It’s a nice feeling to be back in a big city again. I’ve only been in Melbourne for two days but I can already tell that I’m going to enjoy my time here. Melbourne is consistently voted one of the top cities to live in worldwide and I can see why.
I flew in on Thursday night and didn’t arrive until very late so I slept at the airport in an attempt to save some money. I woke up at 6 AM and then made my way into the city. It was super easy actually. The public transportation system here is actually really good. You get free tram service all throughout the downtown area which is very convenient.
Anyway, I dropped my bags off and had about six hours to kill. The first thing I did was grab a coffee. Melbourne has a reputation for being a very coffee-centric city so I plan on hitting up all the spots while I am here.
Afterward, I headed to the National Gallery of Victoria, the most famous art gallery here. I didn’t stay there for too long. Maybe about an hour. I didn’t have the energy to do the entire museum in one day. So I just went through the first floor, which was mostly Asian and European art. I’ll make it back there at some point to finish the thing off.
My evening actually turned out to be quite fun. At 4 o’clock they had drinks in the kitchen at the hostel. That helped me make some new friends rather quickly. One thing led to another and all of a sudden were meeting up with some friends of one of the people I just met.
We went to this hole in the wall place that looked super tiny from the outside but actually was pretty spacious once you got in there. They had all these weird little cocktails that all the women were going crazy for. Just beer for me, thanks.
But the live band was fantastic. The singer was outstanding and once the set was over she started DJing. So naturally, we got our boogie on. I didn’t stay out awfully late but I had a really fun night. Hopefully, I can connect with those girls again before I leave.
Today has been rather quiet. I slept in (I needed it) and then went to get coffee with a few people from the hostel. We moseyed over into the Botanical Gardens and we stumbled upon a festival that was going on. So there I was, dancing again. This time in the park as a Latino band serenaded us. It was fun because I could understand most of the lyrics. We didn’t stay too long but it was a nice little Easter Egg to find.
Now I’m just hanging out at the hostel. I’ll meet a friend that I made while I was in Hawaii for dinner. She is from this city so it’ll be fun to learn more about it from her. I am excited about what Melbourne has to offer me on my stay.