Traveling with Critters

We have a couple here from Melbourne, Australia as B and B guests. They were due to arrive a day earlier, but they were unfortunate to have been victimized by an air traffic controller strike in Florence, Italy. It only lasted for 2 hours, but enough time to disrupt the entire schedule. They arrived the next day after the airline bused them to Bologna, putting them up in a hotel.

They settled in and went out to see the city, but first presented us each with a Bubi bottle. I have had these on our Wish List for the longest time. It was a thrill to get them; they refused reimbursement, which was even more surprising.

They had left their bedroom doors open so as Ron went into the bathroom to start some laundry, he caught a glimpse of their bed and called me. Later, Jamie showed us a card game he customized as a gift for Susan. Each card had the picture of one of her numerous stuffed animals. They travel with 3 of their critters in tow.

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Aussie Aussomeness

Yesterday, I arrived home to get an inquiry about accommodating a couple from Australia. Having hosted numerous Aussie and Kiwi guests in the past, this was not earthshaking news. What Susan Packer added to her note was quite awesome. She read about us in the Travel section of the local newspaper. This is what she included:

“The article was a full page feature in the weekend Travel section of The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne's Age newspapers, so it's about the biggest travel-related coverage that you can get in Australia!”

Needless to say, it brought tears to my eyes that we are continuing to receive far flung coverage. We have had fabulous reviews written about us in the largest travel magazine in Africa, based in South Africa years ago. Now our coverage has spread to another continent.

This is the quote from the article “Buda B&B (budabab.com; $65 for two, $21 supplement for one-night stays) spruiks itself as "The Best in Pest"; the owners have an incredible knowledge of the city.”

The online article from the Melbourne's Age newspapers is here. You can read all of their other recommendations.

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Heartfelt Sadness for Victoria

I just want to take a moment to say that my heart breaks for the people of Victoria, Australia. The devastating fires and the victims who have died and are hospitalized has been covered on our news. Having been there, having loved it, I really feel their pain and despair at a deeper level. They are not faceless strangers to me, but people that welcomed us. All of you will be in our prayers and positive thoughts.

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Melbourne

Kodak Gallery turned out to be a problem for a number of people to access the photos, so I am trying this a different way. If you want to see the whole album at once, click on the picture and it will bring you to my online Picasa album.

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Picture Sharing

It took forever to upload all of the pictures into five different albums, but when I sent them out, Kodak Gallery grouped them into one major e-mail. People told me they could not get it to open. Most likely it was because there are over 1100 pictures total. Here are links if anyone wants to look at the photos. They are easier to open one at a time. Kodak Gallery will automatically open with a slide show. You will see a black screen with spinning symbols. They may appear to stop for a moment, but they will continue again to spin and then the first photo will be highlighted. You have the choice of watching as a slide show or individual photos. I tried repeatedly to hyperlink all of them, but Blogger is not cooperating. You may have to copy and paste the URL. Sorry!

Glenelg, Kangaroo Island and Adelaide

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=34fv5s4n.aqs0st0r&x=0&y=59z9hi&localeid=en_US

Melbourne

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=34fv5s4n.a4ttpigr&x=0&y=-269oug&localeid=en_US

Sydney

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=34fv5s4n.8a559ai3&x=0&y=-wd78y7&localeid=en_US

Cairns

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=34fv5s4n.81ldxu7f&x=0&y=7ivy89&localeid=en_US

Hobart

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=34fv5s4n.cnwpulm3&x=0&y=-h0oii4&localeid=en_US

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Choo Choo Charlie Melbourne to Sydney

Our train trip was booked from Melbourne to Sydney; however, we received an e-mail stating that due to track work, we were being bussed to Albury. From there we were to be switched to a train for the rest of the trip. The bus was space challenged; they had to run three buses to accommodate all of the people. The ride was three hours; shockingly, it went by rather quickly. We were met by train personnel who pointed us to the correct car. The train, albeit comfortable was not like the last train we used, but each are run by two different companies. The seating on this one was 2-2 seats, which were not that wide to begin with. This also lacked car service, we had to go fetch food from the dining car and bring it back to our seat. We had not shopped for and packed munchies, so we did the mad dash to the dining car as soon as it opened to avoid the rush. The highlight was when they announced there would be Devonshire tea service with raisin scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea and then came around to take orders.

We did not pull into Sydney until 8:30 pm,. There was a long line for a taxi as they were only coming one at a time. After we acquired one, the driver was on the phone the whole time, took us about four blocks after circling the city and charged us $10.00.

We are at the Macquarie Boutique Hotel, situated above a bar in the central business district. Reception was closed by the time we arrived, so we had to check in at the bottle shop or liquor store associated with the bar. I had trepidation turning over $1,143.00 AUS to the cashier of the store. He did not have anything to give me as a receipt either. That was unnerving.

