some classical guitar over a glass of wine and some appetizers.

As the sun started to set, we could see the hoards starting to move down the river toward the MCG.  The MCG (aka “The G”, aka The Melbourne Cricket Grounds) is a 100K+ sporting venue which usually hosts crickets (duh), Australian rules football (the "footy") or soccer.  We followed the crowds down the river, bought a couple of general admission tickets, and found a seat.  For the next few hours we watched the Essendon Bombers beat up on the Hawthorne Hawks.  Prior to the game we arbitrarily took sides, and low and behold Lindsay won $5 off me.  Stupid Bombers!  After the game we picked up some takeaway sushi and watched a movie in bed before hitting the hay.

Sunday morning Lindsay worked and I walked down to the Prahran market near South Yarra.  Once I got back we caught a cab down to St. Kilda, one of the more famous suburbs of Melbourne.  We met up and had lunch with an Australian couple (Andrew and Pat) we had met back on our boat trip to Antarctica in '09.  It was a great afternoon on the beach of St. Kilda.  Later we wandered the streets taking in the counter culture, cake-baking, and Jewish side of Melbourne.  After a couple hours we then hopped on a tram back to South Yarra, had a fireside drink at a cozy little bistro near our apartment, and returned home.  On our last evening in Melbourne we stumbled upon a fantastic Greek restaurant down the street complete with flaming saganaki, the sounds of mandolins, and the songs of drunk old men.  Perfect food, perfect evening.  Next stop…the Great Ocean Road.