We started early Tuesday with a walk around Fitzroy Gardens, just across the street from our hotel. There were a lot of people walking to work this morning. The gardens were developed in the 1850's and have something that we don't see any more - Elm trees. The Australian government is very picky about disease and what may be imported in the country. Some of it seems silly. We had to make sure the customs agent saw the unopened bag of M&Ms we had in the trip. But they still have Elm trees and we do not. They even go so far as to quarantine honey from Melbourne from Perth. More on the rooftop hives later. Here is a selfie we took during our walk.
I didn't take this sideways, that's just how those guys at Google make this stuff come up. And, not to just throw the Google folks under the bus, since I am blogging on an iPad, I hold Steve Jobs personally responsible for anything wrong that may happen.
Anyway, after the literal walk in the park, we made our way over to Federation Square. Rene had a little breakfast at the Time Out Cafe, and Rene participated in a survey that three girls (13-14) were conducting for a school project. We have a picture, but I am afraid of legal action Google and Apple may take if I show once more how their programs don't work right. Plus, it's on Rene's phone.
At 10:00 local time on Day 2 in May, we took a lane way tour. Lane ways are basically the alleyways between the commercial buildings. All of these little shops and bars are down these alleys. Very artsy and urban. They lead into many of the established arcades, not those kind of arcades, but long established shopping centers. Our guide, Danae, took us all around the area and sent me to this place
Yep. Many have told me to go there, but only Danae sent me. But they have a Scot's Church about four blocks away, so I guess I could go over there and be saved. Or not.
We shared the tour with a couple on holiday from New Zealand, David and Jillian. They had both recently retired from the Aukland Police Department and were spending a couple of weeks in Melbourne. And, you could spend a couple of weeks here and have something different to do and different to see every day. Davis had just turned 70 and had a knee replacement last year and was having the other replaced soon - he played footy until he was 40. I wondered if Jim Martin, one of my partners, is still playing footy. May want to stop sometime soon if he hasn't already. We stopped at a chocolatier in one of the arcades, Koko Black, and had a little treat. They gave us a sample of an orange and Cointreau truffle, which is a natural lead-in for Rene to tell everyone how I bought a bottle of Cointreau in the Madrid airport when we were flying home after visiting Katy, and, after assuring Rene that I could carry the bag myself, dropped it as we were getting on the plane. Danae and Dave and Jillian seemed to think it was funny. Good execution on the storytelling by Rene.
One of the other initiatives they have going on in Melbourne is rooftop hives for bees. Each hive processes their own honey. And there is a difference in taste. Ate some different types of honey from around the area, along with the truffle (and a hot chocolate). We needed the walking tour.
There are a lot of street musicians and performers along the streets of Melbourne. If you want to perform, you have to apply to the city and audition. No idea what the criteria are, we don't watch The Voice or the X-Factor, or any of that phony reality TV, but this guy was attracting a crowd.
I found it. After scurrying around the subways and alleyways, we decided to go to Eureka Tower, an 88 story mixed use tower. There was a gold rush in Melbourne about 10 years after the gold rush in California. Apparently, the gold rush in Australia dwarfed the one in California. So when the Americans came to Australia and started railing against the Brits about taxation without representation and all that Grover Norquist holds sacred, the Brits had enough and just killed the complainers. Or, that's what our driver said yesterday and he is as reliable as anything your going to find in Wikipedia. So, there are two symbols of the gold rush that we have seen so far, and one is on the Eureka Tower.
The Eureka Tower has gold specks in its windows. And in the fall the reflection of the Sun onto St. Paul's Cathedral Shines on the south end. Which is a good thing since the altar now gets daylight.
We went to the Edge, which is the observation area on the 88th floor. They have a glass box that you can pay a lot of money to stand in it as they push the box out on rails to overlook the city. When they send you out, the glass is opaque, then you here the sound of glass breaking and you look down and wonder why the hell you got in that thing. We met a young couple from Malaysia and another couple of native Aussies on this trip. And I didn't say a word about the mystery flight. We'll leave that to CNN. I am getting good about posting these pictures. Here is a picture of the Eureka Tower
And here is the tennis center where they play the Australian Open, as seen from the Eureka Tower
There is more, but we leave you with this
Cheers!
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