This vibrant, multicultural city – Australia’s second largest – truly impressed us. It’s one of the world’s most liveable cities. We loved our stay here but quickly realized that much more time was needed to fully appreciate all the city has to offer.

Day 3, Sunday, September 8: Melbourne

Our hotel, The Savoy Hotel on Little Collins Street was very centrally located. Close to one of the train stations (that’s where we got some Australian dollars from an ATM machine) and just two blocks from one of the tram stops (from which we usually started our explorations of the city).

We wanted to get lunch at Butcher’s Diner (recommended by Charlie, one of my former students), so we took the tram there, but it was closed (closed on Sunday and Monday).

We decided to check out another place, Mabu Mabu, serving indigenous cuisine – located at Federation Square – about which we learned from a PBS travel show. On our walk there, we stopped by the Parliament House and the close by Treasury Gardens. Arriving at Mabu Mabu, we were surprised and disappointed that it was also closed (closed on Sunday and Monday).

We ended up having our late lunch at the nearby Beer DeLuxe, which turned out to be a good experience, since we got a chance to taste our first Australian beer and share a very popular dish called parmi (which is chicken schnitzel covered in marinara sauce and mozzarella and is served with fries) – very filling.

As for the two places that were closed, we decided to come back to check them out on Tuesday.

Federation Square, known by the locals as Fed Square, is a gathering place with unique architecture, space for cultural events, and funky street furniture and art.

Opposite Fed Square is Melbourne’s most celebrated laneway of street art, Hosier Lane. We slowly walked though it enjoying the abundance of color, shapes, and imaginations.

We then visited The Ian Potter Center: NGV Australia (National Gallery of Victoria), which is the world’s first major gallery dedicated exclusively to Australian art. We were blown away by the beautiful indigenous art.

We were surprised that despite the jet leg, we were able to pack a lot into our relatively short first day in Melbourne.

Day 4, Monday, September 9: Melbourne

After the continental breakfast at the hotel, this morning found us on the move by 8 am. The streets were busy: a bike lane, car lane, tram lane next to each other; the sidewalks were packed with morning commuters. It was interesting to see how people were dressed. Despite the morning chilly weather (technically it’s winter here for two more weeks), some were wearing shorts and short sleeve T-shirts, some men a dress shirt without jacket, we could see women wearing boots and winter jackets, others sandals.

Public transportation is amazing here. Trams and trains come with high frequency, and on top of everything there is a free tram riding zone where anyone, locals and visitors, can ride for free. Outside this zone, of course, people need to pay for the ride.

We took the tram to the city center, crossed the Yarra River, walked by the shoreline and eventually reached The Royal Botanic Gardens. There are more than 8500 plant species in this incredible, free of charge garden. Of course, we couldn’t see everything, but we took our time to wander through the many walking trails, admiring the native and exotic plants. There was even a lake in the middle of the garden with some birds around it.

Our next stop, close to the Botanic Gardens, was the Shrine of Remembrance. This war memorial honors the service and sacrifice of Australians in times of war and peacekeeping. It’s a poignant place. We saw many school children visiting it. The shrine was designed in such a way that from its top deck there would be a beautiful view of the city.

By this time, close to noon, I was very tired, so we decided to walk back to the hotel and take a little break. But our path went by the NGV International, so we had to go in to see part of the beautiful art collections. This museum was also free.

We rested for a couple of hours in our room and gained enough energy to continue exploring Melbourne. We wandered through historic arcades that house interesting shops and great restaurants. The Royal Arcade is Australia’s oldest shopping arcade and the Block Arcade is famous for its glass canopy and mosaics. We peaked into some of the interesting shops and even got some Australian chocolate.

On our walk back to the hotel, we found an interesting restaurant called Natural History, where stuffed animals (behind glass) kept us company during dinner.

A very good second day of this culturally exciting city.

Day 5, Tuesday, September 10: Melbourne

Today we did a lot again! In the morning, we strolled through the famous Queen Victoria Market admiring the incredible variety of meat products, fresh produce, hand-made pasta, chocolate, various food trucks, etc. There was something for every taste.

Walked through some more laneways admiring the street art.

Had our lunch, a tasty pastrami on rye sandwich, at the Butcher’s Diner.

Walked to another free place, The State Library of Victoria, a true bookworm’s paradise. Six floors of books and viewing balconies to see the people reading and researching.

Last but not least, we saw the main sites of Melbourne on the City Circle Tram. The prerecorded commentary helped us to learn a lot about the landmarks and their history. It was here we learned that the 5 million people living in Melbourne represent 110 nations, speaking 173 languages.

We hopped on and off this vintage cable car a few times to explore some landmarks we hadn’t seen before. Such as the Royal Exhibition Building and its surrounding Carlton Gardens. They were designed for the international exhibitions of 1880 and 1888 in Melbourne, and they are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

What was left of the day was to dine at Big Esso, Mabu Mabu, an indigenous-owned restaurant at Federation Square. The dinner was absolutely delicious, incredible flavors, and native ingredients. (Later I will definitely dedicate a separate post to this dinner!)

And if we were already at Fed Square, we checked out two more laneways, the AC/DC and Duckboard Lanes.

Yes, you guessed correctly. We were tired again, so no more walking, just a final tram ride to get to the hotel and pack for the next leg of the journey.