The End or oh no (revised)

So, we've been in Doha for a few hours now, Matthes and Ursula are still sleeping a bit and I'm catching up on the latest news (What'sApp and Co.) (I had an Australian mobile number and now I'm back with the German one).

Our yesterday, the last day, was very nice. We didn't let ourselves get stressed and just enjoyed ourselves 😊

It all started with a great breakfast at Rococo. It felt like we ordered everything on the menu and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast (Eggs Benedict (or as Matthes says 'the Pope's eggs'), Berry Pancake, Croissant, Acai Bowl (fruit, chia seeds, nuts, muesli, yogurt, acai ice cream), colorful fruit juice and delicious café latte). And we watched the human zoo around us on Acland Street and thought it was wonderful (this time without a slit in the dress).

For a moment we thought that Melbourne doesn't love us as much, as it was forecasted to be only 23 degrees and partly cloudy - fortunately the temperatures rose and the clouds were almost gone in the afternoon!

After breakfast, we took the tram to the city center (CBD). We had a Myki card borrowed from the hotel and 2 new ones we bought the night before, so we could nonchalantly avoid fare evasion - we're professionals now 😄

Our destination in the CBD was the UGG store, where I saw a pair of shoes on January 2nd that I still wanted. None of us knew exactly where the store was and whether it was a pure UGG shop (which it was) - coincidentally, we passed by it while dropping off postcards... Hooray!

A beautiful, comfortable and warm pair of Uggs now belong to me (and the best part is that they were heavily discounted and my mom paid for them 😍).

Afterwards, one-third wished for a coffee break and two-thirds knew exactly where to go: Krimper. I read about the exceptional concentration of very good coffees (and cafés) in a gourmet magazine and chose this place. A bit hidden in a side street (in the neighborhood of the cat café - I think I already wrote about it), we had very strong coffee (according to Matthes: too finely ground) in a former warehouse/factory building with funny staff (she could say a German word that she never got tired of saying: wonderful) who was dancing around the place. It was worth a trip, although I doubt whether the coffee there is better than anywhere else in Melbourne. We actually didn't drink bad coffee anywhere - but what was surprising was...

It was a bit late (1 hour before closing time), so we went to the Queen Victoria Market. Unfortunately, many vendors were already packing up, so we almost turned around and headed for the last 'activity': the Rooftop Bar. Recommended by a friend of my friend Anna, whom I chatted with over Advent coffee about our trip to Australia and she said: oh, I used to live in Melbourne...

On an inconspicuous building on Swanston Street (only if you know that the bar is there, you can see the Rooftop Cinema sign... we found the building and took the elevator up to the 6th floor (I'll only do nasty climbing at home). Up there: hipsters, normal people and tourists, live DJ (playing great summer/lounge music), packed (and we were lucky to get a table), artificial turf on the floor and delicious drinks (Pimm's!!!).

Ursula found it a bit too loud, but she sat comfortably and the refill of Pimm's from the jug helped us to relax and end the day there.

We took the tram back to St. Kilda, picked up our luggage from the hotel, and got into a (very expensive) taxi to the airport.

We took some TimTams from the duty-free shop, hung out a bit in the (Qantas Business) Lounge, had some food and a glass of champagne, and just before boarding (50 minutes before departure) we realized that we still had some cash left. My husband rolled his eyes, I made a quick sprint to the bookstore, and having cash left became old news...

The flight with Qatar Airways was very pleasant, lovely crew, delicious food, champagne (brut and rosé - just like at home 😂😂😂 (if only)), and great movies until we couldn't watch anymore. All nice and cozy in our PJs!

As much as it breaks our hearts that the vacation is truly over, we are now making a stopover in Doha and will board the plane to Germany tomorrow. Into the winter...