N 69   Traveloque…. (Melbourne / Australia )

While thinking about what I should write for my next blog I hit on an idea. It is to write about my travellings, concerning cities I have been. As I have been to some cities of the east my blogs will become a series and I will have much to write about. But I know most people don’t like to read long articles, so I will try to make them short , although it will be hard if there are many places and things that need to be mentioned, and I am sure every city does have those things. So I will start with Melbourne , Australia…..

I had been to Melbourne 3 times. It was because my 2 daughters had studied there and even now one granddaughter is still in a university there. So the reason for our first time visit in 2010 was to attend the graduation ceremony of our daughter Kham .She attended the Monash University and got her B A (acc )degree. At that time our youngest daughter Lin was also studying at Swinburne for master's degree in accounting.

 

My eldest daughter Ma Ying and her husband also went with us on that trip. I remember the first place we visited was the heart of the city which is called Swanston Street, where most landmarks are situated. We first visited  the Federation Square. It is home to major cultural attractions, world class events,  an array of restaurants and specialty stores that it has become the most visited attraction in Melbourne. St Paul Cathedral is close to this place.

 

After we had looked around and took some photos we moved northwards, and before long came to the State Library which I learned that it holds more than 2 million books. It was built in neoclassical architecture with a wide stairs and green lawn in front of it.

It was at this place that I encountered a  remarkable experience. I saw a rally by some people to free Julian Assange, a Melbournian and the co founder of  Wikileaks which hacked into some companies and important government departments including the Pentagon. He was having trouble with the law and was recently making news. So when I came across an incident concerning him I got excited and took many pictures of the rally.

This also is a place which tourists who come to Melbourne cannot miss. It is not far from Melbourne Central Station and shopping centre. We continued to stroll along Swanston Street , gazing at the Christmas preparations, and the people doing their last minute shopping, and window shopping before going back home.