The City of Melbourne

Although I've only been in Melbourne for 2 weeks now, I feel as though I have a pretty good lay of the land.  Here are some of the landmarks I've stumbled upon that any traveler should definitely check out if they make it to this great city!

The Yarra Trams:

The trams in Melbourne are considered to be one of the best laid public transportation systems in the world.  They quickly and efficiently get you from one end of the city to the other and are very friendly to foreign travelers.  I have spent my fair share on these trams, trekking across downtown Melbourne!


Victoria State Library:

  The Victoria State Library is a great place to sit back, read a book, see a cool exhibit, or catch up on some free internet (as I did my first week here).  It's a nice break from the modern downtown skyscrapers lining the Central Business District of Melbourne.  Located directly across from Melbourne Central, it is near the center of the city and is a bustling place.


Melbourne Central:

 Melbourne Central is a unique shopping center located directly across from the State Library.  With its center housing a former bullet factory under a huge glass cone roof, Melbourne Central is a great place to find some new clothes or a cell phone (as I did when I first arrived here).


Also, Melbourne Central has several pubs such as China Bar and Lion's Club which make it a center for Melbourne night life.  This place is a must see for anyone day or night.




Victoria Parliament Building:

 I don't know too much about the Parliament Building other than it houses the State Parliament for Victoria, the state in which Melbourne resides.  What I can tell you is that it's a hot place to take wedding photos (as I saw on the Saturday that I visited) and that there are free tours inside (of which I didn't participate).

Eureka Tower and Melbourne skyline: 

Taken from the King's Domain outdoor amphitheater, we can see the Eureka Tower on the left and various other business towers of the Central Business District.  Labeled at the "highest skydeck in the southern hemisphere", the tower provides an excellent view of the city (or so I'm told... the time I went up the clouds were so low and thick that we could not see anything!).

 King's Domain itself is a great destination, with beautiful gardens and a ton of green space amidst a busy city.  Just south of the Yarra River, it reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York.  Definitely come here to take a stroll, listen to a concert, or even watch an outdoor movie.  I've done all three so far and have found it quite nice.


 Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG):

 The MCG houses both professional Cricket and Aussie Rules Football matches.  Seating somewhere around 110,000 people, this stadium is absolutely massive.  Every other year, Australia and England play a cricket match known as the "battle for the ashes" in this stadium:  a grueling 5 days of cricket!  This is the traditional spot for Melbourne cricket clubs since the mid 1800's and thousands still gather to watch this British inspired pastime.


Queen Victoria Markets:

The Vic Markets are a great place to find anything - and I mean anything - that one would want or need.  Two blocks wide and three blocks long, this market is huge and is open during daylight hours.  If you ever need produce, gift items, meat, or useful little nicknacks, this is the place to be.  Open since 1878, the Vic Markets have a rich history deeply associated with Melbourne.


As you probably figured, there is much more to Melbourne that what I've shown here.  I've tried to show some of the more important places, but the beauty of this city is that there is so much more to discover than what a tour book of the city can tell you.  After some adventuring, you get the lay of the land, and it just makes you want to go out on a warm after noon and look for something new!  I definitely picked a great city in which to do my exchange!

Anyway, watch out in a couple days for my recap on Orientation week (O-week).  It was quite the roller coaster!  By the way, the residential college I am living in has a dog, her name is Honey:

I swear that she is part dingo.  She definitely looks like there's some dingo in her.  But in any case, Honey's an absolute sweetheart and enjoys chasing dragon flies and getting her belly rubbed.  It's nice to have a pet on this side of the world!

I hope you enjoyed the mini-tour of Melbourne!

-Paul

Settling In

I've finally moved into my room at St. Mary's Residential College!  It is so nice to finally have permanent residence.  I had been living out of a suitcase for a week and was very tired of it. 

I've spent the last few days relaxing, getting everything organized, moving into my room and signing up for classes (which was a hassle and still going on).  However, St. Mary's is one of the nicest "dorms" I've ever stayed in.  Take a look:

More to come picture-wise, and soon I'll put together a must see of 4 or 5 Melbourne landmarks!

From south of the equator,
Paul

The Rest of Melbourne Welcome

Now that I finally have a steady source of internet, I can let you all know my adventures for the last several days.

I left after telling you about the first eventful day, but it got much more exciting afterward.  Day 2 was the beginning of Melbourne Welcome, a program held at Newman residential college to get foreign students acclimated with Melbourne and the surrounding area.  I lugged all my stuff over to Newman (which is on the other side of campus) and signed in, got my room and headed to lunch for an Australian BBQ.  It was supposed to be outside but it was quite rainy and the temperature was cool (for here) so we stayed in.  After that we took a tour of the uni (that's what universities are called here) and downtown Melbourne.  When down town, we went to the sky deck of the Eureka tower, branded as the highest point in the southern hemisphere.  Unfortunately, its so high that the overcast clouds were below the deck and we couldn't see anything.  After going back for dinner, we had a wine and cheese tasting assembly.  It was my first experience of drinking in Australia, which is new to me because the drinking age here is 18 as opposed 21 back home.  That went well as it was in essence a big social to meet all the other exchange students.  Later we headed to Pugg's, a small pub a couple blocks away from campus.  The drinks were so expensive, though, that we didn't stay long.

