well i’m on my way…

I checked out of the greasy hostel and practically ran to the cleanliness of the YHA.  I couldn’t check in til 1 so I did some laundry and just hung out, mindlessly watching the news and reading Lord of the Rings The Two Towers.  I’m kinda hooked.  I’ve just been wandering around the city, not really doing anything too active-I fly out of here in May (read: WINTER) so I’ll probably want to spend some time, decompress from New Zealand, and check out museums and see who of my friends are still living here.  I went to the cinemas and saw He’s Not That Into You.  Good flick, I guess, but it had a happier ending than I thought it would-given the title and all.  It was nice hearing American accents…I hung out on the hostel rooftop that night overlooking the city. 

Melbourne and Chicago are similar-with the rivers cutting through the cities, “docklands” being converted into housing, ferris wheels, the skylines are a bit similar-don’t ask how…it just feels a bit like home here.  And I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I travel to find new things, different things, and Melbourne doesn’t really feel new or different. 

The next day my mission was to check out the two cultural streets:  Lygon Street and Brunswick Street.  Lygon Street is the Italian street-I still don’t understand why cities want to put all of the same thing on one street.  Anyways…walking down the street the smell of garlic was so pungent, and it was 11 in the morning!  I didn’t have any food, but smelling and drooling over the menus were enough for me!  I headed two blocks over to Brunswick street-the “bohemian” street that was filled with arty gardens, secondhand shops, and eclectic cafes…I walked up and down the street, pausing in a few shops here and there.  I was so tired, even though it wasn’t that hot.  My feet were sore (btw, the ankle’s recovered for the most part) and I started heading back to the hostel.  I stumbled across a nice park on the way back and lied down in the inviting shade of the trees.  I must have fallen asleep beause I jumped when I heard laughter-I got up and wandered around some more.  When I got back to the hostel, I met some people on the roof and we watched The Full Monty.  

I lied on St Kilda beach yesterday.  The waves were nonexistant but the sun was ever present.  I worked on my tan, since I’m afraid I will start losing it once I get to New Zealand, with temperatures being in the 50s and 60s (farenheit) on the South Island.  Yuck!  After I returned to the hostel, I went up to the roof and eavesdropped on a conversation-but only because I was trying to determine whether or not a guy was Canadian or American.  When I heard him say “It was, like, awesome” I butted in and asked him what part of the States he was from.  He looked taken aback, surprised someone asked him if he was American (a big no no, especially if you make the mistake of calling a Canadian an American), until I explained that I was from Chicago and hadn’t heard an American accent in so long.  So we chatted it up about the differences for a while.  I’m not homesick by any means, but hearing a familair accent is nice once in a while.

Today I went with one of my roommates to the Rialto Observation deck-55 stories up above the city.  It was a bit foggy out, so there wasn’t much to see, but what we did see was cool.  We’re heading to the night market tonight to see what there is to see.  I have to pack my bag tonight-yuck!  But I’m going to New Zealand tomorrow, so it’s so worth it.  =)

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