We slept late (again) and when we finally woke up we went off to the beach to explore the suburb of the city we've been staying in - Port Melbourne. Port Melbourne is located about a 15 minute tram ride from the city, directly on the beach. Honestly, it is amazing to me that such a place on the beautiful Southern Ocean exists so close to such an amazing city. The beach was beautiful and I took a lot of photographs as we walked along.
After exploring, we stopped for brunch at a restaurant near the water, Moulin Noir - GREAT brunch - there wasn't a morsel left of my nutella crepes or Jon's ham and eggs :).
After brunch we went back to the studio and talked to our families for a bit before venturing into the city for the day. We started at the Old Treasury Building to take some pictures before heading to Fitzroy Gardens and Cooks Cottage.
Cooks Cottage was the home of Captain James Cook, who explored MUCH of the world over 3 several years-long journeys under the British crown. The house was originally constructed in England and he had it transported, brick by brick, to Australia when he relocated. In Melbourne it has been kept in its original state and maintained as a museum to the life of the Cooks and the families who resided thereafter.
To me, it was just like a mini Colonial Williamsburg...although only one house worth instead of a whole village! BUT! Unlike CW, you got to dress up - FOR FREE!!
So fun! Although apparently my husband didn't think so. He refused to put on another pair of briches in the 85 degree weather. Go figure :-p.
I also enjoyed talking to the women who worked there and telling them about CW. They were fascinated that such a place exists! I told them they should visit if they ever get to the US - not sure what they'd do with so many like-minded people dressed in 1700 and 1800's fashion!
After Cook's Cottage we explored the nearby Conservatory:
Before heading into the Fitzroy section of the city in the north. Our hosts had told us that the Fitzroy section, particularly Brunswick Street was "hip and funky" so we decided to head on over. While we didn't encounter anything too "funky" (although, to be fair, it was about 3 pm on a Monday afternoon), we did find a cafe with DELICIOUS paninis for lunch - Mediterranean salami and olives for me and basil pesto chicken for Jon.
While at Cook's Cottage this afternoon we had found a map of....LANEWAYS OF MELBOURNE!! I can't even tell you how excited I was! So with that in mind, Jon and I headed back into the central business district to explore as many as we could!
And it was my favorite.
We wandered down probably 20 different laneways throughout the city, exploring their restaurants, bars, and shops. Some were HUGE arcades with tons of stores:
Others were small side streets with maybe only one or two restaurants. As we wandered the laneways we came upon a sign that said "The Hills Rooftop Bar" and decided to find out what was at the top!
We discovered an adorable little bar that honestly seemed to just be someone's own personal rooftop that they had added some beer taps to. Either way it worked for us :). We enjoyed a drink and relaxed for a bit before venturing to find more laneways...during which we found... the best ones:
Two laneways TOTALLY devoted to graffiti and nothing else. They were seriously awesome. And this one quite accurately portrayed my feelings:
#MELBOURNE I LOVE YOU
After leaving the laneway we decided to stop in Federation Square for one last gander. We sat there for a few minutes admiring the city and its architecture before a man approached us, asking if we'd like to be interviewed for a podcast! SUPER random. We said sure, why not, and he proceeded to interview us on something akin to "men's rights". The name of the podcast was "The Spade" and he said it would be airing in the next few weeks. Looking forward to seeing if we end up on the show!
There's the guy who interviewed us interviewing someone else in Fed Square!
As we left Fed Square, not really hungry since we'd eaten a late lunch, our next stop was the grocery store so we could buy sunscreen and some dinner to eat when we got back to the studio. We got back nice and early, with plenty of time to eat our dinner and pack.
Have I mentioned how sad I'm going to be to leave Melbourne? So sad. There are no words. I'm still working on trying to convince Jon to move here. Now just to find him a job... if you have any leads let us know!
<3 you Melbourne.
Jess' highlight of the day: LANEWAYS! I'm OBSESSED!
Jon's highlight of the day: "Laneways with my wife who is obsessed with laneways."
No comments:
Post a Comment