{"id":354,"date":"2023-10-08T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.wordpress.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2024-12-09T03:35:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T03:35:22","slug":"metropolitan-museums-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/metropolitan-museums-in-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"Metropolitan Museums in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activity level: \ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modes of transportation: \ud83d\udc5f\ud83d\ude8a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we awoke, we realized that we had forgotten to extend our stay an extra night, so we made our way down to the front desk. Unfortunately, they said, our room was booked for the next night so we had to move rooms. We had to rush to pack up all of our clothes before being moved to a smaller room\u2014but honestly, we were happy because it still had a bathroom and was cheaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo doesn\u2019t do it justice–room was very cozy and cute.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We set out to enjoy some of the other great food in Melbourne, specifically ramen. Eric found a highly recommended place, and we took the tram and walked to get there. Once there, the hostess called us to the front of the line cutting a large group of people (though we realized later that the group we cut was too big to be seated). It was very high tech\u2014we ordered off an iPad and they brought us our spicy pork ramen. The broth was rich and flavorful, and the noodles and pork were perfectly cooked. Sarah enjoyed it, but told Eric to remind her to avoid spicy foods on vacation (even the level 1, which is what we ordered).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We both ordered level 1 out of 4 spice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Level 1 out of 4 spice was delicious but tough to get through.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Last bite! We beat level 1!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had wanted to see the National Gallery of Victoria, so we set out for a small walk over. Of course, we had to stop for a gelato on the way, since there was a great shop next to the Victorian parliament. There was also a large protest in front of the parliament, so we didn\u2019t stay too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eric chose the better sorbet flavor\u2014per usual.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Can\u2019t express enough how nice it was to have accessible public transit throughout Melbourne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Walking through the city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The gallery was beautiful: we went through the very extensive Asian collection and then stopped for classic tea. We got a really great green tea blend where the leaves were almost whole, just cut up with scissors\u2014which is how you know it\u2019s fancy. We also got scones with jam and cream, but Eric didn\u2019t bring lactaid so Sarah had to mostly enjoy the cream (she says it was delicious).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like the Smithsonian, this museum was free to the public.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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These reminded us of Cousin Harry\u2019s marionettes, which made an appearance at our second-line.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tea and scones at an art museum\u2014doesn\u2019t get classier than that.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also got a nice tour from one of the security guards, who told us all about the founding of the museum and some of the beautiful paintings. Apparently, one super rich guy just left a couple billion dollars (in todays money) to buy art in the museum on the stipulation that it remain free. We appreciate it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spot the difference! (Left: renaissance man presenting his lady with flowers Right: Eric preparing the wedding flowers)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since it was a nice day, we did a quick walk through the national botanical gardens and happened to see a flag lowering ceremony at the shrine of remembrance. After a quick nap in the grass, we headed back on the tram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We took a nice nap on the lawn after watching an interesting ceremony with bagpipes, trumpet, fire, and interesting hats (none of which are pictured).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eric tried to find a good restaurant for dinner on the beach in Saint Kildas; but even though it was open, the kitchen was closed. So we had to walk around until we found some place open, which turned out to be an Italian restaurant named Toporinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We had a nice walk along the beach while we searched for dinner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, the food turned out to be very good. Eric ordered a prosciutto pizza, and Sarah got Gorgonzola pasta. They both ordered a margarita, but in retrospect, they shouldn\u2019t have ordered a Mexican drink at an Italian restaurant in Australia (it was ok).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Perfect pizza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Gorgonzola sweet potato gnocchi was incredible but too much for Sarah to eat alone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eric wasn\u2019t feeling well, but Sarah went back to the hostel bar and socialized with all the hostel people. To her great horror, they all noticed us walking around and wondered why we weren\u2019t hanging out all night. Sarah ended up getting a good Vietnam itinerary from a British girl, and left them all when the group departed for Freddie\u2019s (round 2!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, they called it a night\u2014ready for travel to Sydney in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Melbourne was fantastic! Minus the cold<\/s> sheep grazier warning weather.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah and Eric plan to have a chill day that gets out of hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","tag-melbourne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3521,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/3521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}