In 2015, the most memorable trip of our lives started with Adelaide... Sydney and then to Melbourne. If you have missed the first part of this blog... Catch it here... Australia Diaries | Adelaide & Sydney
Melbourne. I fell in love with this city... and it wasn't just love... but HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE. It made me feel 'at home' as soon as I landed. The land of creative expression, night life, theatre, dance, street music and FOOD. It was also the place we stayed the longest and visited twice. Hence gave me the opportunity to explore more.
I also got a chance to be part of the White Night festival where I ended up spending the whole night up until 3 am with my childhood friend whom I happened to meet by chance. We danced on the banks of Yarra River. Roads were blocked and the streets came alive with various acts, dances and music.
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| Day 9: 18.02.2015(Melbourne) Sangria on the Rocks Our love for food and all you will see in this part of the blog is pictures of food, drinks, menus and more food. The city has a very rich food culture and as a vegetarian I did not face any difficulty in getting yummlicious food! |
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| Day 9: 18.02.2015(Melbourne) Interesting Menus! Long Long and really long menus every place we went. We sat in the middle of the street and had our dinner. Yummy food interesting drinks and it was a perfect close to the day. |
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| Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne) GPO or H&M?! We started exploring the city the very next day. The city is filled with architectural magnificence. Reminded me of South Bombay buildings. Uncanny resemblance. It was time to go shopppiinngg. H&M was housed in this beautiful building - the GPO. Racks and racks of beautiful clothes and affordable *read: multiplication tables were on* |
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| Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne) My Disney-land People who know me well know a fact about me - I am not a sweet tooth but LINDT I am borderline crazy about this chocolate. So imagine my surprise and joy when I find Lindt Cafe. I was numbed by the sheer volume of chocolates displayed at the counters. And chocolaty shakes with whipped cream, yummm-me, these were to die for. |
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| Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne) Lindt cafe I pretty much wanted to eat and buy everything this cafe had to offer but tight budgets helped us keep check. The city had lots more to offer! |
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Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne)
Tram Rides
So we walked about 300 metres each day, sometimes twice a day, to come within the free-tram zone. The walk never felt strenuous thanks to the beautiful weather. The tram rides was always nice and comfortable. Something we cherish all along. A picture of one such trip together when we planned to go to Docklands for dinner.
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| Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne) Docklands! Dinner time and this view. Oh my god! Perfect. The cool wind in my hair, the calmness of the water and piping hot coffee and food. I wanted to live right there by the bay. Point of no-return. Sigh! |
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Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne)
Pizzaaalicious
Margherita. My kind... Basil & Tomato right blend with the sauce. Did I say Yummy yet? The crust, the toppings and the cold weather with beer. Ah! Who would want to come back to reality?
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Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne)
It's a Snake? It's a Dragon? It's Chinese New Year!
Hahaha one of us actually called this a Snake! Installations were spread out all along the bay in lieu of the Chinese New Year. I loved how festive the city was with lanterns, colours and dragons of course. Later realised, installations was quite common in the city. Few more captures coming up.
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Day 10: 19.02.2015(Melbourne)
Architectural Magnificence
The city had a lot of bridges and a lovely skyline. Each part of the suburb had new hi-rise buildings and its own character. The river cut right between the city adding to the beauty of the skyline.
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Day 11: 20.02.2015(Melbourne)
Overlooking my Window...
The grand Melbourne Cricket Ground. My heart skipped a million beats when I opened the curtains to this view. What more could I ask for? Every sports fanatics dream come true is to visit that one stadium that makes you go Wow!
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Day 11: 20.02.2015(Melbourne)
Easter bunnies
Easter was around the corner. And this what my grocery bag looked like when I visited Target - Chocolate eggs like these, stationery such as coloured papers, paper clips, pens, pencils, more coloured papers. And I regret not buying more stationery.
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Day 12: 21.02.2015(Melbourne)
Bloodhound. Landspeed Record. Need I say more?
So 12 days away from home... Away from our loved ones... Worked on this day in, day out... What do you expect? Yes, we lost it! So if you every worry about losing me, dear reader, there is an exact same copy of me that lives in Mumbai. This is my identical twin! We may look different... But we think the same, we behave alike, a little mad, we even finish work before someone starts to think of it. I miss you, Nupur! A lot more than I thought I would. :)
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Day 13: 22.02.2015(Melbourne)
Match Day. India v/s South Africa
Picture this. Away from your nation. Magnanimous ground. 80,000 seated. Against South Africa Cricket Team (yeah! they could have taken us down). And you see the Tri-colour everywhere in the stands and mad Indian fans shouting!! That is MCG for you on this day. Absolutely mental! If not for the stamp on my passport and clean stands... I thought I was back home.
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Day 13: 22.02.2015(Melbourne)
Team Picture with Mike Hussey
Loved this part of work. Got to meet greats like Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh, Sir Vivian Richards, Glenn McGrath and here is the team picture with Mike Hussey with our fun-loving Actibonds in Action!
