Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne has a really quaint, old-time feel to it.  I started with the Royal Botanical Gardens for a stroll in the morning.  It's a great place to unwind and relax.  Thousands of plant species from all around the world are in this garden and this is a must see if you love nature.  From the gardens I would then walk along the Yarra River to Federation Square. It is a lovely walk, and if you love to walk then I recommend walking, get some exercise, explore nature, and skip the transportation.

Federation Square is the hub of Melbourne where you will find all the cultural attractions, events, and other tourist experiences.  Here you will find restaurants, bars and specialty stores galore ! So stroll up to Federation Square for all the main attractions in the central Melbourne area.  I stopped by to see what all the craze was about Saint Paul's Cathedral.  This Cathedral is stunning and I can see why all tourist were coming and going inside this cathedral.

Across the street is the famous Flinders Street Station, and right outside from the station is the City Circle Tram and it is free.  There are many other stops to jump on the free tram also.  It is a nice way to see the the central city of Melbourne.  You must experience a ride on this heritage tram, so jump on-board for that nostalgic feel.  There is an audio playing during the entire time that provides details of city's major attractions such as; the City Museum, Parliament House, Federation Square, and the Melbourne Aquarium, just to name a few.

My highlight of my Melbourne vacation was going to the Old Melbourne Gaol, meaning prison.  I love this stuff, and with a degree in Criminal Justice, this is right up my ally.  Walking through this historic prison you can go in the cell rooms of the many cellmates from through-out Australia and other countries around the world where they were found guilty of some crime in Australia.  They have documentation in each cell of whom was housed their and what was their crime.  After your walk through they have a police officer that takes a group through a reenactment of life as an inmate during that time and a tour of the history of the prison.  That's all for now and a good day mates :-)