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Published: April 9th 2007
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4/9/07
After not sleeping very well (noisy hostel due to college kids being on Easter break…ahh, to be young again….), our alarm went off at 2:30am in order for us to catch our flight to Melbourne, Australia (pronounced Melbin if you want to get technical). We had done our homework and knew that there was an Aussie Rules Football match that afternoon. We figured we may as well keep learning about the national pastimes of the countries we are visiting and have some fun while doing it. So, we got some tickets and headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (“MCG”). The MCG is an impressive stadium, holding some 100,000 fans (almost twice as many as Yankee Stadium). The Melbourne Demons were defeated by the Hawthorne Hawks, but despite the home team’s loss, we thoroughly enjoyed the sport. It’s nothing like American football - no padded equipment, the only way to pass the ball is to kick it or punch it to a teammate, and you score by punting it through the goal posts. The ball is a bit smaller than an American football, is about the same shape, and bounces. For someone who’s not a fan of American football, this
Steph with her koala friend
Note that this is NOT in the zoo game kept Steph at the edge of her seat. After the game, we walked back to the city to Federation Square where we stopped for a beer (the first we had in a week to mark the end of Passover) at a beer garden overlooking the Yarra River.
4/10/07
Spent the day touring the city and taking in the sights. Our favorite stop was the Queen Victoria Market - an area covering a few city blocks full of different vendors. You can buy anything here, from leather jackets, souveniers (including “I love NY” t-shirts) and lingerie, to meats, cheeses and fresh produce. Later that afternoon, we were fortunate enough to meet up with a friendly face - Sherri is a friend of one of Steph’s friends from college, and lives about an hour outside of Melbourne. She came into the city to spend a few hours touring around with us. For dinner, we found a great Italian restaurant, Grossi Florentino, where you can enjoy reasonably-priced pasta dishes while sitting at a table on the sidewalk.
4/11/07
Took a day trip along the Great Ocean Road with a tour group. The Great Ocean Road is similar to the Pacific
Great Ocean Road
Part of the 12 Aposotles Coast Highway along the coast of California. It cuts through the edge of the mountains along the coast, providing some magnificent views of both the ocean below and the surrounding mountains. Along the way we made stops at Bells Beach (a huge surfing town), Koala Cove (where we saw koalas snacking on eucalyptus leaves or sleeping (tired little fellas - they sleep about 20 hours a day, as the leaves do not provide any nutrients) in the trees along the road), the 12 Apostles, London Bridge and Loch Ard Gorge (all are beautiful rock formations in the ocean), and to hike in a rain forest. Although it was an exhausting day (about 14 hours on the road + sightseeing), the Great Ocean Road lived up to the hype, as we saw some really amazing scenery.
4/12/07
Played the part of tourists and took the free visitor shuttle around the city. Our first stop was the Shrine of Remembrance which was built by the country to remember and commemorate the soldiers of each of the wars. We then hopped back on and saw where the Australian Open is held, Melbourne University, and other sites. Once the driver announced that we were in “Little Italy”, our eyes lit up and our mouths started watering - we hopped off and decided to eat at the oldest pizza place in Melbourne. We struck up a nice conversation with one of the family members who owned the place - and it was interesting to hear an Italian with an Australian accent. Our pizza was exactly what we had been craving (and the bottle of wine didn’t hurt either….). The only thing that could top it off was gelato, so of course, that’s how we ended our lunch!
Shortly thereafter, we hopped on a train to the Mornington Peninsula to have dinner and stay with Sherri and her fiancé, Craig. They took us to their favorite Indian restaurant, which was a real treat for us since we haven’t had much ethnic food. It was a delicious meal, and we had a really great time. It was a lot of fun and it was great to hang out with people who live here (Craig’s not only Australian, but an accountant too - don’t worry though, he’s one of the cool ones like us….). They couldn’t have been more hospitable.
RANDOM THOUGHTS BY JAY AND STEPH
-“Cheers”, “No worries”, “How you going?”, “Mate”
-In a car, Steph navigates, and does a great job of it; but when walking on the streets, she could get lost in a paper bag.
-It’s nice being in a city longer than just one or two days.
-Recycle and care for the environment.
-Next stop: Sydney
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Bill
non-member comment
Wow
Hey guys - Pictures look great! Keep on having more fun. How's the local brew?