Mel-ben, Part 3

City day!  Have I mentioned before how much I love hop-on hop-off buses?  In fact, the only thing I love more are FREE hop-on hop-off buses, which - score! - they have in Melbourne.  First stop is the Flinders Street Train Station:

Which is right across from Federation Square.  "Fed Square" houses museums, restaurants and theaters, but I thought the best part was the pavement - ochre from Western Australia.

The volunteers at the Visitors Center were extremely helpful, going out of their way to help me find a list of places to buy aboriginal art, my second goal in Melbourne.  More on this next time.

Across the street from the square is a very cool church named St. Paul's Cathedral, which made me feel a bit homesick (the St. Paul part - not the Cathedral part).

Jumping on the bus, we whizzed around the whole city in about 60 minutes.  (I don't have very good pictures of that part, everything was jouncy and my window was dirty, but my impression was that Melbourne is a very cool, artsy, fun city.)

After the bus tour we wandered down the alleyways to find lunch.  I wanted to find an Italian place, and I was not disappointed - the city seems chock full of them.  Man, I miss good ravioli.

Sitting down for lunch, we tried to figure out exactly how everyone is related.  We knew we're all cousins of some sort, but the specific details are hazy.  As far as we could figure out, Harvey and David are second cousins once removed, making David and David third cousins.  We think.  Here's the official family tree.

Wandering through the alleyways and shops, you see a lot of Uggs for sale.  Sorry ladies, they are not cheaper here than in the states.

There are a lot of great sculptures along the streets, this one is called "Public Purse".  It's design was submitted for a Melbourne contest for... street seating.  Really?  You're supposed to sit on it?

And I didn't catch the name of the one, but that's David in the back.

There's also a lot of "street art" in Melbourne.  I was never very clear if it was actually legal, but it's pretty fun nevertheless.

Last stop was a special Tim Burton exhibit at one of the museums in Federation Square.

There was a lot of "Wait, I didn't know he did Planet of the Apes!" and "I can't believe you never saw Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  What, did you sleep through 1985?"

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Next up?  Tennis, art and steak.  I love this country!