My Melbourne Diary is full of photos of food, buildings, city lights and people. I can't even begin to explain how beautiful and wonderful Melbourne was and is. I had the first two days of the city to myself and I used it to explore as much as I could (or at least as much as my sore and blistered feet would allow). Staying at the Sofitel on Collins Street was a bonus, on the "Paris End" of Melbourne I got to wake up in the morning, look out the window and see a beautiful view of the city and offices full of people. And I know this is probably very unfitting to say but it just felt so nice to feel free and not be one of those people working away, instead I was taking my time, waking up when I liked and after venturing out into a brisk winter wind.
I ate breakfast when most others were eating lunch, but no matter to me because I still fit in my daily 3 meals, sometimes even an extra supper and dessert in the evening. The first night I racked up a nice $60 bill all on my own for Cumulus. I was seated by the kitchen and watched all of the chefs dashing around, plating up and then preceeding to place that plate they had just meticulously prepared onto the marble bench in front of me. I also don't think I'll ever get over one particular drink I had, a rhubarb and mint ginger beer. Although maybe a strange combination it's never going to be something that will be able to be replicated or replaced in terms of taste and how it had made me feel.
Safe to say that since travelling to other parts of the world my photos have gotten better, courtesy of beautiful cameras a la Jason. You may think me crazy but I had created a twelve page "See and Do Melbourne" guide for the two of us, for the best places to visit, a guide to what was on and in what area and the highest rated places to eat. All places and activities had a hierarchy rating, grouped and categorised and further gave all information on opening and closing times. For the restaurants, Urban Spoon was my guide and I also ordered each eatery by cuisine, rating and how far away it was from the hotels we stayed in.
Sure sure it sounds a little crazy, I know, but when you're in a city so full of delicious food and memorable experiences I think it's a waste to not at least experience the best that it has to offer. Of course we also did have a day where we just winged it and did whatever, whenever; but it was good to have structure and to have at least visited all of the must see places we wanted to. I would hate the feeling if I had landed home and discovered there was something I was incredibly interested in but I had missed out because of poor planning and not knowing. I guess this way I cover my bases!
We stayed at three different hotels over our two weeks in Melbourne so I'm going to proceed to split this Melbourne Diary as a lot more photos were taken and there is just so much you need to see!