Melbourne

St Kilda Market
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It’s historically been known as the little sister to Sydney, but in recent years Melbourne has become the shining star in terms of cosmopolitan food and wine, culture and the arts. We absolutely loved it. We based ourselves in South Yarra which is a cosmopolitan neighborhood with many shops and an endless number of cafes and restaurants. It also gave us good access to the tram into the downtown area.

We spent a few days here walking through Queen Victoria Market, Pahran Market, Federation Square, several art museums, and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The city has a definite European feel to it. The food and wine festival was also taking place while we were here and one of the events was the Great Aussie BBQ. So we grabbed on spot on the artificial grass they put down in Federation Square and watched some of the chefs from the local restaurants participating in the event put on BBQ demonstrations. Our final morning was spent in St. Kilda where there was a craft market along the beachfront and we had lunch at a café in Fitzroy before heading out of town. As you can tell, Melbourne is more about taking in your surroundings than sight-seeing. Our 7 year anniversary was celebrated as well while in Melbourne (thank goodness we haven’t gotten the seven year itch while traveling together for as long as we have!)

View of Yarra River
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I wish we had all of the great markets that they have here at home. The Queen Victoria Market occurs every day and you can find all the produce, meat, seafood, dairy, deli, wine, gourmet items and anything else you could possible need. Who do I talk to about expanding the farmers market at home???

Scott’s former boss, Michael and his wife Di, live in Melbourne, and we enjoyed spending some time with them as we met up for dinner and coffee during our stay.

We can definitely see why people love Melbourne and we can see why Sydney is becoming more envious of its smaller sibling.

Federation Square
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Tidbit of the day:

The plans for Bombay India railway station and the railway station in Melbourne were mixed up in the designers' office in London, and as a result the Bombay railway station now sits in Melbourne and the original Flinders St railway station was built in Bombay. When you compare the architectural styles of both buildings, it makes sense that the structure in Melbourne was meant for India.   (see the pic)