Melbourne: trip to the city

So K and I went into the city today. We toured the open air market with a history similar to Haymarket Square in Boston. K remembers his family buying green groceries and stuff at the market when it was more for the essentials than a tourist spot. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any pictures of the market overall. I suppose it can be sad to see a quaint "real" market transform into a tourist site, but to me, it's a sign of increasing wealth of the population. K noticed that the roof of the market, while old and authentic, had solar panels attached to the top of it. I said that this was the final proof that the old market was gone now.

The market had shoes, t-shirts, boomerangs, American rock star t-shirts, opals, wooden toys, etc. Most importantly, it had this mannequin.





Going through the local department store, it was clear that the prices were much higher than the US. Polo shirts that might cost $40 were something like $100. Calvin Klein jeans were...





Remember that the Australian dollar is pretty much one-for-one against the US dollar. And these jeans must be tailored for whatever length you need.

Apparently there's a long story behind the legal battles between Burger King and Hungry Jacks. If I recall correctly, Hungry Jacks won.





We crossed over the Yarra River to the western side of Melbourne where there's an area that has a waterfront commercial district (Westgate Park) with boat docks and serious sailboats. I didn't get many pictures and the ones I got didn't do justice to the place.

There's a lot of really old architecture of all sorts in Melbourne from old colonial to all sort of modern stuff. Again, I didn't get pictures.

The Westgate Bridge is famous in Melbourne. Apparently, the first one fell down in 1970, killing 35 people.




This is driving back towards the main city.




And like most large cities, there's a Chinatown.




Here's a typical Melbourne street.




As far as pictures go, I really missed a lot of good opportunities today.