My Happy Place

I am in love with Melbourne!! It is amazing. It has absolutely everything I would want in a city. There are tons of parks with running and biking trails, a river with a great riverwalk, an ocean with white sandy beaches, tons of great restaurants, museums, and theaters, and best of all TONS of sports! There is an arena or stadium for everything - Aussie football (this is the most popular - kind of like rugby), soccer, cricket, tennis, swimming, and even a Formula 1 racetrack.

We started the day on a city tour and got to stop at the Queen Victoria Market. It was a huge open air market with tons of food and wine, and also lots of merchandise. I scored a new pair of sunglasses, and then Dad and I went to the wine tasting booth. At 8:30am. Again, it is vacation. They have this wine called ReWine where you can buy a bottle at the market for around $15 and then when you finish, you bring it back and they fill it up right out of the wine barrel for $4! I guess it is kind of like the Aussie version of our 2 buck chuck - but it tastes better! We figured, hey - we are going to be here for 2 whole days. Better get a couple of bottles. Then Jakes comes up rocking a Predators jersey. I was confused because he wasn't wearing it when we left the hotel, and who brings an NHL hockey jersey to Australia anyway?? But he said he found a booth with athletic jerseys and bought that one for $29! It is the same jersey that goes for about $129 back in Nashville. Thank you Aussies (and probably the people in China who made it)! If I had been thinking I would have bought the other two and put them on ebay. I'm unemployed, remember? I need the cash!

From there we walked the riverwalk and found yet another wine tasting - I love this city - and had lunch at a cafe outside. After that we went to Rod Lover Arena where they play the Australian open. We found an open door and just kind of wandered in. We tried to find an unlocked door to get into the area where the tennis court is. Dad wasn't a fan of breaking and entering, but Jake and I come from the school of "It is better to ask forgiveness than permission." We are dumb Americans, right mate? So we managed to find an open door and get in and snap a few pics before Dad yelled at us and we had to leave. The court wasn't set up though. They have a lot of concerts there, so it looked like that is what they were getting ready for. There were big posters outside of all the artists who are coming there to play. John Mayer will be here in May. I wish he was here now. Not because I want to see his show, but because he is on my list of Top 5 People I Want to Punch in the Face.

The city is really beautiful and easy to get around. There is a tram that is FREE that goes in a circle around all of downtown. We walked everywhere today and it was super manageable. I really would move here in a heartbeat. So if anybody is reading this and knows of a really fun job in Melbourne, just let me know. Preferably one that pays really well so I can live downtown and has flexible hours so I can go for runs and have long lunches on the riverwalk. Oh and a large signing bonus so that I can buy enough doggie tranquilizers to knock out Hogan for the 15 hour flight!