Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is a great city. It was very reminiscent of Toronto. We started the day by walking up to State Library Victoria which is located in a grand old building which doubles in part as a museum. Our city walking tour followed which started right outside our building. The city is known for its culture, music and food and is riddled with old impressive buildings. Melbourne grew to the city it now is as a result of two very wealthy periods related to gold rushes. The tour lasted 3 hours and took us to all of the highlights. The city is well laid out, very walkable, and you can take a free tram around the city centre. There is a really cool alley/lane way culture that has developed. The unused alleys have been filled with interesting cafes, bars and restaurants. We enjoyed a beer at Hell's Kitchen overlooking Centre Lane watching the busy pedestrian traffic below. We also explored the botanical garden, Olympic Park and docklands on our own.

A clean hotel room to go back to was a nice treat for both nights. The price was about the same price as a private hostel room. Our only let down was our dinner selection. We ate out both nights and were disappointed by our selection.Read more