After a good night’s rest, Steve (DOS) and I both felt refreshed from the long trip from Doha to Melbourne yesterday. We have a nice suite in the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, which is on the 29th floor off of prestigious Collins Street, which is in the theater district and ultra upscale shopping area in east Melbourne. We have a nice view overlooking the city from several large floor to ceiling windows, and we are staying here for 7 nights.
Here’s a daytime view taken just down the hall from our room overlooking the river with the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) sporting venue in the far center of the photo, and the Marvel Stadium for Aussie Rules football in the center right near the river. My friend Ian had taken me to a Day/Night Cricket game at the MCG on one of my visits to Australia, but that’s been probably 25 years ago by now, as my last visit to Oz was in 2000.
To start our first full day in Melbourne, we headed up to the Concierge Lounge Grand Club on the 31st floor around 9:45am, and had a nice leisurely breakfast there, which was complimentary to us due to our Globalist status, as well as being in a suite.
After breakfast, we decided to explore our neighborhood here in Melbourne, armed with a city map we had been given by the hotel Concierge. We first wanted to see where the Regent Theater was located as we are going to see the musical Wicked there on Sunday night with our friends Ian and Rosemary from Shepparton, who will be staying at the Hyatt as well on Thursday to Monday. The Regent Theater, is located just down the street from our hotel, a short 3 minute walk, and across the street from the iconic thriller Rocky Horror Show!
Nestled among the theaters and other businesses was Collins Street Baptist Church of Melbourne, which had a sign indicating the Holy Week Service schedule, starting with Palm Sunday. The Church was a beautiful work of classical architecture with several giant columns gracing the entrance. I made a note to look this up when we got back to the room so we could attend services there on Sunday.
Across the street from our hotel are 2 beautiful Cathedrals, as well as loads of upscale retail shops such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and many others.
We also saw a couple fancy Ferrari’s parked along the street. The International Grand Prix Racing event is being held in Melbourne this weekend, and while we are not going to it, I did want to get a souvenir cap with the logo name and Melbourne on it.
So DOS and I head out in search of this City Sports store that has genuine licensed caps, shirts, and other memorabilia from which to choose. As my walking still isn’t great for distances, I walked around a bit with DOS at first, while later he pushed me in our “transit wheelchair” we had brought from home.
We took the tram from nearby our hotel, which is free in the Central Business District (CBD), and had a short 3 stop journey to the sports store. By this time, DOS was pushing me onto and off the tram in the wheelchair, but we had no problem using the public transit system, which is actually free in the CBC district of the city.
We went into the City Sports store which was 2 levels and fairly compact in size. I briefly looked thru the main level, however all of the Grand Prix racing memorabilia was located down a couple flights of steps, so I didn’t to down there.
DOS parked me outside on the busy city sidewalk while he navigated the steps and Grand Prix merchandise on the lower level. So here I am left on the city sidewalk in a wheelchair, feeling like a panhandler as people walk by me. All I needed was a cap or a cup and I might have made some money while waiting!???? I tried to look busy just staring out at the buildings across and up and down the street.
Eventually DOS returns with a couple caps and a logo T-shirt, sporting the Grand Prix name on it. In all fairness to DOS, I saw dozens of people go in that same small store, with the same idea of buying their Grand Prix merchandise as well.
Later we were hungry, and I spotted a McDonald’s nearby, so where do you think we went? We actually haven’t been to McDonald’s in quite a while, but it sounded like a nice guilty pleasure having a Big Mac and fries for a quick meal.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel, re-tracing our steps and taking the tram back the three stops as well, but in the opposite direction. The tram was quite busy as it was during the work lunch hours, but we got on and off the tram fairly easily even with the wheelchair. We briefly went in a mall on the way, which was entered (for wheelchair access) directly adjacent to the Sofitel where we also had a look.
By late afternoon, we were both a bit tired from the long trip yesterday, so we napped for a while before heading off to the Concierge Club and later dinner. The Concierge Club offers complimentary Beer, Wine, and hors d’oeuvres from 6 to 8pm each evening, while offering snacks and non-alcoholic beverages during the other hours of the day. We went to the Club around 7:30pm, and I still had enough time for a brewski and glass of Shiraz, along with some various cheeses. The Club is very nice, and at least tonight it wasn’t very busy, although I’m sure that will change with the Grand Prix race this weekend.
We stayed in the Club for a while even after they quit serving food and drink, and later headed down to the the hotel’s restaurant “Collin’s” on the lobby level. I had a delicious brisket dinner, while DOS had a huge chicken dinner.
After dinner we headed back to the room, still a bit tired from the trip as well as walking (and wheel-chairing) a bit around Melbourne. My friends Ian and Rosemary are coming tomorrow from Shepparton (about a 2 1/2 hour drive away) and will be staying with us for four nights of our 7 night stay here at the Grand Hyatt. For now, Good Night from Melbourne!