Weekend Getaway to Melbourne

The best hot chocolate I have had to date. Period.

I realized around month ago that I only had a few weeks left in Australia and still had not visited any major cities. As a last "big tri" before leaving, I knew I needed to visit some major city of Australia. It was a toss-up between Melbourne and Sydney. I had heard a lot about Melbourne and Sydney and while considering the two, got far more recommendations for Melbourne so that's where I went.

I haven't visited a ton of big cities in the US, so my perspective is a bit limited, but Melbourne to me was like a mesh of Washington D.C. architecture and Portland (OR) culture. It's a huge coffee/cafe city with a great public transportation network, historical 19th-century era buildings, amazing street art, and love for cultural and artistic expression. One weekend was not nearly enough time to enjoy it fully but here are some highlights from my trip. I visited the Queen Victoria Market, saw a couple plays, spent a lot of time exploring the historic downtown area, visited Abbotsford Convent, went to the National Gallery of Victoria, visited a few green spaces in the city, and gawked at all the architecture, variety of restaurants (where in the world should I eat with all these options??). 

Federation Square

My hostel was right next to a park in town called Flagstaff Gardens, named for the flagstaff that was used to send messages throughout the city.

Me in Flagstaff Gardens

One of the many amazing delicatessens at the Queen Victoria Market

Next to the Yarra River with the CBD in the background

Federation Square again - there was a Buddhist festival on the weekend I visited.

Flinders Street train station. This building was so long (spanned the length of an entire block) and had incredible architecture.

Street Art throughout the city:

I also visited Abbotsford Convent, where I found this neat little message in one of their functional art gardens.

Part of the Convent

Convent as viewed from gardens behind.

Anyone who went to Pine Forest will appreciate this statue. It's Saint George slaying the dragon, placed outside the amazing state library building.

Saint George slaying the Dragon

Army barracks with deciduous vine growing across it.

Beautiful fountain outside the the Royal Exhibition Hall

This was a neat find: If you can see, the building says "Foresters' Hall" at the top. I'm not sure what it's used for now, if it was for forestry professionals, or simply named for a Mr. Forester, but I was excited when I found it :)