For the final stop on our tour, Jeremy and I flew to Melbourne. We arrived at the airport and ended up having to wait over and hour to be picked up. Then, we had to wait another half hour for another set of people to join us. During the time that we spent waiting for our shuttle to leave, we talked to the shuttle driver and he told us some great stories. My favorite was that as a young man, he went to Brazil to live and later toured with Studio 54 for two years. He also told us about this woman that he had met who was a "monument of a woman". I must say that if anyone ever called me a monument, I would have to marry them on the spot.
Melbourne was a quiet city for us. We went to the Queen Victoria Markets which is an open-air market. We ate "Spanish Donuts" which we call here in the U.S.,churros.
We shopped on Chapel Street which is considered to be the best shopping available in Melbourne. It had every kind of item that you could desire.
In the evening, we hit the casino a few times. Jeremy faired quite well the first night, only to lose more the following evenings. I lost two dollars by putting them in a machine that a man was running as he walked around. He didn't even give me my money back. (That drunken bastard.) I ended up winning $5 (I know) by betting with some player in a game called Pontoon (Blackjack). They say that the Australians spend at least 20% of their income on gambling. The casino was always crowded no matter what time of day it was.
Well, we left Melbourne and flew back to the states. The flight was not nearly as bad as on the way to Sydney. We sat next to this incredible woman from Melbourne who was on her way to Toronto for "holiday" (19 hours in the air). She was really quite funny and we ended up talking the entire way. (I should have got her information...maybe I would have a free place to stay :) )
I really enjoyed Australia and hope to return soon. Anyone interested? |
