Everything Aussie: Studying in the City

I sometimes forget that the reason I'm in Melbourne is to study. There's so many fun things to see and do that it's easy to get caught up in it. Such as the Mexican restaurant below...

Thankfully though, I have a friend here that is willing to kick my butt into studying. We decided to leave our cramped rooms behind and head into the city to study at a local cafe. Our apartments are in a great location. We're about a ten minute walk from the heart of the city (known as Melbourne CBD), a five minute walk from campus (though often takes longer during peak hour traffic as I have to dodge trams and cars), and about a ten minute walk to Lygon Street (a Little Italy of sorts though some great Indian and Thai restaurants are there too).

We chose to head to Lygon street, thinking that the cafes would be a little calmer than the hustle and bustle of the city. Wrong. The cafes were all pretty lively, but it was an enjoyable atmosphere so we plunked down at one of the many places offering great coffee and hot food. I actually accomplished quite a bit of work, much to my surprise, and even found some time to squeeze in a little people watching. A table of men next to us boldly flirted with the waitress, and even they had success, scoring a phone number from her friend whilst one of the men flexed his biceps on request. It was incredibly difficult not to fall out of my chair laughing at this point.

I included below some pictures of the city and some of the parks that we walked through to get to Lygon street so you can get a better feel for Melbourne and it's hot mess of architecture styles. Keep in mind these were all taken on the 8 minute walk to the cafe..