Flying to Melbourne

I made it to the land down under.

Street dancers/jump ropers.

What are we looking at?

Melbourne skyline

We left for our trip on Saturday the 16th of February and arrived on Monday the 18th.  Because we crossed the international date line we were basically not in existence on the 17th.  Since the 17th is offspring #1's birthday, for me he will remain the same age for another year.  The flight from Los Angeles  was 14 1/2 hours long and fairly miserable.  This child a couple seats away whined steadily for 2 solid hours during the night.  In the dark I don't understand how this kid could maintain the same level of emotional unhappiness.  I tried to be patient and understanding but when I heard that same kid whine at the luggage rack I had to move physically away from that short monster.  When we finally checked into our hotel we took a shower, changed clothes, and explored our neighborhood.  Near our hotel were many colleges.  The sidewalks were full of college students.  We kept running into people until we finally figured out that people walk like they drive.  In Melbourne (pronounced Melbin)the pedestrians stay to the left.  Once we learned that we were able to navigate the streets without bumping into others.  We had lunch at a college diner.  I had a spinach ricotta cannelloni and it was delicious.  I stopped at a store to buy a post card to mail to work.  We stopped at a fruit stand where I bought 3 of the most delicious peaches.  I stopped at another store to buy an international postcard.  When we saw some interesting statues on a street corner I wanted to take a picture.  That is when I realized I had lost my camera.  We went back to the stamp store.  No camera.  We went back to the fruit stand.  No camera.  We went back to the post card store. He had my camera!  WoooHooo!  I got my camera back.  On our way home we saw some street performers dancing and jumping rope to music.  People stood around them watching.  A hat held money from admirers.  The kids were real athletes.  We enjoyed watching them and watching the crowd watching them.  We went to bed early and enjoyed the luxury of lying flat in a comfortable bed instead of a narrow airline seat.