Exploring

Today was a day spent just picking a direction, and walking. I ended up in an awesome part of the city, Southbank, on the riverfront of the Yarra River, and what may be the heartbeat of the city. It was absolutely packed with people, and the architecture and cast of characters made it feel more like I was in Bohemian Europe than what I would expect out of Australia. The people were extremely friendly, and more than one conversation was struck when hearing my American accent.

I decided to get a better view of the city by going to an observation deck in the highest viewing spot in the Southern hemisphere. I wrote a review about it here that you should definitely check out: http://www.wherescool.com/spots/skydeck-88-melbourne/. Also make sure to check out my pictures of the day on my Flickr Photostream at the top left.

I have been adjusting nicely so far. I knew which tram to get on, where to get a good cup of coffee and how not to get mugged near Chinatown. It's still very weird to be walking around a city I know nothing about with no means of communication, no watch (I always just used my cell phone), and zero idea of what to do next. It's phenomenal. Tomorrow, I'll do the same thing, in the other direction.

I'm happy to say the food has been much better than I had expected before coming on this trip. I was half expecting it to be like English food, which in my opinion, is as tough as it gets in the culinary field. Outside of Gordon Ramsay, I'm as confident in British cooking as I am in French hygiene. I can't wait to start trying more Asian foods, and stepping out of my comfort zone with all the new cultural differences in front of me. So far, the trip is off to a great start, time to go out to some pubs.