I woke up early on Phillip Island because I knew I had a lot more driving ahead of me. It would be minimum two hours to get back to Melbourne, and I had to drive all the way to the airport to return my rental car (I booked to return the car to the airport because the additional cost to return the car in the city was excessive). I had until noon to return the car, but I wanted to have more time to explore the city, so I ended up dropping it off around 10am. Then I had to wait at least half an hour for the shuttle to the airport to come, then I had to take the SkyBus from the airport to Southern Cross Station, so the entire process was very time consuming. I made it to the city around noon, and walked about five minutes to my hostel, Melbourne Central YHA, and was able to check in and leave my stuff in the room right away.

I didn't have a real plan but Wai Chung had given me a bunch of recommendations on things to do in Melbourne. I started out by looking for lunch. I had gone on Google to try to find the best inexpensive food in central Melbourne, and went first to Bong Toast, which is a restaurant serving Korean street toast. I had the Bulgogi Cheese Egg toast which was really good, although not as good as a Korean street toast I had previously in Seattle.

I walked and took the tram to Queen Victoria Market, which is a huge market complex selling a wide variety of souvenirs and fresh foods. I bought some souvenirs and then walked through the fruit section. It was getting close to closing time and the vendors were very eager to get rid of their fruit: a huge box of plums was going for about 6 USD, for example. I got some snacks, some delicious orange and passion fruit juice, and some fresh hot jelly donuts that had been recommended online.

I took the tram back towards the center of Melbourne (QVM is part of the Melbourne Free Tram Zone, so the ride there and back was free). I stumbled upon Melbourne Central station/shopping mall which has a very cool clock inside, then walked across the street to the State Library of Victoria. The library has some beautiful galleries and an especially beautiful Dome reading room. The base level reminds me a lot aesthetically of the Law Library at Michigan, but there is a large dome above it instead.

I took the tram to Federation Square which is at the opposite edge of the Free Tram Zone, and just on the north side of a bridge over the Yarra River. The square is across the street from Flinders Street Station which is a beautiful railway station. I walked across the bridge and down the street to the National Gallery of Victoria. The museum was closing in less than an hour so I was a bit rushed, but I was able to see a good chunk of exhibits. There was a fantastic Asian art collection, and a really nice contemporary exhibit studying the structure of chairs by a Japanese artist. There was also a cool outdoor sculpture gallery where they had a model of the Parthenon that they were gradually painting layer by layer, meant to represent the evolving history of the Parthenon itself.

I stayed at the Museum until it closed, and headed back to my hostel to relax for a bit. Along the way I saw tons of people, mostly girls my age or younger, wearing feathered boas and cowboy hats, and I was very confused what was going on. I later learned there was a Harry Styles concert tonight, and I assume everyone was dressed up for that. I went back to my hostel where they were having a free sausage sizzle and drag queen bingo event. I'm not really sure why but I was not about to say no to free food. I had a sausage, and also got a coupon for a free can of cider.

I did laundry and relaxed in the hostel, before heading out to explore Melbourne at night. I went to Miznon, which is an upscale Israeli chain (their Tel Aviv location was recommended to me by both the TAMID Fellowship restaurant list compiled by Nathanial, and by Christine), and had a delicious steak pita; in particular the bread was perfect. On the tram ride to Miznon I overheard some people talking about a Greek festival that was taking place just a block away, so I headed over to check that out. There were many stalls serving up souvlaki, and three stages with live music. The music was really good and the atmosphere was very energetic.

After exploring the Antipodes festival for a bit, I headed back to my hotel. On the way I stopped to get some Taro bingsoo (Korean shaved ice) for dessert, which really hit the spot after a long day.