Day 16 - Friday, 10.08.10

I met up with a girl named Lizzie today to look at an apartment in Prahran.  This area is very close to Windsor and Chapel Street so I would be near amazing fashion, dining, and cafes.  Love it.  Lizzie and I met over Gumtree (our version of Craigslist) and had been texting and talking all week about the apartment we were going to look at today.  When we finally met in person it felt like we had known eachother for some time.  We hit it off instantly.  She is 29 years old and from Manchester, England but has lived in Melbourne the past 5 years.  She is also a fitness freak and works at a franchise gym in Melbourne called Fitness First.  She actually completed the Australian Institute of Fitness program a couple years ago so she's going to help me study for the same exact program.  She's funny, smart, and has an incredible energy and spirit.  We're going to get along great. 

I took one look at the 2 bedroom, newly carpeted and painted apartment and fell in love it, along with the surrounding, residential area and nearby park.  We submitted our applications immediately but won't hear back until early Monday morning.  Fingers crossed.



View of Yarra River from Princes Bridge

Lizzie later dropped me off by Flinders Station, the oldest city station in Australia, built in 1854.  It is also the busiest suburban railway Station in the southern hemisphere.  I walked along the Yarra River to get to Flinders Station.  The river is the city's tourism and recreation heart.  It hums with activity such as river boats, water taxis, and numerous events including Moomba Waterfest, rowing regattas, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and major exhibitions.

Walk along Yarra River to Flinder Station

Adjacent to Flinders Station is "Federation Square", one of two Melbourne city squares.  Hosting over 2,000 events each year, Fed Square (as its typically called) is a world class cultural and entertainment destination containing art galleries, Australian Racing Museum, cinemas, exhibitions, restaurants, bars, and shops.  It's one of the most visited tourist attractions in Victora, receiving over 40 million visits to-date.

I walked around Fed Square and had lunch at a nice cafe before going to Tim Burton: The Exhibition within Fed Square at the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image).  The Exhibition traces Burton's visual imagination from his earliest childhood drawings through his mature work in film.  It brings together over 700 examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, costumes, and includes an extensive film series spanning his 27-year career.  It was an amazing exhibit to walk-through.  Incredibly interesting and unique.  

 

After the exhibition I went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love after finishing the book a couple days ago.  I went to see it at the Greater Union Theatre on Russell Street.  The movie was pretty accurate with the book with some obvious Hollywood motion picture changes to make it more dramatic. 

After the movie I went to visit Laeititia at The Apartment where I had one drink then headed back to Flinders Station to take the train back home.