Melbourne…… I seem to have a love/hate relationship with this great city. I want to love it but man have I had some bad trips.  Well just like Paris,  I guess I just needed one good one to set the record straight. A friend visiting from the States and an expiring upgrade, so I decided to head down to Melbourne for a few days. Ok and maybe I read about some Christmas markets. I know, I know I have a problem.

I booked a day our with Melbourne Coastal Touring.  Sometimes its nice to have your day organized by someone else. My tour included a stop a winery for a tasting and lunch, strawberry picking,  stop at the beach to see the famous beach boxes,  a visit to an animal sanctuary and then Phillips Island to see the fairy penguins. It was a full packed day.

I spent another day boosting the local Melbourne economy. Melbourne is the fashion capital of Australia. 2 of my favorites are Tiffany Treloar and Megan Park.  I am going to be looking quite stylish while I am working from home.

I finally discovered the famous laneways of Melbourne, it only took me 4 trips. 

I headed over the Royal Exhibition Building for the Big Design Market. Australian’s version of Christmas market. It was fun, but give me some gluhwein and snow any day. It was fun to see local designers.

After seeing some beach boxes down in Mount Martha, I really wanted to the famous beach boxes at Brighton Beach, so I hopped a train down.

It was ok, it was little chilly to be swimming. Never mind the beach was full of jellyfish. I also stopped in St. Kilda on my way back to Melbourne.

I also decided to go check out the local theater. I was able get last minute tickets for Kinky Boots. It was quite a great show, I highly recommend it.

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Melbourne. Coming from cold Chicago it been taking some getting used to having a tropical Christmas.

If the pictures in this post are anything to go by, I had a  pretty nice trip to Melbourne. I guess I just don’t connect with some cities immediately. And clearly Melbourne was one of them. I am glad I gave it another chance. It’s amazing city. I probably could not live there, it’s a bit dark and grey in the winter, but I would be happy to visit!

Until next time, safe travels!