Our bed is extremely comfortable, but the room has no windows and is on the small side. The bathroom, the first private one we have had this trip, is cramped. Because the hotel took out the dining area, our continental breakfast is a breakfast in the box already on the desk waiting for us. We have a hot water heater to make coffee or tea, and in the box is a single servicing cereal, a box of milk, one of juice, a plastic bowl and spoon, and the bonus is a bite size granola bite.

After a walk about, we stopped at a Spanish Tapas restaurant, but each tapa started at $14.50 and went up from there. Deciding against a $100.00 dinner, we just had beer and then grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back to the hotel. From what we have seen in our short walk is that there are lots skyscrapers. Lots of skyscrapers. It almost causes a claustrophobic feeling, blotting out the sky at nighttime.

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Last Full Day - Melbourne

This is our last full day in Melbourne. As we are soon leaving Melbourne, let me share some city information we collected. It is the largest city in Australia as well as the capital of Victoria. Regardless of the spelling of the name, it is pronounced Mel-bun. Almost one-third of Melbournians were born overseas or had parents who were. With a population of over three million, it is the cultural hub of the country, getting plays, concerts, and cultural events beating out other Australian cities. Although Adelaide was founded by free settlers, not convicts like Sydney, Melbourne was not only settled by free settlers, but it had a gold rush too in the 1850s. This made for a wealthy city that has maintained its prosperity. We both have fallen in love with the city and agreed that if it were not so far from everything else, we would look into immigration. Melbourne has been voted one of the most livable cities in the world. There is no doubt in our minds as to why. For our last day here, there were still things we wanted to see, but with the closing times over the Christmas holidays, we knew we could not fit it all in, but we tried. Our first stop this morning was the National Gallery of Victoria in Federation Square. We had heard they have a large exhibit of aboriginal artwork, so we needed to get back here when it was open. We arrived at 10:30, but found a free tour by a docent was being offered at 11:00, so decided to wait for it. Our docent was extremely knowledgeable about the aboriginal art work, taking us to selected pieces and explaining the differences in the themes, the tribes the artist came from, and the significance of the work. The second half of the tour included the temporary exhibition by a New Zealand artist, who had made Australia her home. Rosie Ganlian....I did not write her name down and it is not in my brochure. Regardless, she is a modern artist who collects junk and then assembles it into art pieces, calling it assemblage art. Now if I had wandered into this room on my own, I would have called this a collection of junk and left. The docent was able to give me insight that would not have occurred to me left to my own devises. I walked away with a greater appreciation of contemporary art. The tour was almost two hours long and I was getting sensory overload, so it came to a conclusion just as I was deciding to go AWOL. From here, we went to the St. Kilda area, described as chic and bohemian. It has the highest concentration of restaurants in the city. The esplanade is snuggled next to a beach and next to it is Luna Park, one of the world's oldest fun parks dating to 1912. With the opening being an open mouth of a demonic looking clown, rides shaped as a giant spider or called ghost train, and a fun house that promises to make you laugh yourself to death, this seems like a masochists haven. The rest of St. Kilda is a cross between funky, shabby, shocking, and amusing. I wish we had discovered it sooner; we could have spent more time here, but we wanted to make the Immigration Museum. As the name suggests, the Immigration Museum celebrates the immigration history of the city. Located in the old Customs house, there are a number of stories from people from many different countries telling how and why they came to immigrate to Australia. Regrettably, by the time we arrived, the museum was only going to be open for an hour, but I paid the $6.00 entrance and Ron got in free as a senior. For some who fled here, it was refuge status, while others were seeking freedom, and yet others prosperity. I did wish we had more time to read all of the stories and look over the displays; we barely covered the first floor and did not get to the second floor at all, but at least we could check it out. We went for an early dinner and then back to the hotel to pack. We have an early train tomorrow. Or rather we have an early suburban train to get to the bus to get to the train that will take us to Sydney.

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Boxing Day - Melbourne

The day after Christmas is Boxing Day throughout much of Europe, though stories differ as to where the tradition started. Australia being a British domain, it is not unusual for them to observe the custom as well. All government buildings are closed including museums on this day. Here in Melbourne, all but the most commercially oriented stores are closed. Those that are open, are doing a brisk business from customers who must have received cash in their stockings. There seem to be more people with shopping bags now than before Christmas.

With few choices of things to do, this was a low key down by demand, not desire. The one place we would wander was the Royal Botanical Gardens. With ninety-nine acres and 12,000 plant species from around the world, this could surely maintain our attention for a few hours. This is considered one of the best botanical gardens in Australia. Admission is free, so the place was swarming with visitors. Though there are numerous signs stating why ball playing of any type, could be harmful to the plants and foliage, there were a number of families with their cricket balls and bats, mallets, clubs, whatever they call the stick used in that game.

