travel – Page 2 – Jaclyn Grace

Friday Favorites – Australia Style!

Here are a few of the things that I am loving most about Australia:

1. Greek Food

I neverhad true Greek Food before, and I am in love! One of my group partners was born in Greece, so we have had quite a few meals. One restaurant is right next to our work and we have made our way over twice. The first time I had “The Greek Burger.” It was a burger with eggplant, veggies, cheese, and an egg on it. It also had a Greek sauce called tzatziki on it, which is sort of like a mayo/sour cream mix.

This past Wednesday we went there and I had the “Open Souvlaki.”

It was chicken that came with pita bread, tzatziki, and a delicious Greek salad. I loved it. I am going to have to find a Greek restaurant back at home!

2. The night market

I talked about this before, but every Wednesday in the summer there is a night market full of food, music, and entertainment. We went again this week and I loved it just as much. Of course, I had another strawberry, nutella, and coconut crepe…

3. Artwork

The graffiti here is incredible.

We came upon these walking to dinner with one of our advisors the other night. I can’t imagine being able to paint something like this on such a large scale.

4. Tim Tams

I should probably be ashamed that three of my last four favorite things this week are related to food… But I’m not! These are delicious. Everyone who comes back to school from Australia raves about these and now I know why. They are chocolate dipped cookies with a chocolate filling inside. There are so many other flavors too- salted caramel, peanut butter, white chocolate, and so on. I am definitely bringing some of these home for my family to try.

5. Skyping with my best friend!

Victoria is in Santa Fe, NM studying abroad right now as well and we finally got to Skype on Tuesday! I’m so glad we picked the same term to go away and that we are going on another cruise together when we get back.. only 64 days until that vacation! I’m so glad you’re having a blast and I miss you tons!

I don’t know if this qualifies as a favorite per say, but tonight I went to an internet cafe down the road to catch up on some work and schedule my classes for next year. I ordered an iced coffee and a small pizza for dinner so that I could use their internet. This is what I received…

It had ice cream in it! I felt like I was drinking a root beer float rather than a coffee. You definitely couldn’t get one of these at Dunkin Donuts!

xo,

Jaclyn

Wildlife Sanctuary

At 6:30 this morning Jimmy, Raeshawn, Francisco, and I set out for the gym before work. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time as we thought we would and I ended up doing a quick 20 minute circuit… I guess something is better than nothing!

After working out, we showered at the office, ate breakfast, and then were ready to start our day. My four team members, my two WPI advisors, and 3 employees from the office set out for a day-long tour of Melbourne.

We drove around the outskirts of the city and gained a better understanding of the area, which is important for the project we are working on. After about 2 hours of driving, we decided to stop at a little cafe for a quick cup of coffee. In Australia, you do not just slurp down a large Dunkin’s iced coffee when you need a quick fix. We stopped, sat outside, and drank latte’s from little glass mugs. They were tiny but very delicious – definitely better quality than at home.

Also, you cannot just order regular coffee here. It has to be either a latte, a magic, or a cappuccino apparently. Luckily for me, I love lattes. My teammates aren’t overly enthused about this.

After our lattes we piled back into the bus and continued driving. We drove out through the Yarra Valley wine country and it was beautiful. The entire WPI group is booking a Wine/Chocolate/Cheese tour to do on Sunday, so luckily I will have more time to visit there and take pictures. 🙂

Next, our group stopped for lunch at a small bakery in the country side. I had a BLT which was very good, but dessert was the best. I don’t know what it was called, but our sponsor ordered us these cake-like pastries dipped in chocolate and coconut. They said that they are an Australian tradition and I can definitely see why!

We were under the impression that lunch was one of our last stops on the tour, until we pulled up to a Wildlife Sanctuary! Our sponsor surprised us with tickets and we spent the rest of the day looking around and seeing all of the animals.

The first thing we saw were Koala bears and they were just ask cute as I imagined. This is probably the animal that I was most excited to see, but I wish we could have pet or held them as the staff was.

We saw some other awesome animals as well… The kangaroos really made me laugh!

It was really cool seeing so many different animals that we wouldn’t see back home!

xo,

Jaclyn

St. Kilda Beach

Last night we went out for a sushi dinner and dancing. The sushi place that we went to was not my favorite. All of the sushi was on a rotating conveyor belt and you just picked off what you wanted. The idea of that just was not my favorite so I got a made-to-order dish of tuna maki instead. It was tiny and I spent the rest of the night starving until I got home.

IMAG1717 — Part of our group just before we went dancing

Today it was over 80 degrees Fahrenheit so we went to St. Kilda’s beach. It was a very relaxed, low key day – which is exactly what we needed. The only disappointment was that the water was freezing cold. I didn’t go in further than my ankles.

It was a lot different than beaches in the US, just based on the way that people were acting. There were no umbrellas, coolers, or beach toys. Most people were just laying on a single towel asleep. We were an exception to this of course.

Right now my apartment is making pasta and relaxing for a little while. Being in the sun all day definitely wore us out!

xo,

Jaclyn

Meeting Our Sponsor

Today we went to the company that we will be working with for the next 7 weeks and it was awesome. It was about a 35 minute commute by tram, train, and then walking. It wasn’t too bad though since it is beautiful outside. It will probably also be quicker when we actually know where we are going.

We got some nice little perks upon our arrival – including our own locker and the use of a full gym onsite! We also have access to the showers there. My group plans on taking full advantage of the facility since there are no other cheap gyms in the area. It may be a little strange though just because it is used mainly by firefighters…

We also got fitted for our firefighting gear just incase there is an incident while we are here.

After work my group had a light lunch at a little outdoor cafe. All the boys had beer, but I had a vanilla caramel latte instead. It was delicious. Everyone keeps telling us that Melbourne is known for the coffee, and now I believe it. There was also a live street performer singing right by our table who was very talented. I almost bought his CD I enjoyed it so much.

After lunch we wondered around the city a bit more and picked up some groceries. Along the way we came across the cutest area. It was a little alleyway filled with small restaurants, bakeries, cafes, etc. There was a band playing and the whole atmosphere was awesome. I took a picture but unfortunately the internet at our apartment complex isn’t great and I can’t upload it from my phone. 🙁 I am going to try to put it on here soon though.

xo,

Jaclyn

Around Melbourne

Yesterday, we ended up walking all around the area that we will be living for the next 7 weeks. It is so clean, modern, and beautiful! It feels strange that we are going to be here for so long and it isn’t just a weekend long trip.

Here are a few photos of the area that we are staying in…

One thing that makes it so different from home is the greenery everywhere! There are huge parks all over the area. They would be perfect for running or biking in.

After we walked around for a bit, we decided to stop for lunch at a waterfront restaurant. They were having a deal of a personal pizza and a pint of beer for only $11 in American currency. I had a pizza loaded with spinach, beets, and goat cheese. It was delicious.

I did not like the beer – but even that combo was cheaper than a pizza alone. We all really enjoyed our lunch!

Here are a few more highlights of the area…

This church was absolutely stunning, especially surrounded by so many gardens.

They also have a lock of love bridge. I wish Cfab were here so that we could add to it! Maybe someday 🙂

After walking around in the sun all day, we were exhausted. We came home and passed out for a good 3.5 hours – almost missing dinner with our advisor! We luckily woke up just in time and made it to the gentleman’s apartment that we were visiting. He was a professor at my college for 30 years and then moved down here. He had a lot of insight on the area – especially in terms of safety.

Now we are moving to the apartment complex that we will be staying in for the next 7 weeks!

xo,

Jaclyn