21.01. + 22.01.19 Melbourne

On Monday, 21st January, I had to get up pretty early to make sure everything goes well on my first domestic flight. I left the hostel at 6 o'clock and walked to the train station. I could take the train directly to the airport. Everything went smoothly there. My luggage was accepted.... Apparently, it now weighs 19 kilos!?! It feels lighter than my outbound flight (which had 17 kilos?) The flight lasted almost 2 hours and the time passed quickly. I sat by the window and could see a lot. When I arrived in Melbourne, I took a bus that took me to the city center. From there, I just had to find my hostel. Unfortunately, Google Maps didn't work, so I walked in circles once! With all my luggage 🙄😕

The hostel is okaaaay... I've had better ones. But since the Australian Open is currently taking place, the hostels are much more expensive than usual. So I had to choose a cheaper alternative. So I'm in a 16-bed room with a bunch of French people....? The kitchen and bathrooms are fine, that's the main thing. And my bed has a nice curtain, so I have my privacy, and I can manage the 7 days here 😜😂

In the afternoon, I actually wanted to explore the city, but I was overwhelmed and unfortunately didn't have a city map... I gave up the attempt and instead looked for grocery stores. And then I finally found an Aldi for the first time in a long time! I love the Australian Aldi! It's so similar to the German one, so you feel a little bit at home 😬😊 And it's soooo cheap! I stocked up on all sorts of things right away. I skipped fruits and vegetables, I wanted to get them at the Victoria Market the next day. I got this tip from a friend in Agnes Water! I used the evening to get an overview of Melbourne. I finally found a city map and read about what you absolutely must see...

This morning (22nd January) I set off with great enthusiasm 👍. My first destination was the Queen Victoria Market. A real highlight! There is a huge hall just for clothes, souvenirs, accessories, decorations, etc... Then a whole hall with fruits and vegetables. Then one only for meat and fish. Then a hall with food for immediate consumption. And then another hall with lots of delicacies like cheese, ham, spices, antipasti, etc... It was amazing! I bought sooo many fruits and vegetables! And hardly paid anything. And it's all fresh!

Afterwards, I had to bring the groceries to the hostel first. Then my sightseeing tour started. First, I wanted to go to Chinatown. But I had to stop at H&M because the building was amazing! Chinatown was nice, but nothing special. My next stops were the

-Town Hall

- St. Paul's Cathedral (yes, they have it here too....)

- Flinders Street Station (a train station known for its many clocks)

- Federation Square (some square where demonstrations often take place... Today there was a public viewing of tennis 😜)

- Hosier Lane (a small alleyway with lots of graffiti... And damn lots of people wanting to take photos of it)

- the Forum (an old concert hall)

- AC/DC Lane (there is apparently a famous music bar on that street and there are many graffiti to honor great bands)

- Fitzroy Gardens (one of many parks in Melbourne)

- Old Treasury Building (no idea what to say about that)

- Parliament House

- Princess Theatre (beautiful building where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently performed)

After this tour, I was pretty exhausted. And there is soooo much more to see. As a reward for the nearly 24,000 steps I took, I went to a hair salon and got my hair cut for a cheap $15 😬😜 it was urgently needed! They were way too thick and heavy on my head!