Mesmerizing Melbourne . . .

Waking up with a cup of coffee and sun kissed, that’s how my mornings are but for reasons unknown this one seems a little more special. Waving a big Hi to everyone from the most livable city in the world and my dearest Melbourne. I am the kind of person who gets bored of places very easily because ever since I began my career I kept moving from one place to another. After a certain point in time that desire surfaces and it pushes me to move to another place but it has been glorious five years in Melbourne and there is no sign of that desire. It is strange, at least for me it is.

I came to Melbourne five years back with a lot of dreams and expectations. Back in India when I was told about this opportunity I was excited because I had heard so much about the hospitable saga of Melbourne. It has been such a long time and this place still seems to be fresh and welcoming for me. What is it about this place that has made me stick to it for such a long tenure, I wonder why I woke up with this thought today. I am so glad it is weekend; at least I don’t have to put a time constraint on my thought horses. I think the fact that in very less time I have come to know so much about this place that it urges me to stay more and unfold more about it. How about I just pen it down. I think I should head out somewhere and then start with it.

I generally take quite a while in getting dressed but today I finished pretty quick. Okay so I am sitting in my favorite café which is called Auction Room, they serve the best coffee and I am sure you won’t be able to settle down just for one. The aroma, the texture, the frothing milk, the ambiance everything about this café has certain holding power. Now that we are talking about coffee let me enlighten you that Melbourne offers you the best of coffee that you can ever have. Apart from Auction Room, some other good cafes that I can recommend to you is Three Bags full, Hardware Societe, Di Bella Roasting Warehouse, Market Lane, Proud Mary, Sensory Lab, Two Birds One Stone, Twenty & Six Espresso and many more.

Not only coffee, Melbourne offers you amazing chocolate experience too and while we are talking about chocolates I cannot miss to mention about Panny’s chocolate Factory. It is a little far from Melbourne maybe a drive of two hours but it is worth in every sense. Sharing with you some pictures that I clicked the last time I visited this amazing place.

Further I would definitely like to feature the exotic vineyard that this country has to offer. Some awesome wine, fresh olives and strawberries, I know it is pretty hard to imagine all of these at one place but here in Melbourne you can have it all.

Coming from India and that too from the northern part of India, I was a little dubious about my food, my parents, like all parents do, were speculating that I would come back with half the flesh that I had back then. But that was not to be and on the contrary, I had so much to choose from. Delicacies from all over the world were waiting for me and they were definitely worth giving a try. Whether it was the Italian risortto or the fresh Salmon from the seas down under. Besides I didn’t miss the Indian food as there are many Indian eateries as well. For your help I would name some of them like Babu Ji, Cury Vault, Kake Di Hatti, Desi Dhaba and the The Curry Truck. I have been to all except The Curry Truck, this one is scheduled for next Saturday. I would love to share some pictures of the delicious and mouthwatering dishes they have to offer you. Have a look.

Oh I just realized that I just forgot to mention the roof top culture in Melbourne. While in the rest of the world people fight for more land, rent or mortgage it’s here in Melbourne people make use of every inch of the building. The best idea they came up with was to utilize the rooftops and thus came the advent of the open air cafes. You can enjoy your coffee, beer ,wine etc with the gush of air and freshness in your face. I have been to all major ones courtesy my colleagues and yes their hospitable and welcoming nature helped me to gel with them like I have never before. I am going to tell you my personal favorite five and yes I will give you pictures too. The number one position goes to Goldilocks and here is the picture.

The second goes to Bomba, third to Naked in the Sky, fourth to Siglo and fifth to Rooftop Bar.

Can’t really tell you how much I am craving for a chilled beer right now. Oh God it has been three hours since I am sitting here and this one is my fifth cup of coffee along with five muffins. What am I up to ? I should get going now.

Okay so this is coming from the tram in which I am sitting right now. Melbourne is amazingly well connected with all sorts of transportation. I have never had any issues reaching to any destination though I am an expat but I can easily travel from one corner to another with their seamless trams, metros and buses. They also offer very comfortable and affordable train journeys through inter-city and inter state rail services. Their transportation gets a big thumbs up from my side.

