Thursday, August 16, 2012

Melbourne - my dream destination

As I live in India, I grew up knowing Australia as just a difficult Cricket team to defeat. I always thought Australia as our rival, and thus I was always curious to know more about it. Interest in David Boon, Allan Border, Glen McGrath, etc in particular and the game of Cricket in general and the rivalry associated with it drew my attention to the famous cricket ground of Melbourne and thus the city of Melbourne occupied a special space in my mind.

Other than Cricket, Melbourne brings to me the annual sporting extravaganza of the Formula One Grand Prix. It is one of the first few races of the year or you can say that the F1 season starts from Melbourne. Along with these, the 1st Tennis Grand Slam of the year is held in Melbourne. So for a sports enthusiast, Melbourne is the starting point of the year. And for me it is a dream to be here in this city at this part of the year. And the icing on the cake would be a visit to the iconic National Sports Museum located in the famous MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).

Next on my list in Melbourne would be the balloon flights. Imagining about ballooning and that too in Melbourne pumps up my adrenaline. In my opinion, it is a must must activity in Melbourne. Just think about the tranquility while on the sunrise balloon flight over Melbourne, watching the sun rising slowly and having your glass of wine to enjoy... It gives me goose bumps!!

For all the coffee-addicts, you have a very exciting cafe in Melbourne - Brother Baba Budan. Just to let you know a little about Baba Budan, for those who doesn't know him, he is known as the world's first coffee smuggler. He has a very a significant India connect. He is believed to have introduced coffee to India and thus can be called as the father of India coffee. We have a famous peak in the Indian state of Karnataka named after him as Baba Budangiri. And it is also the place from where I started one of my earliest treks. I trekked from Baba Budangiri to Mulayangiri.

There are so many reasons to be in Melbourne, but what I say is that Melbourne doesn't need a reason to visit. My heart just says to me..."…it's your time to visit Melbourne NOW!" My travel guide would only be my heart and the informative weblink www.visitmelbourne.com/in