Yes, 24 hours was the key – all is better, but I did sleep in until 7:00 a.m. The location of our hotel turned out to be perfect for the sort of thing that we enjoy. First we stopped at the concierge desk and booked for an all-day tour of some of the Yarra Valley wineries for Friday. It was the more expensive option, but we were assured we would enjoy the small group experience (limited to ten people) more than the larger tours. We then left the hotel, crossed the pedestrian bridge and walked the short distance to the City Circle Tour that takes you, at no cost, on a tram around the interior rectangle of the city with a commentary pointing out the major sites. That took about an hour and we strolled back to have lunch at a riverfront café before retracing our steps partway and going to Federation Square, a major meeting place just across from the Flinders Station. A Visitors Centre is there, cafes, periodic interactive artistic activities, and one of two buildings of the Victoria Art Gallery. They have permanent exhibits and the current temporary one was an extensive collection of multi-genre offerings called Melbourne Now. Each artist had to have a Melbourne connection and there was everything from sculpture using cake icing (pretty amazing stuff), to paintings, photographs, fashion, architecture, video, and more.

Then it was down the steps to meander alongside the river where we made our way back watching rowers and making sure to contribute to the numerous street musicians. A cold beer at a different bar as we continued to remark how Melbourne seems to be similar to San Antonio with their Riverwalk, yet a European flair with the older architecture combined with modern. Sports are huge here, too, with famous stadiums that can hold tens of thousands of fans. In fact, hubby has been watching Australian Rules football, rugby, and cricket while we relax at the hotel.

Dinner was at PJ O’Brien’s, one of many restaurants on the Southbank Promenade, and we even had a waitress who was Irish. Steak and Guinness pie for hubby, lamb stew for me, and we both agree that the portions here are really too large. I may have to go back to having starters in order to not keep leaving food on my plate. Okay, wine tour tomorrow.