We'd decided to visit the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the morning and got the free City Circle Tram to Flinders Street for breakfast before walking along to the stadium which is just on the east of the city. Despite being in Melbourne on a number of occasions over the next few weeks none coincide with a match so a tour was the next best thing for Simon. The stadium is very impressive and has a capacity of 100,000 people, hosting cricket in the summer and Aussie Rules Football in the winter. The tour takes you round the stands, members, media and coaches areas, changing rooms and out onto the ground. The first test match was played on the site in 1877 between Australia and England, which Australia won by 42 runs. Apparently this was a great shock to us English as it was only 20 years before that Australia fielded 18 players against England's 11 in an attempt to make the match more equal! The stadium was also used for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games and as army barracks for US and Australian troops during WWII. Simon was really in his element taking in the fantastic stadium which really was quite impressive. He really enjoyed the view of the whole ground from the press box. After the tour we visited the National Sports Museum which is housed in the basement. It's got a number of exhibitions celebrating historic sporting moments including a hologram of Shane Warne, who after Sir Don Bradman is viewed as the best ever Australian cricket player. From here we wandered back into the city and went for lunch in one of the laneways. Central Melbourne is a warren of 19th century arcades and cobbled laneways featuring street art (more graffiti), restaurants, bars and shops. By now we were both starting to flag even though the temperature had dropped quite a bit and the sun was behind cloud. We headed back to the hotel to chill out. We had planned to go to the Queen Victoria summer night market in the evening but unfortunately it's only open on Wednesdays. Instead we went to eat at Mamasita's, a Mexican restaurant. There wasn't one fajita or enchilada on the menu but we still had a lovely meal!
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| Outside the MCG with Dennis Lillie's statue |
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| Inside the stadium |
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| In the press area |
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| Melbourne street art |
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| The laneways |
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