Melbourne

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I arrived in Melbourne on saturday, being really pissed off because of my stolen/lost camara...so the first thing i did was to buy a new one...it does not really help much, but at least i can concentrate now in taking lots of new ones...Melbourne is a big, busy and modern city. It is quite strange to get used to such a big thing again, after so many small and chill-out places in the east coast.

They say in Melbourne you can hvae the four seasons in a day, and i can confirm that..in one day i could be in bikini on the beach, and some hours afterward with a jumper and jacket freezing because of the strong wind. Very weird!!Melbourne is a big city, with a good skyline, lots of skyscrapers and old buildings of the 19th century (specially churches!). It is Australia's fashion town, lots of modern and stylish shops, withy really cool cloths and trendy people.

The city is divided by the Yarra river, on which you find lots of 'boats clubs' of the different universities. In general the city is very very green (has loooots of different parks) and people (again) seem to be very focused on sports, specially on cycling. The city centre is very busy, lots of people running, stressed, others singing for money and some barefoot (australia seems to be the land of the barefoot people...).

I would say that the main difference btw Melbourne and Sydney relies on the ambience...here you can find hundrets of small cafes and bars with terraces. It reminds me a little bitof Le Marais in Paris (peneloPPP!! good old french times!!!), with lots of people drinking on the street and partying the arriving of the spring.

I'm staying at St. Kilda, a suburb on the seaside of Melbourne, famous for its atmosphere (Melbourne is not really at the sea, but in the Port Phillip Bay, a huge big very closed bay. Therefore the water looks more like a lake, because there are no waves at all). St. Kild is a few km south of the city, and reminds me a little bit of Bondi Beach in Sydney...very relaxed atmosphere, cool restaurants and cafes, lots of bars and clubs. The beach is not really much worth, but it is the atmosphere that really counts.. I would say it is the place of extrems...when the sun shines it is crowded, the cafes are full, lots of people everywhere. The day it rained, it was empty and dead.
It also has an artistic flare because of its modern art galleries and fashion cloths shops. The Luna park is also one of its main attractions. this amusement park has many great attractions, including the heritage -listed roller coaster and a huge carousel.... The walk on the pier and the breakwater are very nice...this is the place where you have this nice view over the city, with the boats inbetween. During the sunset you can see small penguins between the rocks and even water rats!!!

The people i've met so far arer pretty nice, but in general much younger. Lots of party around in the hostel, which is really nice and modern, has a very fashion red bar. Yesterday a girl of my dorm woke me up because there was a guy sleeping on the floor of our dorm. The poor man was so drunk that his friends had shaved him parts of his head and his eyebrows and he didnt even notice. We still dont now how he got inside our dorm, because he didnt have a key..hehe backpakcers life!

so this is my first impression of melbourne...nice place, very modern, lots of huge buildings, very good atmosphere (i suppose it gets better the warmer it gets)..although not comparable with the good atmosphere in the most places i've been in teh east coast!! this simply is a big city, people are more in a rush, more independent, less personal...

pronto mas y mejor!! Muaks!!

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Photos

melbourne...
melbourne's skyline, seen from St. Kilda

Luna Park
St. Kilda's famous amusement park...