So there is a Saturday morning, after rich breakfast we take a map and off we go. Just about 10 minutes walking we have a train station. Transportation here is really excellent, they have a very well planned lines of buses, trams also trains. And most importantly, that surprised us a bit, it's also a pretty cheap compared to Perth. For all-day ticket for two zones (which is actually all Melbourne) we pay only $ 3.30. It's almost for free :) So, let's get into the city.
Already somehow traditionally we start our trip in the park at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Overall parks and gardens everywhere here are very beautiful and very well maintained. They really take care about it and it is then pleasure to go here for a walk. And since it is already autumn, also here are all the beautiful colors. We have many thing on our itinerary, so we're just passing through the park.
Next stop - Shrine of Remembrance, a kind of shrine of remembrance of fallen soldiers in the war. You can also go up to the terrace and enjoying the first view of the city. Weather so far is good, is a beautiful sunny day and we just hope that this will last until the evening. The views of the city are just superb. Melbourne finally looks like a city. It's a big difference compared to our Perth. Here everything is alive, pulsing, people, cars, everything is in motion. There are many shops at every step. This we have truly forgotten in Perth a long time ago. |
| CBD |
Overlooking the city pleases us so much so we've decided to go to the highest platform in the building of the southern hemisphere - Eureka Sky-deck 88. I do not know how has this idea, since I don't really like those heights. From a height of 300 meters we have 360 degree view of the city, so who would not want to experience this? We get to the 88th floor by the fastest elevators in the southern hemisphere - more than 9m/s and in 40 seconds we are there. I don't really know how long we were there, but it I'd say not very long. Looking down 300 meters did not do me very well, although I believe that the engineers also designed the building to be safe. But I just prefer solid ground under my feet, those things we should just let for the birds ... or planes;) But Slavka liked it there very much so I had to do something and suffered a few more photos.
Hooray, hooray, we're back on the ground. If I had something probably I'd also had one shot. For the rest of the day no more bridges or other thing. Nice and lovely walks through the streets of downtown. Next stop is not entirely clear, we're going to just walk and see where our feet lead us. And truly, they brought us to amazing place where they are doing same delicacies, cookies, chocolate and other sweets. Also we would have tasted, but apparently so many people had the same idea and people even had to stand outside in line and wait until some space becomes available. So we went somewhere else because we want to see as much as possible and do not have time to queue in the line for an hour. Maybe next time. |
| vlakova stanica |
An important point in the city is the railway station. Daily carrying vast mass of people, all the trains come here. A station is just opposite Federation Square, a modern square, where is almost always something going on. When we got there, there were a group dancing to get some money for somebody, I guess a doctor who was in the jail. At least have some distraction, where the money will end up no one really knows;)
In Melbourne, just about in every major city in Australia is a free public transportation in the city . Or at least partially. Here they have an old tram which goes around the whole CBD. On the other hand when we have a daily ticket, it doesn't really matter for us because all the transport is free, but it's nice to see how you can start tourism and attract people to the city. Sometimes it seems that even the seemingly trivial things you do can make an attraction. Back at home nobody thinks this way. Here for almost any building in the city there are hundreds of lines in different guide books. Well, they know how to do it, we still have much to learn. |
| duck:) |
In the evening we're passing through Chinatown, but it was just an attempt. As I say, they try to make the money out of everything. There is nothing extra here in comparison with London for example, but well, at least they are trying. Also, we wanted to find some Italian and Greek streets, but unfortunately we couldn't Probably they were very well hidden from us. So I'm quickly googling for something else and I found Czech and Slovak Pub. We do not hesitate a long time and already planning a trip and we are looking forward to eat some local dish. In such a faraway country, I truly did not expect it. Slavka ordered the pork, dumplings, sauerkraut with Kofola and I stay faithful gnocchi with goat (halusky). Very good, I must say. And as you might assume, Slavka could not handle all her food not even in theory, so I can have even the taste of Czech cuisine, perfect :) But we didn't smile that much when it came to pay. This little fun cost us more than $50. But then once in a while you should treat yourself as something better. |
| Federation Square |
After dinner we just take the tram and then a train for just over an hour and a half and there we are at our hotel. Tired after a day like today we fell asleep immediately Tomorrow will be easier day. First, the weather changed and it is going to rain and also there is not very much left to watch in the city . And in the short time for us it is not worth to go outside of the city. So, good night.
On Sunday morning we have plenty of time, no rush, relaxed breakfast. Therefore, we're starting from the hotel just after the eleven and the train is scheduled to arrive to the city at around noon. I take with me an umbrella but hopefully we won't need it. Rain in this country is in fact a little different than at home. The sunshine is just beautiful, but then in the distance you can see a big, black clouds. Then in a few minutes it reaches us and it starts to rain. Better say storm. But after half an hour the rain is over and the sun shows up again. It is truly not as bad as I thought.
It's Sunday and that means almost everything in the city is closed. We had planned to go to see the Parliament, but it is close. So we changed our plan, The Old Treasury Building. They have here just a new exhibition - 150th anniversary of the building, that's nice. It's a brief history of the city, as people came here in the gold rush and tried to get rich. Some have succeed, others have not. In the underground we found a copy of some golden bricks and the largest gold nugget in the world, pity that they are not real and we can't take some of it with us :)
So one storm we overcame in the Treasury Building and we hid ourselves from the other in the St Patrick's Cathedral. Just a classic cathedral, but I have kind of like churches. And then when the rain stopped and the sun started to shine, everything suddenly started to play togheter because of the orange color through the windows. It look all really very nice.
For the church our steps lead straight to the casino. Admission is free, so shy shouldn't we go to have a look. Huge complex with hundreds of machines, roulettes and tables for card games. And many people. Everywhere million people walking up and down as if there would be something for free. For a moment I liked it but then crowds of people overcame the temptation and ran out of there with the speed of light. Crowds are not truly for me.
And so for the end of the day, pleasure for the eye to see we're going to see the Old Hotel - Winsdor. Here it is really like in the past. Starched man opens up the door to let us inside. Although the receptionist know that we didn't come here for overnight, he is still extremely friendly and calls me Sir. Hehe, one can get used to this pretty quickly. Although we are not going to spend a cent here, they let us to go to small saloon to see how it looks there. It's just dinner time, all tables are taken. People are dining and a pianist plays in the corner. Just like in the movie, amazing. I will certainly return here. The room costs around $200 and that's the limit our company is willing to pay for one night without any questions. So bye for now Windsor, I hope we see each other soon;)
And with this experience we end our trip in Melbourne. I think in two days that we've seen just enough. Certainly we will come here for longer time, to look around, but for a weekend in was just enough. So bye, Melbourne ....You can find all the pics at:
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