So this week The Engineer had an offshore expo to attend for work and wondered if anyone was keen to accompany her a little earlier, make a bit of a holiday of it, and check out a destination we’d not yet explored. Sadly (in truth, not for me) Farm Girl was in the middle of mocks and The Bean Counter was happy to have a week off to keep the home fires burning and so the two of us headed off – me for three days and The Engineer a week – in…
Melbourne is a cool, diverse, funky city and our hotel was right in its heart meaning we fell asleep and woke to the ting–ting of the tram and walked that gorgeous, undulating city centre until we could barely stand.
We checked out places we’d heard about, sung about and knew without knowing
from a distance and also up close (Flinders Street Station).
We mingled with the tour groups to take in the obvious sights
both outside and the inside (St Pauls Cathedral).
We took it all in at ground level
pensive posing overlooking the Yarra River, Southbank; the gates of the Old Melbourne Gaol; Hosier Lane – famed for it’s street art.
and from The Skydeck, 88 floors up.
We shopped in markets and arcades, sampled the awesome eateries way too much (well, we had to rest our feet!), took a great many bad photographs, walked up and down many undulating footpaths and stairways, rode the trams, evesdropped on wonderful conversations, talked an awful lot –
and even went to the Opera!
of which we are now both utter converts! We had read La Boheme is the perfect beginner’s opera (we also prepped by researching the story and the more famous arias beforehand) and they’re not wrong.
Then I had to step way out of my comfort zone and find my own way back home which, just quietly, I managed with very few mishaps.
Union Homestead 
What a fantastic excursion! Melbourne looks like a fascinating city—must confess that I don’t know much about it— and it’s fantastic that you were able to slide in a trip to the opera. A trip to remember.
It was lovely to discover a new place. I had no idea it was such a large city with basically a population equal to our entire country and I think I walked into just about all of them😊 I am such a small-town gal!
Same here! Maine has a population of just over one million, and Winthrop, our town, 6,000. We definitely live in the quiet lane. Fun to go to a big city—for us, Boston or New York—every now and then.
Exactly and, guaranteed, at some point you will smile and say, “A really lovely place – but I wouldn’t like to live here.” 😊
I love Melbourne – one of my favourite places to visit. So many good places to eat and visit.
Oh! The restaurants and cafes 😁 It’s lucky we walked so much to balance out the amount I ingested
You took some excellent photos too! I hope that you find some other good operas to go to now that you have got the taste for it.
Thank you but I am always too impatient to do much more than ‘point and shoot’ photography and then totally regret it when I come to blog about things. I am still a little befuddled at my reaction to La Boheme…it was overwhelming!
Mrs T loves that opera. I prefer Verdi to Puccini.
Such a cool place for a mini break, so pleased you got to go and paint the town a little bit red. Sounds awesome and perfect fodder for our now way out of date catch up. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Just a little bit red…more a light pink 😊 Definitely catch up soon…looking forward to itxxx
Hi, I am glad you enjoyed exploring Melbourne taking in the sights. I was glad to escape Melbourne after 40 odd years to opt for the quiet life in a smallish town. Yes, Melbourne made the right decision to hang onto its trams and even extend the network a little. What did you think of Melbourne’s infamous hook turns?
I can totally understand you escaping – there are just so many people and they never seem to sleep! We weren’t brave enough to drive – walking, trams and an Uber to the airport – so I didn’t even realize the weird manoeuvre behind that road sign. Thanks to you and Google I am now enlightened😊