Nearby in King's Domain, we came across La Trobe's cottage, which was a prefabricated house brought over from England for the first government house of Victoria. Brick by brick, it was shipped over to be reassembled. This is not its original spot, but was moved here years later. It was not open for touring when we were there, but normally, it is on Sundays from 1-4 pm.

The rest of the day was spent down by the waterfront, but first we made a side trip to Federation Square, where the Christmas décor was already removed, but the tourism office was open. We were looking for something to occupy our time, thus maximizing the time we had left. One thing that we had spotted on previous jaunts down to this center was a small brochure for an animal sanctuary that is only held at night. Called Moonlit Sanctuary, we booked a tour for $110.00 each. We arranged for the driver to pick us up in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, because we wanted to stay in town.

At 7:00 pm, Jefferey pulls up to collect us in his private car. He explained that he collects tourists coming out to the sanctuary when they need transport. An hour ride, Jefferey made it interesting with his world views and his interpretation of life in Melbourne. He was quite a character and waited for us to complete the tour in order to drive us back again. We thought we were a tour of two, but some others arrived with their own transportation. All together, there were only nine of us.

The tour is at night since most of the animals are nocturnal, so are more active in the nighttime. After receiving a handful of pellets we set out to feed the kangaroos and wallabies that knew we has something of interest. It did not take long to get one or the other eating out of our hand. All of this took place in the open backyard behind the sanctuary. From here, we walked through the woods where Michael, has created protective cages for many of the other species. A number of them are on the verge of extinction and he is attempting a breeding program to raise their populace.

We visited gliders, possums, owls, dingoes, wombats, quolls, padermelons, pobblebonks, some of these names sound like they are straight from Harry Potter, but they are truly animals. We also walked amongst to feed bettongs, miniature kangaroos that are not much higher than my ankle. It is fun and surprising to see this mini-kangaroos hopping all over, but without any inhibitions if you have food in your hands.

The final animal we met was the piece de resistance, the koala. One solitary koala named Gumbah, sitting up in his tree, eating his breakfast or dinner, whichever it is koalas eat when they first awaken. We were not allowed to touch him, but we could take as many photos as we wanted. Seeing a koala up close and personal was all I had wanted. I felt complete.

After the tour, we were invited into the sanctuary building for tea and cookies. Michael, who started the sanctuary on his own, has been trying to get funding for some time to increase the number of animals, but has not been too successful. The tours supplement the costs of care and feeding, plus he has some volunteer programs running also, getting people to assist him with the upkeep. All-in-all, we felt this was a good value for the cost and would certainly recommend it to others. www.moonlit-sanctuary.com or call at (030) 5978-7935.

Jeffrey drove us home afterward. He seems to be good friends with Michael, so it is most likely a symbiotic relationship. He was quiet on the drive back, which was a good thing since I had hopes of taking a nap on the way, but did not get the opportunity because of the conversation, but now I was on the downward slope.

