Exploring the Melbourne Suburbs

Well, we've almost been out of the States a week now and are getting a pretty good idea of life here and the layout of the city. I left off on Friday evening, where we met up with Korie's friend for drinks. Our walking tour guide suggested a neighborhood a bit north of the city called Fitzroy, so we got ready and walked about 15 minutes there (there is a bunch of public transportation, but we still haven't been brave enough to try and figure it out...I'm sure it's easier than it seems. Getting familiar with it is on our list to do this week). Since we had a few appetizers earlier in the evening, we weren't too hungry for dinner but felt like a snack was needed. We stumbled across a restaurant called Smith & Daughters. After quickly browsing the menu, we learned we were in a Spanish-style vegan restaurant. Not initially what we planned, but we ordered some mushrooms and were pleasantly surprised. The tour guide suggested a bar called Naked for Satan, which is supposed to have some of the best views of the Melbourne skyline. It was definitely an interesting crowd to say the least. Picture the biggest hipster you've seen in Austin and multiply that by a lot. I definitely stood out in my cowboy boots! We went upstairs to check out the skyline and quickly decided that it wasn't really our scene. We then took a cab back to the CBD and checked out a bar called E55. That was an interesting crowd as well. Completely opposite and mainly college-aged kids. At the end of it all, we just decided to call it a night and ended up talking to our new hostel roommate from Dublin before going to bed. 

The next morning, we walked a block over to the Queen Victoria Market. It's a huge farmers market with tons of fresh produce at really great prices. I guess what we spend in alcohol, we can make up for in buying cheap fruit and veggies. Once we grabbed breakfast, we called an Uber to take us down to St. Kilda for the next 10 days. The Melbourne Cup starts this week (similar to our Kentucky Derby...but a bigger deal) so prices at the hostel went up to about $50/person a night. We figured, if we are going to pay that much, we might as well find a room on AirBnB so we can have a private space with our own bathroom. We are now in St. Kilda (about 5 miles south of the CBD), right on the beach, and paying less than the hostel. 

Luna Park

After our less than spectacular experiences with the bar options the night before, we set out on Acland Street near our apartment, in hopes that it would be more our crowd. Thankfully, we were right and pleasantly surprised! We fit in much better and it felt more like a Cali/beachy vibe. While the drinks were still somewhat expensive, it was a tad more affordable ($16 for a glass of wine and a Fireball shot...great combo) and we decided that since it was a more enjoyable crowd, to let lose and have a great Saturday night. We did and it ended up with some late night McDonalds (and no, they do not have a dollar menu). 

Even though the weather was amazing, Sunday was a very lazy day. I think the mix of jet lag finally catching up with us, not sleeping well in the hostel, and drinking quite a bit the night before were the culprit in us sleeping until 2pm. We eventually got up and went for a run on the beach with an early sushi dinner. We opted for a Netflix and chill night and were asleep by 10pm. 

A nice restaurant on the beach

Sunset after sushi

That brings us to today! We woke up around 9 to a cool 55 degrees, Facetimed with some family and friends, grabbed some groceries and went on a 5 mile run around the area. It's a very weird feeling not having a job and not technically being on vacation. I'm used to taking one to two week trips and trying to squeeze in as much as possible in that time period. But adjusting to the idea of living here is a whole other mindset that will take some getting used to. We will be in St. Kilda until Nov. 3rd...then it's off to New Zealand and Fiji!