Melbourne, Oct 30-Nov 3

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November 3rd 2008

Published: November 5th 2008

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WINikki

Christmas time in the City

October 30 in Melbourne Thats crazy early.

Modern transportation is a marvel. A mere hour in the sky and I arrived in Melbourne, Australia. It was a weekend trip from Thursday, October 30 to Monday, November 3. I had been looking forward to visiting Melbourne since I first flew to Australia. Since Melbourne is in the southern state of Victoria, I waited through winter so that the weather would be more inviting for my visit. The Spring racing carnival is an exciting time for many people.

The biggest event is the Melbourne Cup, taking place November 1-4th. Ben and Ziva, friends from Sydney (xchange) came along and we went to the Flemington Racecourse on Saturday with a group of Australians we met. The races are all about fun, fashion, and drinking, and so that’s what we did. After being explained some horse betting language, I put my $1 bet on a horse. After 3 small bets and two payouts I was up $5. But in the end I lost $1. It was good fun though.

Ben only came to Melbourne for one day so the rest of my explorations happened with Ziva. We stayed at Simons (CS) place which was downtown in the city and had

Melbourne 003

a great view from his 36th floor, all glass apartment. Given that Melbourne is the fashion capital of Australia, most of my two days were spent shopping through the laneways and arcades. Sunday, I caught the tram down to St. Kilda and walked along the beach markets buying gifts. Ziva and I had lunch beachside and then walked the St. Kilda pier.
Unfortunately, Sunday evening and Monday morning we rainy. But nothing an umbrella couldn’t cure. While on a seek and find mission around the city for some of the southern hemispheres “best coffee” and a movie theater, Ziva and I ended up at the 1806 cocktail bar. We had read about it and wanted to brush up on our cocktail knowledge. Simply, the name, cocktail came about in 1806 and their drink book tells the history of drinks since that time. I ended up with a 1946-Mai Tai and the 1816-Rum shrub. Ziva and I were very pleased, all our drinks were delicious, fresh and excellently crafted.
Cheers to Melbourne! I love the city. It’s probably my favorite yet.

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