Hello all! We recently had a long weekend in Melbourne which is an hour 20 min flight south west from Sydney. It is know for its art culture (including street art) and amazing coffee. Brandon planned as an anniversary gift so I could see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was a lovely winter weekend and we had a really nice time. See details and pictures below.

Friday morning we took and Uber to the Sydney airport and flew Tigerair to Melbourne airport. We took public transport into the CBC of the city where our Airbnb was (a bus, then a train). It took forever and we kept going to the wrong platform, so I would recommend not doing this for anyone traveling to Melbourne, just take the Skybus. We got to the city and ate at Chin Chin, an Asian restaurant. We walked to Melbourne Central, a big mall with some interesting shops. Then took the tram south to Royal National Park for a wander along the water to the Crown Casino with all its fanciness. We walked back into the CBD through Block Arcade, Centre Place, Degraves Street, and Cathedral Arcade. It then started raining so we stopped for dinner at the Meatball and Wine Bar which had a ball theme throughout and was delicious.

Saturday morning was overcast, but thankfully not raining when we got up early to take the tram south for the 8am Albert Park parkrun. It was a really nice track around the lake. I even got a new Personal Best, 28:51. We then rushed back to our Airbnb to get ready for our day with our friends Liz and Peter who live outside of Melbourne, but there was no hot water. 🙁 We met them at the Melbourne Cat Cafe where we bought a drink and an hour of time with their collection of cats. Some were older and lazy, but they also had kittens that were playful and spunky. It was really fun and their gift shop was awesome. I bought souvenir cat socks.

They then drove us to the Melbourne Zoo which was really nice. Most of the animals were out and active with it being winter and a cooler day. We did spend some extra time in the heated butterfly house to warm up. We all then drove to Southbank to eat dinner then dessert. They headed off to a comedy show and we just went back to our room to warm up and digest. Thankfully, we did have heat.

Sunday we took the bus to Fitzroy to check out Lune Croissanterie which was an amazing breakfast. Their bakery was glass so we were able to see them prepping their yummy almond croissants. There was street art everywhere you looked. We went to the Rose St. Artists Markets and Readings, a book store, then headed back to our room to change for church and the show. We walked to church for 11:30 mass and it was closed (!) for winter. By then it was too late to find another with the show at 2pm so we went for lunch and wine at Leonardo’s. It was another great recommendation. We walked through a park to get to the Princess Theater for the first part of the show. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released as a play format type book and was first performed in London. Melbourne is the first Australian production of it and the Princess Theater was specially decked out for its years of performances. You can get tickets for both 3 hour parts all for the same day or consecutive nights. The first part went until 5:30p, then everyone went to grab supper, then back to the next part at 7:30p. We ate at a tapas restaurant called Rice Paper Scissors and everything had red chilies and was HOT! We then went to the corner pub for dessert. They has really cool Harry Potter merch, but I limited myself to only the production’s t-shirt. The show was amazing! The magic was done really neat and the scene changes were magical as well. If you are a Harry Potter fan, I encourage you to read the book and go see the show. It will blow your mind.

Monday was pack up and leave day. We had kiwis for breakfast and one last cold shower. We took the tram to the train station, then the Skybus back to the airport. I had one last Melbourne coffee and we were off back to Sydney. We took an Uber back to our apartment and unpacked. We then met friends for dinner at a Chinese restaurant for pigeon and other yummy dishes. It was delicious! Another great vacation in the books!