Tuesday Nov 7 2017

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Ferdy is not much interested in big cities. Can Melbourne, with a population of 4 million plus, be an exception? Certainly the impressive skyscrapers, highway architecture, interesting cityscapes and shopping arcades all try hard to make it impressive. The use of trams cause it to have less downtown car traffic than Ottawa. And, this being Melbourne Cup Day, a Victoria State holiday, creates a level of excitement. Many folk dress up in period dresses, tuxedos and hats, and many will end up drunk and unruly by the end of the day. Seeing a friendly demonstration to celebrate the 8-hour work day initiated here in 1856, and chatting with some of the participants, was cool. Cool, very cool indeed, was the weather, unseasonably cold (about 14C) and rain for Melbourne, good thing we actually brought our rain jackets!

The Melbourne Museum is impressive but we were mostly interested in seeing the sections on the history of Melbourne, Aboriginee history, and of course the exhibit on Phar Lap, the most famous race horse from Australia and beloved previous Melbourne Cup winner. We had booked a tour for the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) next door, but it had to be cancelled due to exams being conducted for the university. It looked to us that as much as 80% of the students were of Asian descent.

We embark on the free tram that circles the business district (all trams are free within that area) making a brief stop at the Parliament before carrying on to Federation Square. From there we begin our walk all the way back to our hotel, through very interesting arcades with many small shops and cafes. Got a great deal on UGG slippers, according to Marion at about 1/3 of the cost in Canada!

We had intended to have dinner at the Union Club Hotel, the local pub from the Australian Netflix series Offspring, but we’re convinced by the host of one of the Italian restaurants on Lygon Street to stop there. The chicken schnitzels we had were enormous, too much to finish, and got a free glass of wine thrown in. Result: we ended up too tired and went to bed once we got back to our hotel. Not having seen the Offspring pub is now disappointing for Marion.

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Photos

The Royal Exhibition Building
The last building of its kind.

Free tram loop
A quick stop for a photo opportunity.

Downtown Melbourne
Where can you see all this? Historic church, modern skyscrapers, then horse and carriage versus light rail!

One of the many arcades
Shops and cafes galore.

Shopping arcade
Many of these places all over the downtown.

Old warehouses
Note the extensions to lift loads.

Schnitzels!
Huge serving with complementary wine.

Comments

[Marj Wilfong]

Hi,
Great pictures, enjoy your time Marion.

[Mary Ellen]

from mary ellen
not sure if my comment was forwarded. Are you going to the Zoo and if so watch out for the emus. Glad you are having such a nice time eating and tramming..................mem