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Christmas in Melbourne

Christmas in Melbourne. Ron has this obsession with going to church on Sundays, but even more so on Christmas. Some years I go with him, while other years I find a coffee shop to bide away the time. This year, he decided attend the services of the Episcopal Cathedral, so I went just for the show. Our seats were in the back, put I could not see a nativity anywhere in sight. Ron said there was a tree, but that passed me by also. Talk about deadly dull, this is one of the most morbid “celebrations” I have attended. For what is supposed to be regarded as a celebrated occasion, the music was most maudlin. It was difficult to tell the difference. Each song sounded like a funeral march, not celebratory in any stretch of the imagination. It is no wonder that most of the people were seniors, there was nothing here to inspire young people. Streets were emptier than yesterday, but still fuller than what would be expected for Christmas in the city. All of the stores were closed, but a smattering of coffee shops and restaurants were open. Others had signs showing they were closed until January 5th extending the holiday for their employees. With limited choices to amuse ourselves, we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The garden was founded in 1846 by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller and William Guilfoyle, the first two directors. The Baron was considered the greatest botanist of the 19th century. Today, the garden is over thirty-eight hectares with more than 52,000 individual plants, representing 10,000 different species from around the world. We have been to a number of botanical gardens, but this ranks as one of the more beautiful. Each section is lush, well categorized, and filled with interesting specimens. On the outskirts, there are wonderfully assorted statues dotted here and there to add a special stop and pause moment. What was most intriguing for us were the Christmas picnics. We had seen notices of this in butcher shops and grocery stores, but it was still funny to see people sprawled out on a blanket with Santa hats on and the Rubbermaid storage containers spread around with serving utensils. It seems to be quite common here to have picnics from the looks of the number sharing the lawns of the gardens. With the movie Australia released, we decided we should see it here and today was a choice day for some entertainment. The casino multiplex was where it was showing at 3:45. Similar to Hungary, the seating is assigned, but they showed us where seats were available and let us choose our own. The cost of a ticket was a shocking $16.50 each!! Ron decided to opt for popcorn, but I did not; the smallest size popcorn was $6.00. The coming attractions literally took up thirty-five minutes before the feature film began, but since we had no where to rush off to, it did not matter much. Did I like the movie? Yes and no. The scenery was at times breathtakingly beautiful, but I could not see myself wanting to spend any amount of time in most of the places shown. Sure, I would like to visit them, but after one night's stay, move on. The story was disappointing. It seemed like it took part old Western movie, part WW movie and reset it into an Australian setting and viola, you have a new movie. Change the Native Americans to Aboriginals. I cannot say that would miss anything that Hugh Jackman is in, but Nicole Kidman seems disingenuous in her role. Lasting close to three hours, it was entertainment, nothing more. Would I take the history portrayed as factual? Hardly, but it may make me ponder and dig deeper into investigating it for sure. We decided to eat at the food court at the casino; both of us could have whichever cuisine we had a hankering for, but both of us chose Indian. Food whether restaurant or grocery store is beyond expensive. Restaurants use entrée to mean appetizer or as in some places a starter. For what we would call an entrée, they call a 'main'. Every establishment seems to love the 20s; most 'mains' seem to start at $20.00 or more. There has hardly been a night when we have left a restaurant spending less than $50.00 for the two of us and that only includes one beer each. If we had a heavy bar tab, I could understand it, but we never do. Our time in Melbourne is coming to a close soon. We both are in love with the city. It is going to be difficult to leave here, even if we don't know what pleasures Sydney will bring. With that in mind, we headed back to the hotel again expecting a quiet night, but not finding it. Since so many obviously cannot find holiday comfort with family, it is gratifying that they could find it with each other.

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Christmas Eve - Melbourne

The city is abuzz with activity; Federation Square is filled with people wandering around. With everyone in shorts and short sleeve shirts, it loses the Christmas feeling. It does not matter to me since I have lost that Christmas feeling many years ago, but it still strikes me as strange. No one seems to be hurrying along to get their Christmas shopping done either. So many people, so few bags of goodies to be wrapped and put under the tree. I think the difference is that perhaps people here have it in perspective of not letting it get too commercialized.

Melbourne offers a free tourist bus that goes around the city, number 999. We rode the entire circuit as it makes a wide loop around the city hitting popular sights. It beats a hop on and hop off bus. When you want to catch it again, it will stop at every thirty minutes. Although there is no commentary like a tour bus, our driver did announce some highlights as we went along.

At the end of the route, we stopped at the Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery for a look around. We were attracted to it due to the sheet of water that serves as a fountain for its glass wall entry. Admission is free, but we only went to look at the stained glass exhibited in the rear gallery, but later was seduced into the back yard where lawn art was on display and which was quite diverse. One statue of Rodin was displayed next to a Mexican mosaic. As we were leaving, we noticed what we had missed coming in, statues of emaciated nude people of various ages standing with the watery curtain of glass as a back drop. Our original purpose in going in the museum was to use the restrooms, but the glass caught our eye and then one thing led to another.

As we left this museum, we seemed to find fairy girls roaming the streets with adults. Little girls who were dressed in fairy costumes were swarming the area. We could only assume they came from a recital of some sort. They were so adorable with little wings sprouting from their backs. We assumed they were little girls in costumes, but then again, this country does have some real oddities, so you never know.

Strolling without a goal or purpose, we found ourselves down by the wharf where the largest casino in Australia happens to be. It could very well be the largest in the world, taking up multiple blocks, rising up into the clouds, and having everything under the sun in the lobby from shopping to restaurants to multiplex cinemas.

Along one bridge, there are metal statues spanning the length. These statues are representations of aboriginal symbols. During the day, we were told they move ever so slowly, so you don't even notice unless you have not looked at them for an hour or more. At each end of the bridge is a legend of the meaning of each piece. Just looking at them, one would not have a clue what they represented. The only exception is one of a man and woman who look like their dancing. After you read the summary of what each one represents, there is an expanded appreciation of the aboriginal themes and stories.

On another bridge, the city has huge panels of glass installed. On each panel going in alphabetical order, there is etched the immigration information for a group of people who came to Australia and those that stayed in Melbourne. For example, and these numbers will not be correct, but a typical panel would show:

Afghanistans

20,000 to Australian 12,000 to Melbourne

Cities in Afghanistan where they came from

Reasons for coming:

Social persecution

Religious freedom

Increased changes of better employment

Better education

Languages spoken:

This serves to engage the multiculturalism of the city and embrace it. Everyone we spoke to said that they appreciated the multicultural-multifaceted nature of the city believing it made a richer heritage for everyone.

