Exploring Melbourne

First off, it's pronounced "Mel-bun" not "Mel-burn" but I have to admit it's a hard habit to break.

I took the one-hour flight from Sydney to Melbourne on Saturday, Nov. 28 (yes, hard to believe, but the day after the Cisco Christmas Media Lunch Party which I would not do again) and checked into the Mecure Hotel right in the heart of Melbourne's CBD.

Since my blog's called "Linda's Walkabout" I will share that I largely explored Melbourne on foot (vs. cabbing it everywhere) and feel I must have walked 10-12 miles over those few days I was in Melbourne.



The first evening, I walked around with a radio journalist who once lived in Melbourne so knew the in's and out's of where the locals went for a meal and a drink ... we had dinner at this tiny Italian restaurant which is recognized as one of the first in Melbourne and then we headed to Lygon Street and it's famous James Watson Wine Bar.

On Sunday, Nov. 29 I was so thrilled to catch up with Kristina Moustakas my former boss from Cunningham PR and her family who now reside in a suburb just outside Melbourne. They have a beautiful home and are just so happy because it's such a great place to live with everything so close by and charming little towns and shopping nearby. We had Korean BBQ and then checked out St. Kilda's Market which is well known for requiring each of the artisan vendors to be local and have handmade items that are sold by the artisans who made them.



And of course the reason I was in Melbourne in the first place was for business - and lucky me the Melbourne Health Congress I attended was held in the Victorian Government's Parliament House. And the Cisco Melbourne office is on what Melbourn-ites call "Paris Street" but I would call it Fifth Avenue because it's right in the middle of all these top brand stores (think Gucci, Louis Vuitton). Since healthcare's going to be a priority for us as we head into 2010, I also checked out the Center of Health Innovation which Cisco supports as it helps healthcare organisations to simulate and run scenarios of technology/business solutions before they buy (think Consumer Reports lab for future looking cool products with focus on healthcare IT).