The San Francisco of Australia

Melbourne. What a fantastic city. I truly love this city. In many ways it reminds me of San Francisco: long lines for brunch on weekends, pop-up coffee shops with fancy pour over stations, colorful street art down alleys, the girl tripped out on meth on the corner, a European influence in old architecture, progressive (I use this word loosely) minded people, Chinatown, Greek Town, Little Italy, Little Saigon, every culture represented - it's all here. I feel so comfortable here. People are exceedingly friendly and everyone has a smile for the bus driver, the old man you pass on the street and the children with boundless energy hopping around the market. It's great!

Things I have learned:

1. Always, always stay to the left. This applied to sidewalks, escalators, even space on a crowded tram. The right side is for passing. If you try to pass on the left expect to run straight into the person coming towards you. They don't get why you are there.

2. In the same spirit as #1, when crossing the street just look both ways always because you'll never remember which side the traffic is really coming from.

3. Double check, then triple check to make sure you are on the correct side of the street when catching the bus. The opposite side of the road really is a confusing thing.

4. Even on the rainiest of rainy days go outside - everyone else is. Melbournites are not afraid of winter. They will be out and about on the most blustery of days. And you'll feel better getting out and seeing all the life around.

5. Take a different side street every time you go walking. They are full of colorful street art, hidden gems of coffee shops and uneven cobble stone forcing you to go slower and really look around.

6. Don't be afraid to eat a Tim-Tam a day. The salted caramel ones really are delicious and you're only here for a few weeks.

Contrary to current Australian politics

Parliament

I work at the end of this street

So many good smells from the cafe's down this alley

Trams, trains, buses - endless transportation options

Exhibition hall, the first Parliament of Australia

Downtown - Myer's is like Macy's

Flinder's Street train station, my favorite

So much color in my neighborhood

The Docklands. They do fireworks here on Friday nights.

It's a blue penguin!

Even the palm trees have a "California" about them

And so I will continue my exploration of this great city for a few more weeks, soaking up as much culture, friendliness and good coffee as I can.