24th February 2009

You are hearing from two very depressed people following this mornings result, sadly we saw every minute as we watched TV first thing as we got ready to go out.

Today we very bravely negotiated the Melbourne tram system to get to the Melbourne Jewish museum. The museum was quite different to the Manchester one. Its main work is on Judaism and the history of the Jewish people, although there is a section on Jewish immigration into Australia. It is based in purpose built building which is quite modern and offers daily visits to the Schul behind the building.

After this we found our way to the Jewish area in Balaclava where we went first to look at the various Kosher eating places before settling on a rather large smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel. Yum Yum !!! Before leaving the area we had a look at a book shop which was the largest one we have seen.

We finished off our adventures on the tram by travelling into St. Kilda's and walked along the sea front. We wandered along Ackland Street, once the heart of the Jewish area, now a street full of trendy boutiques and a myriad of gooey, fattening cakes of every size, shape and even colour. Using the trams is easy once you know what you are doing! You work out which zone you are in and on each tram there is a machine which will give you the cost of the fare for the whole of the zone, i.e. one price irrespective of you going one stop or lots. Once you have this ticket, and if you have purchased either a return or a 24 hours ticket you then validate it in a machine which you will find on every tram.