Treasures of Melbourne

I am like a sightseeing pro. Seriously, I should teach a course or something. The key is simply hit the pavement and walk everywhere. Or, if you're handicapped in any way, just buy a daily transport ticket and take the bus/tram everywhere. Also, spend as little time in your hotel/motel/hostel/cardboard box as possible. Honestly, I covered so much ground yesterday and I still managed to take an hour+ long coffee/tea break in a cozy little cafe.

I seriously hit the jackpot last night in free entertainment. I had signed up for this free comedy show held at a pub in a really cool, funky neighborhood called Fitzroy. The comedienne was doing a trial run before she goes to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is why it was free, but she ended up being really funny! I was delighted and thought I'd stay out after the show and see what else I could stumble upon. I ended up finding this little pub on a side street that was doing an open mic night. OMG, every performer was amazing, not a dud in the lot! I probably would have paid to see half of them on stage. It's definitely not an exaggeration to say that Melbourne is the culture capital of Australia and that there's an abundance of talent. I couldn't believe how talented some of these people were, and they were all pretty much amatuers! I spoke to one of the girls who performed and she told me that one of the guys there was actually a well-established musician in Melbourne and she was surprised to see him there, which goes to show how unpretentious the music scene is in the city. This guy was extremely good. He played a cool bluesy brand of funk and his voice was unbelieveable, just so rich...he sort of sounded like a cross between Ray Charles and Steve Winwood. Then, the host of the open mic went on (who btw was really cute but that's besides the point) and he totally blew me away as well. His lyrics were so good and he sang with such intensity.

Bottom line: Melbourne=really good music/arts scene. Yay for free entertainment! Now I gotta go spend some $$$