After two bus rides, a shuttle ride, a plane ride, another bus ride, and a taxi I finally made it to the Base hostel in Melbourne at 2 in the morning. I walked off the plane to find the weather cold (not by Cleveland standards but from what I am used to in Fremantle) and rainy. I came by myself which my mom was not too happy to hear, but the people back in Fremantle didn't want to travel so far and I had a free weekend so I thought why not!?!?!? I am staying in a room with five other girls so it was kind of weird when I first arrived because when I went into the room they were all already asleep so I didn't see what any of them looked like until the morning. On Saturday morning I had the chance to meet them, four are from Germany and one is from England. They are all traveling by themselves backpacking throughout Australia. None of them have any set plans they just stay in a certain place for as long as they want and then go to a different city when they feel like it, they all also seem to be a couple years older than me. There is a bar/night club attached to my hostel so all night I can feel the pounding from the blaring music.

On Saturday I decided to take the tram into Melbourne (my hostel is In St. Kilda a couple of tram stops away from the city). I borrowed a transportation card from the front desk and went the to 7-eleven to add money to it. Once I arrived in the city I walked a couple of blocks to Federation Square where fire throwers and magicians were performing. I went into the visitors center to map out what I would do for the rest of the day. First I went to hosier lane which is a famous allyway filled with graffiti. After that I decided to go to Eureka tower which is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. I went up to the Skydeck on the 88 floor that had something like the Sears Tower in Chicgao where you could look out and see miles and miles of the city. I met an older couple from Maine who were big Ohio State fans (which I am NOT) so I was much too happy to tell them that Dayton just beat Ohio State in the tournament. I had lunch by the building then decided to take a walk by the river to the sports museum. I then eventually made my way back to the hostel. It was a great day of just exploring the city, Melbourne is more of an artsy town compared to Sydney.

In honor of Slovenian Man and Woman of the Year being last night I saw it only fitting that I try to find the Slovenian home here in Melbourne. Thanks to Mrs. Dolgan I had the address of the Slovenian home, when I first arrived I asked the front desk where it was, they all told me it was too far to get to by public transportation and that I shouldn't even try to go. On Sunday I decided to ignore their advice and search for it. Let me tell you it was not easy getting there and public transportation was not on my side today, but I am so glad I did. For those of you who know where SNPJ farm is, getting there was like telling me to get to SNPJ from my house only having the address with no map and only able to use public transportation, I also have a brick phone so no wifi. I had called the Slovenian home to see if anyone was there, a woman answered and told me they were open for lunch today and that I should come (but she had no idea how to get there by public transportation). So off I went, I started at Southern Cross Station where I asked the train officer what line I should take, he told me that since some of the lines are under construction I should take the train at platform ten to Hawthorne street. We'll about 45 minutes later I got off at Hawthorne to find nothing around me. So I called the help line number that I found at the station, thank goodness someone answered and when I told him where I was trying to go and what the train officer had told me he called the train officer a "bloody idiot" and gave me the right directions. I jumped back on the train and went 3 stops back towards the city, jumped off to catch a bus, waited 30 minutes for the bus, and drove 45 minutes to the Elthom station where I was supposed to get off. I had no idea where to go from there, remember I only have the Slovenian homes address. So I walked to the closest gas station to ask the man working but he had no idea; He kindly looked it up on his phone, I took a picture with my camera and was on my way. It was about a hour and forty min walk, since it was Sunday the buses don't come as often. So I decided the walk wouldn't be too bad and if I saw the bus on the way I would hop on, I started on my way again (it's like the movies whenever the character starts on huge journey every time he starts walking again the music starts playing . . . That's what I felt like). I kept asking people who were walking their dogs for directions and every time I said the name of the street they looked shoked and told me I had a long walk ahead of me. Finally I arrived at Ingrams street where they had an arrow with the Slovenian home on it. I had to get to 82 ingrams street and the street started at house 1, it was all up hill from there (literally and figuratively). I finally made it to the top of the hill sweating and panting perfusely. I seriously felt so accomplished when I saw the entrance to the Slovenian home. I walked up yet another hill to get to the main building where I found a couple people cleaning up, at that point I wasn't sure if anyone would still be there I was just happy I finally made it and could take pictures of the building.

Inside were some people cleaning up. There was a couple from Slovenia who I started talking with, the wife was the women I had spoken on the phone with earlier, she was extremely impressed that I had walked from the bus station and up the hill. We drank a lasko beer together (all that was running through my head was the song no pivo on Sunday haha). They invited me to sit down and talk with them. I told them about my grandfather and that he was born in Boc, Slovenia and about the Slovenian homes in Cleveland. The wife had been to Cleveland and they remembered when Mrs. Dolgan and Frankie Yankovich came to their club to perform. I brought up that I had relatives who lived in Melbourne they asked what the last name was and I said "Slavec" they knew immediately who I was talking about. Drago (Charles) was the husbands name who was named after my grandfather, he died in 2007 when we were in Slovenia and we had gone with our cousins from Canada, Cecilia and Louie, to the memorial mass for him. The wife called another club member who was good friends with Drago and his wife. I talked with the wife on the phone and it was like talking to the aunt from My Big Fat Greek Wedding she insisted she would call Drago's daughter and that I should come to her house immediately. The husband and wife from the club finished closing up and gave me a tour, they then drove me to the other couples house. I was warmly greeted by the second couple with hugs and Slovenian food of course, the wife told me to call Teta (aunt in Slovenian). The husband cried when he saw me because of how much he missed his dear friend Drago, he claims I look like him but I think he just got caught up in the excitement. They knew exactly how I was related to Drago and called his daughter, who had no idea who I was but we are now meeting up on Tuesday before I fly back to perth. They continued to feed me (like any true Slovenian would do), showed me photo albums of my relatives, and told me stories of Slovenia, it was like listening to my grandfather. The claimed there were a lot of people from Boc in the Melbourne area! The time went by so quickly visiting with them and when the time became eight o'clock they insisted on driving me back to my hostel but it was getting dark and I didn't want to make them drive that far so the the husband drove me to the train station

Like I said before some of the train lines are under construction so after the train reached a certain point I had to get off and transfer to a bus. It was on the walk between the train and the bus where I met a man who calls himself "Chinese Elvis." he called himself this because when he was in the British army he was singing in a pub somewhere and claims he met Elvis which started the lifelong friendship between the two. He told me that one time when Elvis was thinking about committing suicide Elvis called him and he talked Elvis out of it. Now this "Chinese Elvis" sings karaoke in a bar every Wednesday night and invited me to come next Wednesday and sing a duet with him haha. We then had to transfer back to a train where we finally split ways. Once I was off at the train station I had to catch a tram back to St. Kilda where I am staying, but the trams were not at that station because down the street one of the trams had hit a pole and caught fire. So I walked 10 blocks to the next station where I had to wait 28 min until the next tram arrived. Finally I made it back!

Tomorrow I am going on The Great Ocean Road Tour which I am looking forward to (hopefully I wake up in time!)

Sorry this blog was so long it has just been such an exciting past couple of days!! . . . I will post pictures once I get back to Perth and can upload them on my computer!