In the evening, we were torn between two activities both of which were being held in Federation Square. One was the the unwrapping of the Advent calendar again for the final night and the other was something we were not able to get tickets for. Each year, they offer Christmas Carols by Candlelight, a fund raiser for a children's health organization. It was sold out, so we could not see it in person. In Federation Square, they have it televised on the gargantuan television screen on the square. Personally, it was probably a good thing it was sold out. All of the entertainers were Australians we had never heard of before, some hosts of local talk shows. We watched about thirty minutes of the show with Australian singers who just released a new album or just had their latest child, performed some Christmas carols we were either familiar with or not, but what was unusual was that they would come out to perform looking like they were headed to the corner store after popping out of bed on a Saturday morning. A few of them seemed so out of place with their dress for a Christmas special and one woman singer, had a lovely evening gown on with flip-flops. What we watched was interesting, but not worth the price of tickets for us, which were $25.00 a piece I think.

A block away from the square, there is a large Christmas tree made of green metal with metal ornaments and lights. Every half hour, the lights flash and the tree sings a Christmas song. One wall along side the tree is covered with sayings that run into each other making it difficult to see where one ends and the other begins. This is named the Nativity Wall, yet no where in the city did we see a nativity scene set up, not even on church lawns.

By 10:30 at night, the streets were still lively, many families out with their children, making me wonder why they were not home waiting for Santa. They must have him here, since more than one place had a “visit Santa” or “have your picture taken with Santa”.

We went back to our hotel by midnight, I naively thought that the bar would be empty, being Christmas Eve, but not so, it was full. Thankfully, most were in the beer garden at the back of the building, but the music permeates the whole building. The boom, boom, boom, bass sounds is reminiscent of many decades ago. How uncreative to still have a boom, boom, boom beat continuing into the 21^st century.

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The Importance of Meeting Ernst - Melbourne