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Day 13: 22.02.2015(Melbourne)
Jeetega Bhai Jeetega... Indian Jeetega!
The stands roared and chanted as India won against South Africa. What a beautiful game!
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Day 13: 22.02.2015(Melbourne)
Tri-coloured MCG
A small glimpse into the stand that was next to me. Every Indian with a blue jersey swayed his flag in joy. The flags fluttered at every nook and corner of this grand stadium. Oh, what a sight! A proud moment for Team India indeed.
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Day 14: 23.02.2015(Melbourne)
89th Floor!
No time to sleep and celebrate India's win. We were up & about for the event scheduled the next morning at Eureka Sky Deck. You could see the heart of the city from here. What a view!
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Day 14: 23.02.2015(Melbourne)
Alone By the Pier
The serenity and calmness of the sea at the end of the road. Bliss! The random drive to other side of the city was a perfect ending to the day.
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Day 14: 23.02.2015(Melbourne)
Formula 1, babey!
Walking down the street, drizzling all along and at the crossroads we see this!! Right at Federation Square we see this beautiful car in a glass case. If you haven't got it yet, yes I am a sports lover. While I am a McLaren Team fan but seeing the actual F1 car was amazing. We also got a chance to visit and ride on the F1 track during the day.
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Sea Life!
I am not a big fan of fishes or sea life but a visit to this place I felt like a small kid who was taken to an aquarium for the first time. I wanted to run all around, see all the tanks, pose and click many pictures. This place was HUUUGGEE! We saw a real life croc OMG! It was amazing!
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Happy Feet
These creatures are so adorable! We saw 4 types of them. A simulated tank keeps them happy. And watching them flip-flap around made our day!
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Standing Tall - The Eureka Tower
While we were there at the Towers just a day prior, watching it shine in the sunlight from the other side of the river was amazing. I felt like I was part of Sim City where the entire city layout is planned and all buildings were lined up against the waterfront.
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Porsche... Speechless.
We come back to the hotel and look what waits for us! I wish. My favourite, favourite brand of car *love BMW as much* pulls right outside the hotel. Whatay car!!!
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Finding the AC/DC Lane!
This is my most favourite memory from the trip! I had to visit the AC/DC lane for a friend who is a die-hard fan of theirs and had to send him a picture from this lane! Google Maps kept throwing us off with the location - the usual 'you have arrived your destination'. I had dragged two of my friends from work with me who walked up and down the by-lanes just to find this damn lane *cause I was not ready to quit in spite of what Google Maps had to say, we hadn't reached our destination*! Hahaha! Imagine their joy when they finally find this lane! I love you two for doing this for me!
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Love this wall
Names of various bands on small metal plate was pasted on the wall that formed the band's symbol - the lightening bolt! It was such a special moment to witness this.
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Being Indian!
So during our walk up & down the street we encountered street art in many by-lanes. It was so colourful and vibrant. This one in particular caught our eye! Love the detailing... especially the mouse! :)
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Street Art!
Such lovely colours, amazing detailing! I could settle in this lane with a box of paints.
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Happy Posers
Miss my partner-in-crime, fellow Instagrammer, happy poser! Such lovely backdrop for this picture. Everlasting memories! Treasure these forever.
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Day 15: 24.02.2015(Melbourne)
Yes! Food!! Dinner Time.
I know, dear reader, you missed my food post. It had been really long since I posted one. So here you go! Back to back food pictures. We were so spoilt for choices... Tough to choose the burger but so many variety of sauces... Phew!
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Day 16: 25.02.2015(Melbourne)
Transcending. Up... Up... and away!
When I look at this picture it reminds me of the taste... That is how good this pie was! We kept crossing this dessert place every single day saying 'We should try this!' but invariably we always ended up missing out! On this day, Mayuresh and me were on mission! And oh boy we so glad we went! Yummy!
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Day 16: 25.02.2015(Melbourne)
Time to say 'See you soon!'...
Each day I enjoyed my breakfast overlooking the hustle-bustle of the street and the quiet park beyond it. On this day I had mixed emotions. I was dying to see my folks back home but I would miss this. It was time to say a bye for now cause end of March I was going to come back! To the same place... called...
Second Home! :) |
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Day 16: 25.02.2015(Singapore)
Joy-ride! A380!!
The joy of coming back in this gigantic, double decker plan was awesome!! It was time to go back home and spend time with the family we had been away from. It was time to look forward to end of March when we would get back on the plane once again!
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Some day in Barossa Valley
Few days before the next travel was going through my photos and found this! A perfect picture for a postcard! Time to print.
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Hope you enjoyed this till now. The blog continues with stories and pictures from the next trip we took to Melbourne in March during the Finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2015. Catch the next part of the blog here:
Australia Diaries | Melbourne - Part #2
