Melbourne

A beautiful flower in the Fitzroy Gerdens

Downtown Melbourne with the Yarra River

An Arcade

Today, we spent the day walking around Melbourne and enjoying this beautiful city.  We started the day by getting together with my mom's friend Petar.  We had breakfast with him and his family and then began our exploration of Melbourne.  We walked around lane-ways, which are like American alleyways (but with shops and restaurants, not just cars and trash cans) and arcades which are lane-ways that are covered by a roof.  Melbourne is known for these hidden little streets that bisect blocks and ramble through the city.

We also visited two public gardens, the Fitzroy Gardens and the Royal Botanical Garden.  We saw plants from all over the world including many varieties of the eucalyptus tree (or gum tree) native to Australia.  (There are more than 300 species of eucalyptus trees.)  There were also plants from Africa, Asia, and Europe. By the end of the day, we were sore from all the walking, but glad we got to see and learn so much.