Stylish and arty, Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia and also our last stop on our trip down under. This city full of edgy street art, modern architecture, iconic lane-ways and multicultural cuisines all reflect its trendy personality. Here are the highlights of some of the places we visited in and around Melbourne:
Cheap Flight Alert: Newark to Ho Chi Minh City
United is having a huge sale for flights going from most East coast cities to Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam. For about $600 including taxes and fees, you’ll get a round trip ticket to Asia, that’s a pretty unbeatable deal! The dates are mostly for late summer to early fall, which is when you’d want to be in Southeast Asia anyways – to skip out on the sweltering heat.
Ho Chi Minh is my hometown and I grew up there, so I always welcome an opportunity to go back. Plus the food is amazing, so that’s a bonus. When I saw these prices, I was very excited, so if you’re looking to visit Asia this fall, reserve your tickets now before they are all gone. Just a reminder – United does allow you to cancel within 24 hours without any penalties. When you put in the date of your flight, make sure you select the ‘flexible date’ option to give you a better chance of finding the cheaper tickets. Book your ticket and look forward to a steaming bowl of pho on the other side of the world.
Photo of the Week: Thorny Climbers
Essaouira, Morocco
On our way to Essaouira, a coastal city in western Morocco, we saw these tree grazing goats. They were sitting in the thorny argan tree chilling out, so we had to stop on the side of the road to take a few pictures.
Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home. Most of my photos have little or no post processing. If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.
Victoria: Great Ocean Road
It’s true what they say, that not all roads are created equal. The Great Ocean Road is billed as Australia’s most scenic drive and that’s not an exaggeration. When we were in Melbourne, we rented a car and started on this epic route, stopping along the way to visit the many iconic lookouts. Starting from Melbourne, it’s an easy drive along the dramatic Southern coastline winding around cliff tops, down to the beaches of Lorne famous for surfing, through the lush rainforest at Otway National Park, and ending at the magnificent Twelve Apostles. Along the way, we spotted koalas, kangaroos, and parakeets. Continue reading
Photo of the Week: Underwater
Atlanta, Georgia
This week, we happened to be in Atlanta for a work conference and decided to visit the famous Georgia Aquarium. It is one of the largest aquariums in the world, with a 6.3 MILLION gallon tank, housing whale sharks and manta rays amongst hundreds of other species of fish. If you are so inclined, you can even go scuba diving in the tank and get really close and personal with the sharks. The general admission of $40 per person was a bit steep, but the experience was well worth the price.
Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home. Most of my photos have little or no post processing. If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.
Melbourne: Graffiti
Unlike Sydney, Melbourne has fully embraced street art and it is very much a part of the city’s personality. Melbourne is recognized as one of the leading street art capitals of the world, with it being an attraction for locals and visitors wanting to experience the city’s creative expression. The city understands the importance of public art and how its art contributes to the vibrancy of urban culture. The many mediums of street art include stencils, paste-ups and murals but not tagging which is considered vandalism and is illegal. The artwork in Melbourne is very progressive, in fact was early to embrace stencil art and is now considered the “stencil capital of the world”.
Eating in Melbourne
Now that I am back from Europe, it’s time to finish up the rest of the Australia posts – onward to Melbourne! After spending a week at the beach and then melting in the outback, we were ready to go back to civilization. Our first order of business was restaurant hopping. Melbourne is the hometown of Masterchef Australia, so it was no wonder that there were a lot of high caliber restaurants. We made the rounds and visited a few restaurants of chefs featured on the show. We had only one day to try the food in Melbourne and I think we did a pretty good job fitting it all in our stomach. The day was basically sightseeing interspersed by eating and trying to digest the food as we walked to our next restaurant.
Photo of the Week: The Beach
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
Koh Phi Phi island was made famous in the movie and the book, “The Beach.” The story talks of a pristine island in the Gulf of Thailand, uninhabited and forbidden; on which there lies a beautiful hidden beach and lagoon – walled in by cliffs and untouched by the tourist industry. As we landed on the island, we were disappointed to see that the once pristine beach is over-run by tourists and the clear water glistens with oil slicks from the motor boats that truck people in and out every day.
Every Monday of each week, I’ll share a photo with you from my adventures around the world and at home. Most of my photos have little or no post processing. If you would like to see more, please click the ‘Follow’ button.
Banking Abroad
Cash is king – and nowhere is that statement truer than it is outside of the US. Anyone who has ever been to a foreign country knows that credit cards are rarely accepted, and if they are accepted, they usually come with some hefty fees. Lets face it, we Americans are used to swiping credit cards for anything here in the US – from a cup of coffee, to a large screen TV. When we travel abroad, however, pulling out a credit card for every little thing is frowned upon and usually met with a weird stare. Continue reading
Day 9: On the Road in Prague
On my last day in Europe, the weather finally got warm and sunny. We decided to take it easy and chill on a paddle boat on the Vltava River. From the water we had an amazing view of the bridges, Old Town and the castle. It was a nice change of pace to see Prague from another vantage point and a great way to end the trip.
life after 9to5 