Welcome to Melbourne!

Today marks one week since we arrived in Oz!  Life has been a whirlwind for us the last few weeks...selling the condo, selling the cars, soaking in some sun on the beach in OC, and saying goodbye to family and friends in the States (for those wondering exactly how we ended up in Melbourne, have a read of this post).  We have finally adjusted to the time change and and the weather, which was quite uncooperative the first few days here (50's and rainy...remember it is winter in Oz!), has taken a turn for the better and we have been able to get out and see a few things in Melbourne.

On Saturday we ventured down to Port Melbourne for a few hours to walk around Port Phillip Bay.  There is a nice walking path that connects the towns along the bay.

View of the CBD from the pier at Port Melbourne

Yesterday we went into the CBD (Central Business District = downtown) and did some walking around. We started in Fitzroy Gardens:

Then we wandered our way to the Treasury Gardens, where there is actually a memorial to JFK.

Pretty flowers over there too, and one of my favorites, bird of paradise:

We then continued our stroll through the city, past the Archdiocese of Melbourne (significant since I was just recently employed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore) and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

We walked past the Parliment building and down to Federation Square, crossing this interestingly named road along the way:

Fed Square and Flinders Station are right in the middle of the city and there were many people gathered there, reminding me a bit of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, as it's just a block or two from the Yarra River.

That's our basic introduction to Melbourne!  Erik "officially" started work last Wednesday, but he can't actually do anything until he has an ID number and keys, so we should have some more free time to explore this week.