Italian quarter,prison,robotic ice-cream

I had to be out of the room by 10:00 am. Well, I made it just in time😄 Another day in Melbourne was waiting for me. I caught a tram (do you remember, it's free👍🏻) to the Carlton Gardens, which I wanted to visit again with more time because we were a little rushing through them on the city tour. The Royal Exhibition Building in the middle of them is pretty impressive. From the Carlton Gardens it is not far to Lygon Street in the quarter of Carlton which is the main street for Italian food in Melbourne. There are many Italian restaurants just next to each other. Melbourne has the largest Italian community outside Italy. I had some yummy pasta with prawns for lunch there. Then I made my way back towards the city centre and visited Melbourne Gaol, the the former prison of Melbourne, operating until the 1920s, which today is a museum. Very interesting stories about 19th century and early 20th century criminals are presented. Many of the prisoners in the Gaol were sentenced to death, like Ned Kelley, apparently the most famous Australian criminal. He and his gang commited some bank robberies, but are nowadays also partly seen as heroes. For some people Ned Kelley has an image as kind of an Australian Robin Hood. In the visit of the Gaol is also included a little tour through the Watchhouse, another prison next to the Gaol for prisoners waiting for their trial in the court next door which had been operating until the 1980s or 1990s. Part of the tour was also that all the men and all the women were separtedly arrested in one of the cells. It was a nice entertainment😀 Afterwards, I went once more to Federation Square, a very stylish modern square which only has existed since the early 2000s. Around the square are located some art museums and restaurants. And, there is also one of my highlights of the day: a robotic icecream bar. That was pretty cool and I had to have an icecream there😂 My next stop should have been a nice souvenir shop we had passed by on the city tour the other day, but unfortunately it was already closed for the day.Read more