A Slow Day Then In To Melbourne

It was so nice to finally to sleep in a cozy, comfy bed and Sunday morning found me a bit more rested than the night before.  It was actually a laid back Sunday until we went to dinner at Helen and Bob's and I got to meet the brothers and some other family members.  It was Bob's birthday that coming Tuesday so there was a family gathering of sorts and a good time had by all.

The coming morning (Monday) was my first venture in to Melbourne with the Tour Guide.  First off...I think it's time to quit calling Natalie the Tour Guide as I think you all have it figured out by now that I had my own tour guide of sorts for the trip so the tour guide will be known as Natalie going forward!  :)

Anyways...it was time for my first trip to the CBD (central business district)of Melbourne and to get there we were taking the train.  So off Natalie and I headed walking to the Boronia train station which was between 3-4 blocks from her unit (apartment).  The wait wasn't too long and here came the train. 

As we traveled towards the CBD I was surprised at the vast amount of graffiti along the train route.  I guess I just hadn't expected to see that much...more than I remember noticing in the Twin Cities but less gang graffiti by far than us.

I don't remember just how many train stations we went through on our way to the CBD but it was more than a half dozen so the trip took better than a half hour.  Along the way the train went by just a ton of graffiti and then you could tell the CBD was getting closer as we went by the tennis park with Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena & Margaret Court Arena and a handful of outdoor arenas that you see every January when the Australian Open is held.  On the other side of the tracks was the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) where (you guessed it) cricket is played.  There was no cricket being played there when I visited so I didn't get the opportunity to go to the MCG for a game though I did spend part of a day later on doing a tour but I'll talk about that when I get to that day.

Our getting off point was Flinders Square and it really is a grand looking place and it seemed like we were in the heart of the city! Oh wait...I think we were pretty much.  Anyways...off we headed to different sites with the first place being the Eureka Tower where you can so out over Melbourne in all directions.  Only wish the day hadn't been quite so cloudy and rainy off and on.  But, as Natalie always said, wait 15 minutes and the weather will change and change it did to more sun but after we had been up in the Eureka Tower.

It was a great day even with the cloudiness and, of course, I took a ton of pictures so I'll post a link again to Picasa if you want to see them.

We had an early evening that day as we were off on our first adventure away from Melbourne...Sydney for three days and two nights!!  Not quite sure what Natalie was thinking but we were going to have to be up and at 'em by 4ish a.m. and out to the airport.  Never the less...I was looking forward to Sydney!!

If you would like to see more pictures taken around Melbourne CBD here is a link to that photo album on Picasa: Play slideshow