Before we left Budapest, Ron had booked a free walking tour with the city of Melbourne, a service they provide through their tourism office. We were scheduled to meet our tour leader at 9:30, so we were up early with plans to have breakfast closer to Federation Square, the initial spot. The suburban train station is less than a minute from our hotel. The weather looked iffy as we approached the station; it was not just chilly, but downright cold. Neither of us had brought along a jacket, thinking this is summertime. Within ten minutes, we both regretted it, but did not want to miss the train for a quick run back to the hotel to play fetch. Reason told us that this was only early morning chill and the day would warm after an hour or more. On the platform, there is an intercom box, which by pressing the green button, it will announce the next train to stop at that station and the approximated number of minutes to wait. We had a fifteen minute lag time, but it deposited us right across the street from the tourism office, giving us time for a coffee at the nearby café. Federation Square directly across from the train station, is for the most part an open area where large crowds can gather comfortably. The two notable buildings are ultra-modern and look like they have been the result of war wreckage. The open area is constructed in reddish-brown sand color bricks of various hues, bringing to mind the Australian outback. Different areas are elevated by steps, giving crowds of people different levels for viewing. In some areas, these desert multi-colored rectangles give the sensation of undulating sand dunes as you leave civilization preparing for the harsh realities of the outback with its unforgiving forces of nature. Seated in one corner of the Square is a glass house, where the tourism center is located, but first one must go downstairs. The expansive space is well designed for efficiency, yet there is an immediate sense of welcoming at the same time. Once you take a number, you wait for the next available volunteer to call you. Most of the people milling around serving visitors are volunteers, not paid workers. As a number is called, a melodious voice announces “Number 34, please go to counter number 8”. While I was wandering around, deciding if I should buy a sweatshirt or not, Ron had found our tour guide. I only found sweaters that were selling for $160., so the chill seemed more acceptable with every dollar. Our tour guide's name was Ernst, but insisted on being called Ernie. He was originally from Germany, but came over as a youth, and has lived in Australia for fifty-six years. Immediately after introductions, Ernst shared that he was seventy-one years old, swears a lot, but will try to hold back if we are offended by it, and that he has a tendency to touch when he speaks. After reassuring him that these were not problems for us, he went on to say that a German woman he toured yesterday, told him off for touching her shoulder. Ernst gives young-elderly new meaning. He has spring in his step, he is feisty, and continues to contribute to his society. Two woman were supposed to be part of our tour, but they did not show. Their loss, we had Ernst all to ourselves. To try to recall a fraction of what Ernst shared with us starting in Federation Square and continuing for the next four hours, could not do anyone justice. Ernst's prior vocation before retirement was as a teacher in a vocational college, but he retired at fifty-three years old. His love for talking is apparent, but not abusive. He was continually alert when sensing we had questions and he was sensitive to our needs and interests. Honestly, it was only toward the end of the four hours that I started getting weary and I blame myself for this. Thinking I may have a chance to get some writing in during the day, I had my computer in my side bag. Add to that a thick wallet and a large digital camera and even if the computer is only two pounds, it gets tiring. A couple of things immediately stick out in my mind about what Ernst had told us that I will share. One Aborigine language uses the word euro for kangaroo, so Ernst has told his relatives in Germany that Australia had Euros for thousands of years before Europe ever thought about it. There were over four hundred different Aborigine tribes throughout Australia, all with different languages and cultures. Prior to the white man, there were no horses or camels to facilitate travel or communication, thus keeping the different tribes independent and separated culturally and linguistically. With hunting Aborigines, the introduction of diseases, and other conquering hero tactics, the Aborigines have almost been decimated. It was only the current Prime Minister who has apologized for their demise; the last one refused to say “Sorry”, but he was a Bush supporting ass, so it figures. Ernie heard us when we said we were interested in architecture. He took us to see impressive buildings including historic banks and the stock exchange. His thorough knowledge of the city is impressive considering he himself does not live within the city, but commutes in for tours. Every three months, he travels to some other part of the country or to other countries, so he is attuned to a traveler's needs. By the time we were to say good-bye, we had passed our tour time by thirty minutes. We stopped at a café to fill out his 'quality assurance' survey. Ernie had advised us to visit the State Library to see the dome. We had to check our bags into computerized lockers, but it was worth the effort. I have yet to see a library like this before, even in the States, and I have been to over thirty states. Computers were everywhere with a fifteen minute time limit for use on one side with a line of people waiting. On the other were just as many computers with access to the contents of the library's collection. In the center of the room, the vaulted ceiling was four stories up ending in a superb dome, which was the main attraction Ernie had in mind. However, it was not the dome that impressed me the most, but the arcade on each floor above the first floor. Each floor had floor to ceiling bookshelves with volumes filling them. These looked to be classic collections or other rare books by the looks of the bindings. Behind each of these balconies were galleries of art work or other exhibitions. The one we spent a couple of hours with was the history of the printed word. They did such a beautiful and comprehensive display, which I could have spent another two hours investigating, but I could feel Ron's need to move on elsewhere. We kept verbally promising each other that 'right after....' we will return to the hotel and get our coats. It never did get too much warmer. When in the sun, it was fine, but once in th shade or shadows of stores or other buildings, the wind snapped at you with a fierce blow of cold air. As we passed a Starbucks, I did not so much as have a need for a coffee, but rather the hope of Internet. Remembering that in Malaysia, every Starbucks was a provider of free WiFi Internet, I was hoping it was the same here too. Sadly, not! Yes, they did have WiFi, but the staff did not seem to understand the word FREE. They kept insisting all I needed to do was open my web browser and create my own ID and password, yet to do this, you first had to buy time. They did not get it, it was not as free as they were led to believe. Biting the bullet, I bought time. The reason I was reluctant is because, if I have to buy it each place we go, it is not transferable from one place to the other. Use it or lose it. Use too much and be left wanting more. The usual routine of life. Aside from that, considering in Budapest, you can find free WiFi everywhere you turn, it irks me to have to pay for it in major cities in developed first world countries, not to mention airports in cities like Amsterdam. So breaking our promise again, we went back to the tourism office for more information. Tonight at 9:00, there will be a show on Federation Square where they will uncover the next number in the giant Advent calendar. We found we missed the free rehearsal of the Christmas carolers, but we were in luck to visit the famous Myers Department Store, where they are famous for their extravagant Christmas displays. The line for viewing the windows was over a block long, but well organized with chains giving everyone a fair chance. Once at the first window, no one rushed anyone along, so you could spend as much time gawking, oohing and aahing as you wished. The theme was “How Santa Really Works”, based on a children's book by the same name. Each of the windows was jammed with a visual moving representations of the book. Although we have not read the book, we are guessing that the thought bubbles above the characters heads in the windows are text from the book also. It took us about forty minutes to get through the line, but another fifteen or more to appreciate all of the intricacies to make this window such a celebrated attraction. We had heard the store David Jones had “Santa's Cave” so in line with getting Christmas spirit, we went in search of this cave. Not being into spelunking, we were a bit cautious of what we might find, but like Indiana Jones, we were in search of adventure. There just happens to be a trilogy of David Jones stores within blocks of each other, each only holding one part of the stores' selections. Naturally, on the third try, we found the one where Santa was hiding out in cave-like splendor. Why Santa would be associated with something as sinister sounding as a cave was beyond my getting answers. By passing the snickering elves that wisely perceived we were adults without children, coming to investigate the goings on here, we were disappointed to realize that David Jones is no Myer's Department Store where the spirit of Christmas is concerned. This Scrooge has set up a commercially profitable little business to capitalize on Santa's good name and reputation. While waiting in line for Santa, mommy and daddy can buy the little ones treats like popcorn, candy bars, or “fairy floss” (cotton candy). After they get the sugar rush, you can buy them a ticket to ride the mini-merry-go-round with the choice of three horses that look like something from Gulliver's Travels land of the little people. It was with firm resolve at this point that we were determined to return to the hotel for coats. Ron discovered that the 109 tram ran close to where we laid ourself to sleep last night, so we picked up our coats and were back out again in record time. Earlier we had discovered a Crispy Crème donut shop. I insisted we return for dessert before dinner. On Federation Square, there is hangs a humongous Advent calendar along the side walls of a building. My guess is that the building is 12 stories, but it could be larger. At 9:00 each night, there is a show where they remove one of the numbers from the calendar. We were there at 9:00 to see the proceedings, but we were not ready for what happened next. From the top of the building, a clown is dropped like a bungee jumper. With a spotlight on him, he does acrobatics in the air and against the wall. As this is happening, different lights appear behind him shaped like bursting stars or fireworks. This part of the show continues for about ten minutes when the other side of the blue screen and Advent boxes light up. Another clown appears and starts performing also. The difference is that this clown has a movie projected on the blue background giving him scenery to interact with. As the scenery moves, this clown who is suspended stories from the top of the building walks down a street, looks into store windows, climbs a telephone pole or rides a scooter. Finally, he systematically removes the ribbon of the present du jour and then proceeds to take of f the wrapping exposing the next number. After forty-five minutes, the performance is over. Each night the participants are eligible to submit their names into a drawing for a new mobile phone. The winner is announced at the end of the show. One of the buildings on Federation Square is related to film. Outside of their building, there are three oversized presents. In one of the presents is a television with a scrolling display of the holidays in December and how they are celebrated in different parts of the world. Ernie had told us that Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Athens and Chicago. He said that there are over 150 languages spoken in the city and for the most part, have reached racial and ethnic harmony. To further illustrate this point, the large video advertisement in the square has Merry Christmas alternating through a number of different languages with the associated flag from that country. Finally, but 10:00 pm, we thought we better take the tram to scope out the area to see what the offerings would be for dinner. As we were standing at the tram stop, I noticed a stand in the train station called Lord of the Fries, which caused me to guffaw and mention it to Ron. This little pixie woman of about twenty-two years of life responded with the fact that they offerings were not bad at all, but a little overpriced. After a minute, she started in asking if we were on vacation, et cetera. We headed in two different directions when the tram doors opened, so it was magical to find her by my side when I looked up. She picked up the conversation where we left off as if there we were still conversing when we parted company. When we decided to get off two stops later after seeing a couple of restaurants open, she detrammed along with us all the while giving me restaurant reviews. We stood in the street still discussing the merits of each establishment, but she wisely suggested we step up to the curb. I was still a bit overwhelmed by the fact that she was still by my side. I was not sure if she was waiting for a dinner invite or an invitation to come stay with us. After profusely thanking her for her assistance and sage advise, we parted ways.

