Melbourne

Alright, after Sydney, Melbourne is easily Oz's second most famous city, second largest, and natural rival. Most everyone talks about how much fun Melbourne is and how it is a great city to live in. They will all describe all the cafes and shops and restaraunts and bars. And they are right, there is alot of those things. It is a beautiful city and tons of neighborhoods each with its own feel and shops and bars, and people are very loyal to those areas. It actually felt a bit like Chicago in that respect. Plus a dirty river and alot of wind helped. They also love their sports, especially AFL and cricket. I did go to an NRL match there. So great fun going there.

On the other hand though, I personally am not as big on the cafes and shopping, and there are some great bike paths and the river to run along, but no good beaches or nearly as much outdoor stuff as sydney. Also, as great of a city as it would be to live in, there was not a ton of tourist stuff. The best thing I did was tour the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground, most famous sporting venue in Oz. Great tour, guy really new his stuff and it even had a great view of the city. The yellow seat in the picture is the furthest hit six in MCG history (a six is a homerun in cricket - it is worth 6 runs). The Crown Casino is in Melbourne and is the largest in Oz and it could probably be on the Vegas strip, just not one the major ones. It was fun, there, too. Alright, next post will be a few pictures to poke fun at melbourne.