Melbourne Fairy Tale!!!

Good day mate,

What a great day we had today!!!! Everyday gets better than the last!! We toured Melbourne on our own today and had a great lunch at a place called TimeOut. As we sat outside we watched the USA play Canada in the Olympics in hockey on a big screen TV that was outside. That was cool but what was cooler is USA won..you knew that!! Melbourne is the home to some of the biggest sports events including:the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival (including the race that stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup), the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the Australian Tennis Open and the AFL grand Final. Melbourne hosted the first Olympic Games in the Southern Hemisphere in 1956. Melbourne has twice shared top position in a survey by the Economics of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, once in 2002 and again in 2004.

During lunch we also observed a group of college students with quirky sayings on their shirts...I decided to get closer to read the shirts and was asked to jump rope with them. Come to find out, it was actually an initiation and they would get points for each person they could get to jumprope...trying to be a kind American I agreed to help out. Next thing I knew the girls were taking off their bras, made a jumprope out of them tied together and I was jumping the "bra" rope. The first try I fell right on my butt...only because I still has my back pack on. I was not to be defeated in front of those college kids so I took my backpack off (no, I kept my bra on) and was able to jump a few more times and added some points to the contest!!! Unfortunately, Ken was back at the table paying the bill and missed all the fun!!!

After that joy, Ken went shopping and visited St.Paul's Cathedral and I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens,of course!!! Since it was a Monday, it wasn't very busy so it was peaceful and quite a nice walk. As I was wandering back to meet the bus I came across the Shrine of Remembrance. I had no idea what it was all about and little did I know how it would affect me...how emotional!!! It is a Melbourne landmark and the shrine is modeled after the Athens' Parthenon It is dedicated to the brave men and women who served and died in WW1. It was awe inspiring. The Gallery of medals displayed 4000 service medals, each one representing 100 Victorians (from the Australian state of Victoria) who have served in the war. There are glass cases with books opened to pages of their names inscribed in calligraphy. As I walked through the Crypt, I came across a regimental memorial, the "Father and Son" sculpture representing the two generations of Victorians who served in the World Wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45. The sanctuary which impressed me the most is the heart of the Shrine where thousands pay respect to service men and women each year. Unfortunately I was not there for the half hour Remembrance Ceremony, which incorporates a simulation of a gravestone for those Victorian service men and women buried overseas in unmarked graves. Made of marble, it is sunk below the floor where no hands may touch it and visitors must bow their heads to read the Biblical inscription: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN. It took 144 pages of mathematics to figure out how the sun would shine at a certain hour...it was truly amazing and I came away feeling for all of our soldiers and what do we do for them in the USA???

Back to the ship for what turned out to be the most extravagant affair I have ever attended. We were invite by Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard Line together with the Master and Senior Officers of Queen Victoria to the World Voyage Dinner at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. It was a black tie affair and what a event!!! We, along with 500 world cruise passengers were shuttled downtown Melbourne where we were by greeted by Mr. Shanks, Captain Wright (he remember having his picture taken with Burton the bear!!!) and the Australian Boys Choir. We felt like royalty as we walked along the red carpet and waved and shook hands with everyone!!! The room was covered with white tablecloths, white roses and beautiful table settings...more utensils than I ever have used, but I did remember from Emily Post...start from the outside and work in!!!! We had a fabulous dinner with the main course beef wellington..actually described as "Sliced Australian Fillet of Beef, Quenelle of Potato Puree, with Fresh French Green Beans, Trussed Tomato, Topped with Zucchini Ribbons, Parmesan Cheese and Shiraz Jus" I just thought I'd throw that in because I surely didn't understand half of it...but it was delicious especially with the red wine they served. We ended the dinner with a trio of desserts...I'll spare you with the description...it will only make you drool. That was followed with a champagne toast to the Captain who was going on "holiday". As the night ended we danced our way out of the gallery and back to our "cabin sweet cabin" and turned back into pumpkins! What a fairy tale!!!

I'll leave you at that for now...next stop Adelaide!!!

janet and ken
qv@cunard.co.uk#4152