About Australian Open - Part 1

A few years ago (2004) I was on a work assignment in Australia around the time that bracketed the Australian Open. Knowing this, we went ahead and scheduled for Jan to fly out to Melbourne, and I would take a week off from my work to meet her there. We made reservation on a B&B close to the tennis center and I was to arrive there a few hours after Jan got to the B&B.

I thought our B&B reservation had been confirmed, but when Jan got there alone from the airport by taxi (after spending 19 hrs. getting there!), they told her that we didn't have a reservation! Needless to say, she was a bit irate and proceeded to inform the B & B management that she had just arrived from Texas and wasn't very happy! We were very fortunate that Aussies speak English and they are relatively friendly to Americans. The proprietor suggested she try another place 3-4 blocks away, so Jan got another cab and dragged her loaded 31" rolling duffle bag to that other place and fortunately was able to get a room. In the mean time, unbeknownst to me, I too took a taxi to the initial address and got the "sorry mate, we don't have anyone by that name registered here!" After patiently explaining to them that we thought we had a confirmed reservation, they remembered the American Jan and that they had sent her to another B & B. So I walked the extra blocks to the other place with my backpack and fortunately was able to connect with Jan. As it turned out, the B&B we stayed at was not that much different from the one we initially booked. In the picture above, our B&B is in upper right corner of the map. The tennis center is at the lower middle, and to thr right of it is the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), a new facility that was nearly finished when we were there.

Our first day there was spent exploring the Chinatown of Melbourne, within walking distance of the tennis center and the B&B. We found a small hole in the wall Chinese barbeque place called City BBQ. In the map, it is the one with the red droplet near the upper left.
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As it turned out we liked the food there so much that we ate there every day! We only tried maybe 2 or 3 other restaurants the entire time that we spent in Melbourne! This place is very much like the First Chinese BBQ in Dallas, with many cooked ducks and marinated meats hanging by the window. Yummy. It was Chinese New Year's while we were there and we watched a Dragon Parade snake through the streets of China Town.

Our days would start by walking several block through the Fitzroy Garden to Little Bourke street, get some delicious meal, then took a free bus shuttle from the Business Center (Flinders Street) to the tennis center at Brunton Avenue. On another day, we would go south from the garden, cut across MCG parking lot and walk directly to the tennis center.

Part 2 tomorrow, at the tennis center.