Heel clicks and poppy fields.

After school on Friday I left for Melbourne via train. The only thing that eased some of my apprehensions of taking public transportation was getting to tell people I was "catching the train". It really made it sound so cute and nonchalant. It ended up not being a big deal (of course I had worked it up in my head to be a very scary experience), and after Danny dropped me off at the train station in Geelong, I rode an hour into Melbourne.

Tiffany met me at the Flinders Street station, and my goodness, it felt so amazing to see a familiar face! We wandered around the South Bank shops and then grabbed some dinner. I found some amazing Indian food and thoroughly enjoyed every last bite. We then caught the train back to Tiffany's host family's house because it was getting late and we needed to rest up for the next day.

Her host family is tres sweet and they welcomed me in with open arms. They offered me their air mattress for the night, and I took over the remaining floor space in Tiffany's room. Meg is the 20 year old daughter who Tiffany is staying with, and the three of us sat around gossiping and having some good girl talk.

The next morning Tiffany and I ate breakfast prepared by John (her host dad), showered, and got ourselves all touristed up! I opted to wear my University of Georgia shirt to give Melbourne a little taste of the Bulldog Nation (GO DAWGS!). Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market, which was a humongous flea market complete with fruits, veggies, meats, clothing, animals, jewelry, and you-name-it-they've-got-it kind of stuff. I purchased a Nepalese hat and almost convinced myself it would be the cool thing to do to wear it around all day. I spared Tiffany.

After lunch (not complete without a curry puff!) we continued to make our way through the streets of Melbourne. We found ourselves in Chinatown, and we happened to stumble upon Target! Now, at this point I had already experienced a Target in Australia. I made the decision to not share about it on the blog before because of how tragic the experience was, but I guess there's no better time than now. Target in Australia is not the wonderful place that Target in America is. There is no Dollar Spot or designer-for-discount section or even anything remotely as cute as what Target is known for in the U.S. In any case, we bought some Kinder Egg Surprises and tried to revive our disappointed souls. Mmmm, chocolate.

After this we really kicked our tourist butts into gear. We asked people to take pictures of us, looked at our maps, and had confused looks on our faces, but we managed to see some pretty awesome sights! We went home a little earlier (after getting some more chocolate along the way) and ate dinner with the Scerris. John put in an Australian mockumentary for us called "Kenny". It was pretty hilarious, and I would recommend anyone to rent it if you can find it in the States. It follows an employee of a port-a-potty company and is very comical.

On Sunday morning I ate my first crumpet for breakfast and headed off for a few more sights in Melbourne. We thought we should try Mackers (McDonald's) to see how it compared to the U.S., and honestly I can't really tell you anything because I haven't eaten there in 3 years. I was hungry so I ate it and my body didn't reject it, sooo two thumbs up? They also have the McCafe, which is a Starbucks-esque area of the Mackers. I don't know if this is happening in the States or not. Tiffany and I parted ways but not before seeing that a full dozen of Krispy Kreme doughnuts would set you back Au$15.95 (probably around $11.00 U.S....whaaaa??).

Overall, very cultural city, fantastic food, lots of walking, too many pictures, the train is now my best friend, and I hope to spend more time in Melbourne.