Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne is actually a great city! I say that after being here 4 nights. Melbourne is a huge city with many different districts. Each district has a distinct atmosphere to it. Melbourne reminds me of Berlin in the that there are a lot of street sculptures. Check my photos in either my Facebook or Flickr. They make interesting photo ops. Look for them.

In the city center, you have buildings with old Victorian architecture. Chinatown is here as well with a lot of Asian eateries. Federation Square is here and it is "Melbourne's meeting place". You can get tourist information here and it is located right on the Yara River. Swanson Street is most likely the first street you will encounter as you start exploring Melbourne.

Directly south of the city center is the Royal Botanic Gardens. It is a huge park, with lots of green space and interesting monuments to see and take photos of. It runs right along St. Kilda Road. I spent 2 nights in a God awful hostel in the South Yara area about a 25 minute walk from the city center. There seems to be a lot of hostels around this area and the one I stayed at was awful. It was old, dirty, and smelled. I felt so dirty afterwards, I had to check into a 4 star hotel to clean myself. I am staying at Urban Central now. This is a modern hostel and it is much better. It's cleaner, has air condition, an elevator, and is located closer to the city. They even have electrical outlets in the lockers so you can charge your laptop while it's in there. Nice! Finding electrical outlets for your phone and laptops is a problem at many hostels. There were a few issues with the elevator and the light bulb in the bathroom was out. They were nice enough to change me to another room. Overall, I don't think you can't expect much more for $40/night here.

The Queen Victoria Market located on the corner of Queen and Victoria Street is another site worth looking into. It is a flea market and the oldest market in Melbourne. There's fresh produce, meats, clothing, wigs, hand bags, and various merchandise at cheap prices.

St. Kilda is another area worth checking out. There area has lots of beaches and people hanging out. Also check out the nearby Acland Street with it's many cake and coffee shops. I had coffee and cake (which was way too sweet) with my friend Sunny and her family here. Luna Park is here, which is an amusement park and a place to take your kids if you need to keep them busy. There are boardwalks and plenty of bike and running paths for you to jog, skate, or ride along the St. Kilda harbor.

Docklands is a brand new district where much of it is still under construction. The area is modern with shopping, eating, office and residential. It is the live, work, play model of urban planning that is getting popular all over the world. Many new high rise buildings are being built here. It will be Melbourne's next high end water front district. Costco has also made it to Australia and there store is located here.