Taking the Tram Around Melbourne

Sunday morning began much as Saturday. I stopped at the Victoria Market and perused the stalls. While there were still a few grocers with stalls, most were occupied with sales of other goods. I bought a couple apples and ate them as I walked among the stalls. Besides the touristy items for sale, there were many items relating to American pop culture from movies, music, and television. My B&B hosts told me that Australia has always had a thing for America, but now its a bit of a love/hate thing due to their participation in the Iraq mess. They also all hate their Prime Minister for getting them into Iraq.

I once again got on the tourist shuttle and went around the southern end of the city to the eastern side. I left the bus to walk around the Fitzroy Gardens, one of the many public gardens and parks in Melbourne. Fitzroy Gardens has a conservatory that was having a tropical flower exhibit. As I entered, I felt the heat and humidity wash over me and I was quickly brought back to a familiar climate. The tropical plants were nice to see, but I took more enjoyment from the brief moment in the tropical climate. I left the conservatory and walked around the gardens which had some magnificent trees planted in the mid-19th Century.

I walked north to reach the Carlton Gardens which is the home of the Royal Exhibition Building. Completed in 1880 for the Melbourne International Exhibition, it is the only surviving 19th Century exhibition hall still in use in the world. For that distinction, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the only made made world heritage site in Australia until two weeks ago when the Sydney Opera House was added to the list). The REB is a large rectangular building capped with a massive colored dome. It has an ornate stone and gold exterior and supposably an even richer interior. I had hoped to tour the building, but the circus was in town using the building and there were no tours. I could only marvel at the outside before walking on.

I passed the old jail, an imposing looking stone building notable as the location of the hanging of Ned Kelly, the Jesse James or Billy the Kid of the Australian Outback. Nearby I boarded a city circle tram to ride around the city. One of the distinct things about Melbourne is its tram system. Like the cable cars of San Francisco, the trams are one car trains that on tracks through the city using an overhead system of wires. There are many tram lines running all over the city, but the city runs a free city circle tram that makes a large rectangle around the center of the central business district. I rode the tram around the entire circle in about forty-five minutes. It gave a different perspective of the city and was a fun ride.

I walked northeast to the Fitzroy area to have dinner. Melbourne is home to one of the largest Greek populations outside of greece and I had read about a restaurant considered the most authentic in town. I found Pireaus Blues in the bohemian section of town. The restaurant was very authentic with pictures of the great-grandmother on the wall an greek items everywhere. I had the lamb souvlaki with a side greek salad and a glass of Australian red wine. It was a fabulous meal and I left very full. Afterwards I walked down Lygon Street, Melbourne's Little Italy, and had some gelato. I returned to the hostel after a long day of exploring Melbourne.

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