Day 3 started early, with a tour to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds where Australian professional teams play cricket and aussie rules football.  We then ate lunch downtown and broke apart afterward.  I ended up going down to St. Kilda's which is an area in south Melbourne which is much like Venice Beach in LA.  The boardwalk and pier were nice, but I needed to take care of my mobile phone issues to I headed back to the city early.  After dinner, we had a trivia night about Australian and American cultures in which we learned about Australian slang and celebrities.  That night we went out again to tour the pubs and see what the city night life had to offer!

Day 4 started late with a trip to the Queen Victoria Markets (which we visited earlier).  That afternoon we headed north to the Melbourne Zoo, and absolutely wonderful collection of animals including Emus and Kangaroos.  It was huge and we spent a good three to four hours there, gawking at the birds and cats and various other mammals and lizards.  That night, instead of going to the planned event, a group of us headed over to Lygon Street which is a uni hot spot for food and shopping (a lot like Green Street at Illinois or State Street at Wisconsin).  That night was again a tour of the night life, but we turned in pretty quickly.

Day 5 was an early start, where we headed to Ocean Grove Beach which is southwest of Melbourne.  About 2 hours of a bus ride and we arrived at the beautiful beach, located in a large cove.  It finally warmed up and the sun came out, so sunscreen was a must.  We played beach cricket and someone brought an American football to toss around.  Later we went surfing, and I was even successful enough to stand up several times and ride the wave into shore!  It's something to cross of my bucket list.  That night we had a formal dinner with the dean of the college.  Everyone dressed up in their finest and enjoyed a three course meal to mark our last night in the Welcome program.  That night we went to a dance club with the other college hosting students.  After some dancing, we retired back to Newman.  All in all, it was a good Valentines Day!  Could have been better if I got to spend it with my girlfriend, but it was still very nice.

Well, that concludes my Melbourne Welcome program.  I am in my residential college that I will be staying in for the semester (St. Mary's).  We have a college dog!  Her name is Honey and she's absolutely adorable.  I am relaxing and taking it easy until Friday when I need to sign up for classes.  If you've made it this far, thanks for reading... it was quite a long update.  I'll keep you posted as i continue to have adventures in Australia!

-Paul

I finally have internet!!

Hey all!

I finally have internet access!  So now I can let you all know what I've been doing for the past three days.

I landed in Melbourne at 8:30 on thursday morning.  Everything went well and I got through customs with minor conveniences (they got a bit stingy of me having trail mix).  Once I got out of the terminal, I got a ride down to the university on a shuttle service provided to international students.  On the way, i met several other exchange students:  Erin, who goes to Boston College; Micah, who goes to American University in DC; Zach, who goes to a small school outside of Philly (I can't remember the name); and Jake, who also goes to a school that escapes my memory but is in Vancouver.  Being that we were fresh off 24 hours of travel and didn't know a soul in Melbourne, we decided to stick together.  We stayed at one of the dorms on campus for the night, but we spent most of the day exploring Melbourne.  We stumbled upon the Queen Victoria Market which is a huge, permanent flee market just north of the Central Business District (CBD) and had dinner at a small pub we found along Franklin street.  This city is incredible!  It's beautiful and clean, and quite easy to navigate.  I had a great time exploring it and trying to get a lay of the land.  Obviously, I was wiped and fell asleep around 9.


Unfortunately, That's all I can tell you right now because I am about to be kicked out of the State Library of Victoria.  So, Days 2 and 3 are coming!  And potentially Day 4, which will include surfing :) That's all I can say for now.

I hope everything is well in the states and that you enjoy this little snippet of my adventures down under!
-Paul

Here We Go!

All right, d-day is nearly here!  In exactly 16 hours from this post I will be leaving my sub-freezing Minnesota for the beautiful weather of southern Australia!  I got 24 hours of travel alone which is pretty daunting, but I think I will survive.  Luckily they have USB charging ports on the airplane so I don't have to worry about my iPod running out of battery.  Everything is packed, just one more thing to pick up tomorrow and I am out of the country.

Wish me luck!  See you on the other side of the equator!

-Paul

The Beginning of my Blogging Experience

I've never been one to blog before, but I figured this was the easiest way to keep friends and family updated on all of my adventures and experiences in Australia.  First of all, I haven't even left the United States...  I don't leave until next Tuesday (the 8th).  However, this will be a good starter so I can get the word out and so that you can either link to my page or something of the like.

I will let you know how things go once I'm off to the airport and arrive down under!
-Paul