March 3 – Melbourne

March 3 – Melbourne, Australia
Last night we had our Welcome Dinner. One of the entrée options was kangeroo. While I didn’t order it, I tried a bite from someone who did and it was very good. It tasted like steak.
Today we started out by going to the Old Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly, the Billy the Kid of Australia, was jailed and hung at age 25. We also learned that in 1865, the Confederate ship Shenandoah came to melbourne for repairs. When it left there were some Australians on board who wanted to join the war. The ship sailed in the Pacific attacking whalers and shot the last shots of civil war 2 or 3 years after the war ended.
Later we drove around the city and saw some great Parisian style homes. We stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The city is surrounded by a green belt of parks. We visited Fitzroy Garden where Captain Cook’s House still stands. There were beautiful begonias in the conservatory.
We went past the cricket stadium and Rod Laver Arena where the Australian Open is played..
Next stop was the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a war memorial for all Australian War Dead. Their motto is “Lest we forget.” The upper level has a great view of the city. There is a skyscraper that was designed to look like the face of an aboriginal.
Across the street we walked through part of the Royal Botanical Garden.
Our final stop was Queen Victoria Market which is a large produce, meat, fish, and prepared food market. We bought whatever we wanted for lunch and ate outside. Susan and I decided to walk back to our hotel hoping to find Pellegrini’s espresso bar that had been recommended to her.
We had to ask where it was when we got close and we were surprised that we were only 20 feet from it. We went in and sat at the counter and ordered decaf cappuccinos. Susan is learning Italian and ordered in Italian. The owner came over and asked “where are you from?”. Susan responded Torino which is where her family is originally from. He said “No, are you from New York or New Jersey?” (She is from NY). He then made us a dish of slices of his chocolate cake and his plum-chocolate cake. They were delicious. A film crew was there for the Australian Football League so for the filming he made us little espresso cups of chocolate. He was a real character. He only charged us for the coffees and invited us back tomorrow.
Tonight we are going to a meatball restaurant. Tomorrow most of the rest of the group is off to a Koala and Kangeroo excursion. I arranged my own trip to go to Phillip Island to see fairy penguin come in from the ocean. More info about that tomorrow.