Melbourne Continued

We had the day to ourselves on Tuesday but, as luck would have it, the weather was pretty awful. We tried to stick it out and explore a bit in the rain. We ended up at Crowne Casino (my very first casino!) and checked out the scene. 

I was shocked to find that there were no old sugar daddies and young hoochie women walking around. I pictured casinos to be what i've seen in Sex and the City and The Hangover, but maybe we just arrived too early. I wasted a dollar on a slot machine, lost it, and decided casinos were overrated. 

We walked around for an hour afterwards looking for a place to eat that wasn't overpriced. It was surprisingly difficult, but we finally settled on a place in Federation Square where most of us ate dessert for dinner. 

After the sun went down, we ventured back to the harbour and reached Eureka Skydeck 88. The elevator propelled us 88 floors in under 40 seconds. We stepped out to the viewing platform, where we saw all of Melbourne from the highest most viewing point in the Southern Hemisphere. 

It was an unreal experience to see the city from that high up and it made me love it even more. It was extremely peaceful. We ended the night at the Rooftop Bar where I felt like I was on the set of Girls HBO in Brooklyn. It was a really charming and perfect place to spend our last night in Melbourne. 

Cara and I at Rooftop Bar

We snuggle at bars.

On Wednesday, I went on my last academic tour to the Australian Arts Centre to get a tour of their incredible theater venues - one being Hamer Hall, which was designed to look like it was carved out of a cave. 

We grabbed lunch at Mamasitas, a reputable Mexican restaurant we had been hearing all about. The quesadillas were pretty amazing. At 4:30, we said goodbye to Melbourne and caught a flight back to Sydney. In comparing the two cities, I decided to make a chart:

                                  Melbourne                                    Sydney

Architecture:            mix of old and new                       new and modern

Streets:                      very clean; green                           few trees; more urban 

Inhabitants:              more adult                                     more young people

Nightlife:                   present, but much quieter              present and bustling 

Food:                         variety!                                         not as much variety (Asian/American)

Transport:                easier to navigate                          confusing

Cityscape:                 grid layout                                    unorganized jumble of streets

Beaches:                    not as many                                  several & beautiful

There are obviously perks of each city and I appreciate both, but definitely connected with Melbourne more than I expected. I'd love to go back someday and spend more time exploring. Something about that city just sticks.