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Published: March 14th 2011
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Market view
View of the veggie stands - this is just one portion of the markets. Victorian Markets
After sleeping in for a few hours, my friends and I decided to hit up the Victorian Markets. These are some of the largest markets in Australia, and they offer a wide variety of low priced goods. In fact, the prices are so low ($1 for a bag of carrots) that I found myself rather miffed about the prices I pay for produce in Townsville.
Cafes lined the markets, so I enjoyed a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and a flat white (coffee with steamed milk) for something along the lines of a measly A$7. Afterwards, I meandered through the various stalls around the huge market venue.
There were souvenirs, crafts (although not many), general goods, homemade soaps and candles, and the most incredible produce market I have ever seen. There was an entire building dedicated to organic produce, and a huge building full of non organic foods. If it's grown in Australia, it was at this market. There were fruits, veggies, nuts, eggs, spices and fresh herbs. I purchased some smoked almonds and honey coated cashews to munch on as we continued our tour of the markets.
After hitting up all the
Inner Market
This section of the market is in a more enclosed building, although it is still open. Here is where you will find the cheeses, teas, and other treats. outdoor sections of the markets, we wandered over to the more enclosed section of the market that had meats, cheeses, seafoods, and prepared goods. It was incredible. Each inner wall was lined with hundreds of shops - you could get Greek sides, Chinese dumplings, roasted chickens, fresh sausages, picnic sides - nearly anything you could imagine. As my friend succinctly put it - if I ever host a party I don't have to worry about cooking, I just need to hop on a tram and buy snacks from here.
Despite starting early, it was nearly noon. So we decided to traipse down Bourke Street - Melbourne's most famous street for restaurants, and eventually settled down for lunch at a Greek place. I won't waste any more time saying that the food is Melbourne is good - simply take my word for it that it's affordable and delicious.
Royal Botanic Gardens
These gardens span for a few miles, and are filled with luscious trees, blooming flowers, fragrant roses, and unique ecosystem emulations. While exploring the "rain forest" part of garden, my jacket rustled the grass. I instantly jumped two feet into the air landing across the path
Purple Assorment
My favorite photograph of a flower from the park. I'm not sure what species it is. on my friends foot - Australia has instilled in me a new fear of snakes. Afterwards, we checked out a dessert volcano portion of the garden. It was teeming with xerophytes, such as aloe, cacti, and a few water retaining trees. The top of the volcano was filled with an organic filtration system - which used floating barges of plants to filter the water.
In addition to the interesting "ecosystems", there were copious amounts of my favorite flowers - purple ones! Yes, I realize that is not a specific type of flower ... but I really like any sort of purple flower. However the family
Orchidaceae contains flowers I find the abosultely stunning. Irises are pretty too.
After enjoying the flowers, we headed to a tea house in the center of the park. It was surrounded by a lake, and served delicious scones and an assortment of tea and coffee. We enjoyed the lake scenery and a well deserved rest before heading home for the day.
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Angie1987
Angie
Sarah these markets look amazing! Angie