Feb 12. Melbourne, Australia

Our ships culinary specialists demonstrated their great skills and flexibility at today's Superbowl party. They provided endless American style football cuisine on the pool deck where the game was shown on the big screen. You name it, they served it! I don't know what more Viking can do to make us all happy! Julie was very excited to see her Chief's win today!

After the game, we walked to the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Established in 1846, the 94-acre gardens are truly amazing. In just a few steps, we left the hustling city and entered an oasis!

We then walked to Melbourne's infamous "Laneways & Arcades." In a word, WOW!! Once used as service roads to the main streets, these narrow laneways and covered passageways are now vibrant and lively spaces full of cafes, bars, restaurants, and shops. We could spend a week here and still not see everything! The highlight for me was visiting The Charles Dickens Tavern, a British pub in the heart of Melbourne. The main room inside the tavern is called The Pickwick Room, named after my FAVORITE Dickens novel, "Pickwick Papers"!! We stopped at the H&M Department store (3 floors huge!), to buy baby socks (future art project). Built in 1861, the store is located in the old Post Office and is one of the most beautiful buildings I've seen!

Melbourne is a real gem! We had a great day! (8 1/2 miles walked)Read more