Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Day 1721: Melbourne

It's pronounced "Melbin," Ronan says.  Australians abbreviate everything.  Some say they are lazy in their speech habits but they prefer to think of themselves as efficient.  Australians refer to themselves as Aussies or Tralians.  Mac Donald's is called "Macca". The Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the MCG, is simply called "G."  Alice Springs is called "Alice."

We arrived in Australia about 7:30 am on Sept. 21.  After sitting on the runway an extra hour, we took off for the 15 hr 40 minute flight.  It was incredibly cramped, but the service, food and staff were wonderful.  We had a full dinner with wine and dessert, snacks and a full breakfast. I slept three or four hours, but Steve barely slept at all.  He was in misery crammed in the middle between me and a large young man on the aisle named Daniel.  The entire row in front of us lowered their seats so we couldn't move.   When we had to go out to the bathroom, it was like a bear crawling out its den.

We did a walking tour after we arrived at the hotel because we could not get into the rooms.  Love the city already!  It feels a lot like Glasgow.  I felt terribly underdressed caused I was still wearing my Bermuda shorts from the plane plus bright blue sneakers.  The temp is only around 50, but will warm up in the other cities.

Our meeting is in an hour, then dinner, then bed! Can't wait to sleep!

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