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Advent Christmas Calendar Melbourne

It is difficult to tell, but this person was suspended along the side of a ten story building to perform these antics, before ripping off one of the 'presents' to display another Advent calendar number.

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The Overland Train - Adelaide to Melbourne

When we first planned this trip, train travel sounded exciting and adventurous. We both enjoy train travel and considered the landscape we would see during the hours on a train going from one city to another. It was with this in mind that we booked seats on the Overland train from Adelaide to Melbourne. Due to the extensive number of hours, the trip is over ten hours long, we opted for the Red Premium Seating, which was the most comfortable choice available on this train. The train only runs three days a week in this direction, all during the daytime. The return trip is three times a week, during the night, so sleeper coaches are available.

Our train was scheduled for 8:30, so we were up by 6:00 and took a taxi to the train station, which is outside of town. The train station is modern, sleek, and check-in is similar to an airport. You put your luggage on the conveyor belt, they weigh it, only 20 kilos allowed, they tag it, and they give boarding passes. All very professional.

The well lit, clean cafeteria was a perfect caffeine stop with a bit of brekkie as some call it here. We both made intermittent cigarette stops since we would be on a smokeless train for 10 hours. Everything and everywhere that is covered is smoke free in the state of South Australia.

When we booked this trip, this is what the brochure stated that aroused our excitement about the journey.