Apart from millions of other attractions, the one which I was looking forward to the most when I came here was Melbourne Cricket Ground popularly known as MCG. I was so excited to witness its grandeur that I visited the cricket ground on the first weekend after I arrived here. It stands tall for the magnificent history, drama and emotion associated with it. Needless to mention how excited Indians get when it comes to cricket and yes I am no different. Ever since I had seen this ground in the television there was this strong urge to see it in live and coming to Melbourne has been a strong resort to this urge. One trivia that I would reveal here is that the final match of Cricket World Cup 2015 is going to take place at here at MCG. I am so going to see the final match live. I went to MCG all alone because I didn’t know a lot of people by that time so there are no pictures of me in the stadium except few selfies. They aren’t worth sharing but I did manage to capture the splendor of MCG in my lens. Have a look at it I am sure you will envy me.

I can totally imagine how your eyes must have gone wide and mouth open. You would envy I already told you. Just watch Tanmay and Rohan’s reaction in the below video.

Somebody with a big shopping bag has just entered the train and now I also want to shop. Stupid female issues, just can’t help. I am a shopaholic, something that goes without saying. When I initially came here I thought I would miss the local markets that were such a big part of my life back in India. But to my surprise I didn’t miss any of them. All thanks to various colorful and lively street markets of Melbourne. I knew I would not face any paucity when it would come to high street brands but the fact that I would get almost the same or even better markets here was something I didn’t imagine. You get better than you imagine or expect, welcome to Melbourne. Strolling into the weekday market is almost a part of my daily routine. I along with my few colleagues pay visit almost daily to these markets for fresh fruits and groceries. I would definitely mention my favorite markets which are Rose Street Artists Market and  Queen Victoria Market. Though the markets are boisterous but still I managed to take pictures. Have a look at the pictures from both the markets. Aren’t they amazing.

What else to mention now ummm oh yeah how can I not mention about my hot balloon experience various road trips and the beaches that I have been in the past years. Oh my stop has come, I need to get down. I will just pick up some fruits on my way and then continue with this Mesmerizing Melbourne saga.

Phew I should have carried my shrug it has started getting cold now. Okay moving on let me share my beach experiences. At the outset Melbourne has some amazing beaches. Pristine blue water, clear sand, palm trees and the water waves. I had spent some amazing weekends on those beaches and those memories are still so fresh. I still remember posing with all the those colorful huts at the Brighton beach. They look so pretty and creative. Apart from it I have been to two more beaches which are Mordialloc and Sorrento. St Kilda and Williamstown are next up in my list. I cannot stop myself from sharing some snapshots of the beaches where I have been.

Another unforgettable memory that Melbourne has given me is the splendid drive on Great Ocean Road. Something that I can’t forget in my entire life. The view, the roads, the lush greenery is just picturesque. On the drive over Great Ocean Road you will witness mesmerizing seascape, farmlands and mystique forests. I have the best photo collection on that drive. I wish it lasted forever.

It is now 9:30 PM and I can still go on and on just because this place has so much to offer. I will have to stop not but trust me there are still so many hidden aspects of Melbourne which are yet to be explored by me. Hoping to do them soon.

If this post excites you and you want to know more about thrilling destinations in Melbourne please do visit here. You can also visit Tourism Victoria website to get a more detailed insight of Melbourne Tourism.

And in the end I have something for my readers too. You all stand a chance to win a gift voucher of Rs 500. It is very simple just tell me “Which of these places would you want to visit in Melbourne and why?”. Comment your answers and the one which I like will be awarded with a gift voucher. Contest ends on 4th January 2015 so hurry up, give it a careful watch and let me know your pick.

This post is written as a part of Indiblogger’s What’s your reason for falling in love with Melbourne, the most livable city in the world?.

PS: The author of this post has never been to Melbourne. This is totally a work of imagination and Google research. I would also like to give the due credit to all the photos used in this post. They have been extracted from Google. 

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