Far and away

On Sunday morning, I set off for Australia. On Monday night, 28 hours, 3 flights, 5 meals, 6 movies, 4 episodes of Family Guy, 5 episodes of Friends and 13 cans of free beer later, I touched down in Melbourne.

And boy, it was sure worth the effort. Melbourne is absolutely brilliant. A vibrant, multicultural city, Melbourne is quite interesting and, though far away, certainly worth the effort.

I will report more on this later, but for now I will just give you a list of bars I went to.

464. Taiwan Beef Noodle

I did not have beef noodle here, but I did have a beer. I did achieve the feat though that I bought a single can of beer and paid for it in 3 different currencies: Euro, Hong Kong dollars and Australian dollars

465. Flinders Street Backpackers

The hostel bar. Open 24 hours a day, this bar is excellent to retreat to when you get back from a night on the town. Or when you just woken up and have a jet lag. I met loads of interesting people here on the first night and will surely be back

466. The Portland Hotel

This brew pub has excellent beer, nice food and arguably the most beautiful bartender this side of Tokyo.

467. Section 8

Outdoor bar with seating made out of shipping pallets, beer in bottles and another beautiful girl behind the bar.

468. Vietnam Noodle House

I am quite proud that I can still eat food with chop sticks even though I have not practiced In 4 years. Excellent noodles, cold beer and a good view of the street outside.

469. Sister Bella

I found this bar while looking for another one that turned out to be closed after I gathered information from the locals. Tucked away at the back of a dark alley, you would not find this place if you didn’t know it was there. Unless, if you, like me, stumbled across it by chance. Good stuff.

470. Recorded Music Salon

The prospect of a bar housed in an old record shop seemed interesting. Unfortunately, it is not. The only thing left that reminds you of the record shop is the sign above the door. Other than that, it is not really interesting.

471. Elephant & Wheelbarrow

A British pub in Melbourne. Not much else

472. Welcome Stranger.

And give us your money. Thought labeled as a pub, this is really a casino. I had a beer and then left because there was not much to do except gambling.

473. The Exford Hotel

China town pub with a strange clientele. A girl punching the juke box got very upset when I told her to relax and nearly punched me. When I told her she should not act so stressed, se replied by screaming ‘STRESSED ?! IM NOT STRESSED YOU BASTARD!’ . Interesting.

So, that was my first day in Melbourne. I will report back again tomorrow.

Cheers
Lennard