What a city! I took Sona and Aiden to Melbourne 2nd week of May 2017 to coordinate with my ISSO training. This was our second time visiting (the first being from Baghdad during an R&R). I read that Melbourne has been voted most liveable city for the past 7 years so I was curious to see what the fuss was about.
We arrived on a Sunday evening and arranged a taxi van to take us to the Marriot located downtown. It was about a half hour ride and we checked in to a nice room. Just ended up unpacking and getting settled that first night since my training was the following morning.
Training was great and we had an excellent instructor who communicated well and I learned about new responsibilities which I’ll address upon returning. But that’s enough about work 🙂 Every night we ended up exploring a different part of the city. The Melbourne Star which is their London Eye was a highlight and there was even a full moon when we went. On another night, we went to Chinatown (close to the hotel) and throughout the week visited the Shrine of Remembrance, Crown Entertainment Center, took a bus to Chadstone shopping center, and even went up to the Eureka Skydeck for an amazing view of the Melbourne skyline. Aiden enjoyed LEGOLAND which was part of the Chadstone complex and checking out all the trams (Melbourne has the most trams of any city).
The food was great and Sona even found a Nepali momo place which was fantastic. Did some shopping the last day and collected some “beverages” through duty free at the airport. All in all, a fun adventure filled with many memories. Melbourne is on my bid list and I’m considering it strongly since I felt really attracted to the city.