We arrived to Melbourne mid-morning on Thursday, July 14th...

We arrived to Melbourne mid-morning on Thursday, July 14th. Our dear friend Elizabeth (whom we are staying with for the time being) came to pick us up from the airport. We managed to fit everything into her car and were then on our merry way to her home in Kensington, which is a suburb of Melbourne. The word “suburb” is used differently here than it is in the United States. In American terms, an Australian “suburb” would be considered a city neighborhood that exists outside of “the city” (which for Americans, “the city” would be called “downtown.”)

My first non-airplane meal was at this great café called “The Premises.” Eggs on toast with Tasmanian salmon never tasted so good! Melbourne is a food-lover’s paradise… I look forward to eating all over town and am possibly considering abandoning my thirteen year long stint as a pesco-lacto-ovo vegetarian. My first coffee was a flat white. A flat white is a coffee made with espresso and steamed milk, minus all the foam. Luckily for me, this town is also all about delicious coffee.

We spent day one having Elizabeth drive around town so we could scope out the neighborhoods, er, suburbs for us to consider living in. It was cool to drive past some places and remember certain restaurants I’ve eaten at ten years ago. Our day ended with an Aussie tradition of enjoying fish n’ chips on the floor.

For the next couple of days, we continued to scope out some more neighborhoods and the markets. One of our more memorable stops was a Chinese restaurant in Footscray, where we had “Yum Cha” (or what Americans call “Dim Sum.”) Delish!