Melbourne - The Europe of Australia

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We finally arrived in Melbourne on the 5th day of our road trip. Driving via the inner city to North Melbourne was a nightmare, especially when your map is few streets short. I lost count on the number of times we’ve been beeped, drove in circles and almost crash into other cars. The traffic lanes are very confusing. Cars can travel alongside the trams. And if you drive anywhere near the tram tracks, forget about making a right-turn 'coz you're in the wrong lane mate ! It was such a relief when we finally arrived to our destination. We managed to get to Nth Melbourne by pure luck. We stayed at Rydges Hotel which is only 5min tram ride away from the city center. Flinders Street is where majority of trams stop. It is the transportation hub for trains and trams. They say Melbourne is the little Europe of Australia - without the tourists. It is a mixture of 19th century gothic buildings & churches, modern architecture, trendy arcades and hectic people in suits. Melbourne is also the fashion center or shopping capital of Australia.

Although I bought day-trip tickets, we toured the inner city mostly by foot. We crossed the bridge to Southgate promenade lined with cafes and restaurants along the yarra river. My sister reminded me to make sure we visit the Crown Towers and check out the mind-blowing architectural design of the Crown Tower's lobby with musical waterfountain and laser show. Colourful lights reflect on the waterfountains and crystal chandeliers while classical music plays in the background.
The Crown Towers is also home to Australia's famous Crown Casino. I went in to the casino just to see what it looks like (ok…also to try my luck). I put in $5 into those poker machines. As expected, they're gone in less than 3 seconds……darrrrrn it !

After exploring the Crown Tower, we went to Rialto Tower Observatory Deck for 360 degrees panoramic view of the city. The Rialto towers are the tallest buildings in the city and used to be the tallest buildings in the Southern hemisphere prior to the construction of Q1 building in Gold Coast Queensland. I don’t know what’s with me and heights. I always get vertigo. Having birds-eye view of the whole city was astonishing. Overlooking the city are the tall buildings, sports stadium, parks and Yarra river which looked really tiny from up where we were on the 55th floor.

After absorbing the awesome city sights, we were exhausted and caught the tram back to our hotel. There was this guy in the tram ranting and raving about his whole life story to a group of overseas students who looked traumatised by his outrage. He kept going on and on about how his wife left him and how he's got mud all over his shoes (either literally or metaphorically). I must admit that I got frightened too. A string of negative thoughts flooded my mind. The worst case scenario was him pulling out a riffle and start shooting anyone in random. It was the longest terrifying 5 minutes ride of my life. I was in sheer relief when he got off the tram and yelled out "arrivederci to all".......

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Photos

St. Paul
In 1880 the foundation stone for St Paul’s was laid and the cathedral was consecrated in 1891. It is considered architecturally significant as a masterpiece of the Gothic Revival style.