Melbourne

Last night we took Tram 35 on the City Circle Tram line. Unfortunately, this line only runs until around 6:00 PM, so we were only able to go a few stops. The great thing is that there aren't many tram lines here, and in the central area, their use is free. Tram 35 still runs with historic cars from the 1920s to the 1950s. This line also highlights the sights, and tram drivers sometimes come into the passenger area to explain technical details about the tram or the attractions outside. Then they return to the driver's cabin and continue driving.

Melbourne has around 5.4 million inhabitants, which is why they have a metro system in addition to trams, and there are several large train stations in the city. Public transport is complemented by a multitude of cars, trucks, e-bikes, e-scooters, etc. At traffic lights, everyone has to wait quite a long time, leading to chaotic traffic during the day.

Architecturally, we are not particularly fond of the city. It lacks soul and structure. In the center and in the new construction areas on the periphery, there are office and residential towers. Everyone seemed to want to create some design highlight, but few succeeded, and nothing really matches together.

Many squares are decorated with artworks. Despite signs, it is not always clear what they are trying to convey and why they fit in that location.

In the morning, we briefly visited one of the train stations and looked at the scale of things. Here, you can find a version of Zurich's main station complete with everything. Then we walked to the Yarra River, which flows through the city. There, we took a river cruise through the city and into the nearby green belt. The plastic collectors on the riverbank are interesting. They are some sort of nets that apparently actually fish out a significant portion of the coarser plastic waste.

After that, we walked to the former port of Melbourne. It is now only used for small shipping, and otherwise, the port has been transformed into a chic residential area with apartment towers and single-family houses. Afterwards, we completed the city tour with Tram 35, which takes over an hour. We then visited the government district, the Victoria Market, and St. Paul's Cathedral. However, the cathedral is currently under renovation, and next door is the Winter Night Market. As is common in Asia, compared to the market hall in Basel, there are various food vendors here. It is just a few times larger than the market hall.

Another feature of Melbourne is its excellent restaurants. We have rarely seen so many restaurants with such good ratings in one area. And based on our experiences, they are not just well-rated, but they are also good.