Day "Two"- Going Down?

DAY "TWO" (I apologize for failing the SECOND day of my blogging quest; however, I did not have access to the internet yesterday.)

quote of the day: "Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen." -Benjamin Disraeli

today's destination: Melbourne, VIC

This weekend I stayed with Lindsey and joined her for a happy hour gathering with her running friends. One of these new acquaintances mentioned the word "Australia" and my ears perked. She's moving there. I just moved back from there. We bonded. She will be getting her Master's degree in the lovely, fashionable, artsy city of Melbourne. I was lucky enough to visit this enchanting city twice in my year down under.

I treated myself to a long weekend in Melbourne for my birthday last year. It was my first trip outside of NSW and I was going by myself. I checked into the new Central YHA early Thursday morning and walked ALL over the city. There is nothing quite like the excitement of the first day in a foreign city. And Melbourne is so delightfully different than Sydney. It has a different aesthetic, charm, and intimate feeling.

After a day of befriending Melbs, I befriended Sarah- my roommate for the weekend; a funny girl with one of the most entertaining accents from Oxford, England. Not only will I always remember the sing-songy way she talked, but I will never forget all the talking we got to do in the first hour of meeting, for we had the fortune of being stuck in the elevator on our way out to meet her friends for dinner. We were going down two floors by the way. Just as Sarah realized she left the beer in the fridge and had to go back up to the kitchen, we were halted by an unsettling jolt, followed by silence.

Of course the emergency phone wasn't working and we were forced to yell for help. Luckily the guy at the reception desk could hear us and we all established that we were stuck between floors. They had to call for support and we were told to hang tight... for an hour. Talk about a great way to get to know a person very quickly. It's just too bad she forgot the beers. They would have really helped settle our nerves for when the mechanic came and had to hoist us up little by little, each abrupt pull scarier than the last.

After climbing out of the lift once we were a few feet above the first floor, we gathered ourselves and thought of a plan B for dinner. Actually, we insisted the hostel treat us and they did :) a jug of beer and a couple pizzas in the restaurant downstairs. Sarah and I continued our "first date" and once our nerves were calmed with the first sips of James Boags, we actually had a great night. After dinner, I found myself so exhausted from the day's activity and the evening's commotion, I decided to stay in. Back up to the second floor. For the remainder of the weekend and the weekend I spent there three months later I only took the stairs.

*Don't forget to sign up for Tripping! Maybe the next time you're stuck in a lift in a foreign country, you'll at least be in good company...