“This historic train pioneered inter-capital rail travel way back in 1887, its name inspired by the historic ‘Overlanders’ who travelled the route on horseback. A century on and a $4 million refurbishment later, today’s train-travelling ‘Overlanders’ will enjoy the journey in relaxing comfort arriving at their destination in the early evening. Throughout this interstate journey, guests can soak up a diverse range of landscapes from rugged mallee scrubland, to fields of golden crops, over vast open plains and through gently rolling hills. Distance: 828 kilometres.”

And this about the Red Premium service

“The "New" Overland Red Premium Service

Comfortable reclining seats offering greater personal space. 2 and 1 across aisle, 36 per carriage

67cm pitch between seats

Access to licenced Café Carriage

Meals for purchase from licenced Café Carriage alternatively limited a-la-carte in-seat dining served via trolley service

Snacks for purchase from trolley service or the Licenced Café Carriage.

Free orange juice/water offered on boarding

Free Platform magazine.

Priority luggage handling service.

Luggage allowing 50kg per person. 3 items 20/20/10kg.”

We were excited, we were charged, we were juiced up about this trip, even if it meant going without nicotine for ten hours, we could do it since the scenery would overwhelm us. This service was just reactivated in 2007 after a major refurbishing. After the first hour of “rugged mallee scrubland”, we had enough scrubland for a lifetime. The “fields of golden crops” translated into fields of dried out drought ridden areas in dire need of moisture.

This chance to see the Australian landscape was not what we had imagined. With both cities on the coast, we missed the part in the description where they say we will see magnificent ocean vistas, but we thought it was an oversight on their part in the brochure. None of this landscape has seen water for years.

Like a premium service on an airline, or what used to be premium service on an airline, each coach had two attendants to wait on us. We were given an orientation to the train, introduced to our attendants, and then served orange juice. The seats were magnanimous in size and comfort. With at 2-1 configuration, we each had the one on the right side of the train. If we were seven feet tall, we would have had enough leg room, so when we reclined our seats, we did not decrease the real estate of the person behind us in the least.

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to catch up on writing, each seat had a hidden tray under the right hand arm rest. With the computer set up and ready to write, what I did not anticipate was the bumpy ride. The entire length of the journey was similar to being on a small aircraft that flew at low altitudes and encountered turbulence. After pounding out one paragraph, I had thirty-seven spelling mistakes due to my fingers slipping by being bounced around as I typed. Even the cursor could not maintain its position on a word, the bump and grind of the rails thrust it upward, downward, or sideways. I gave up.

Normally, I can read in many unnatural conditions: in a car, on a plane, in low light, and so on. After reading thirty pages at a time, my eyes were exhausted. I took a nap. The order of the day was read, nap, read, and nap some more. An hour into the travels, the attendants came around to take breakfast orders from the menu in our seat pockets. We refrained since we had eaten already. It didn't take much observation to notice that the passengers who were already maximizing their seat space were the ones to order breakfast served to them where they sat. Breakfast trays were no sooner cleared away when I noticed they were already spying the lunch menu in anticipation. We held back from lunch also; we packed some snacks to eat along the way.

We were due to arrive at 6:30 pm, but due to hold-ups, we did not arrive until 7:45. The Red Premium luggage service ended once our luggage was checked in. Once in Melbourne, we had to walk from the very front of the train car A to car Z to collect our luggage, fighting through the crowds of travelers and those who were there to greet them. Even then, we were held at bay until all of the luggage was displayed like tin soldiers, ours calling to us to collect them from the lot. It was a zoo.

Once in the station, we found a train employee who directed us to the Connex ticket office, the company that provides transportation in the city. We at first opted for a seven day metro ticket, which would have worked on all trams, buses, and suburban trains. The agent talked us out of it, saying that Christmas Eve and Christmas day were free travel days. Therefore, we should only buy daily tickets, but for tonight, just a single ride ticket. For $3.50 each, we had our single ride ticket and were on our way to Collingswood station where our hotel was located.

As we left the station at Collingswood, our hotel, The Laird, was within a thirty second walk. It is a gay male only hotel located above The Laird gay bar. Check-in was quick and easy and we were in our spacious room within minutes. The spacious room is all split pine walls giving it a very western feel to it. The walls throughout are decorated with framed posters of similar hotels in San Francisco, San Diego, and Berlin as well as Herb Ritt photos and Tom of Finland. There is a well appointed self-service kitchen with a espresso coffee machine, cereals, toaster, and OJ in the fridge. Next to this is a large lounge with a dining table and chairs in addition to a sofa, and arm chairs for reading or relaxing. Each room has its own television, air conditioning unit, and ceiling fan.

Being Sunday evening and late by this point, we went looking for some place for dinner. The only option was a Chinese restaurant, which as it happened was not a bad choice after such a laborious day of bump, bump, bump. It was low key and relaxed.

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