Welcome to Richmond, Victoria.  This inner city suburb, about 3 kilometers from Melbourne’s city center is my new home and by no coincidence.

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Just a swift jaunt off populated Swan Street sits my humble abode – a 3-story townhouse with city views that are hard to beat. No longer is tanning in the park necessary, my rooftop balcony will do the trick in the heated months so far gone. In the meantime, I’m shacked up under electric blankets keeping warm in this frigid winter.

Luckily I have new housemates Adam and Chris to get to know and their love for AFL (football) hasn’t gone unnoticed. I think I can finally say I now understand the major difference between Rugby Union, Rugby League and Aussie rules. I’m sure it’s also no coincidence to them that we live down the street from the MCG (AFL stadium).

While living just off Swan Street I’m discovering boutique eateries like the Swan Street Social and Cheeky Money amongst Greek and Asian takeaway joints, shoe stores, nail salons, pubs and more. Even the Melbourne music institution, Corner Hotel, may be my new live gig haven. A 7-minute walk later and I’m at the doorsteps of my office. I’m still unsure if working and living in the same neighborhood will be a good thing or a mistake I’ll regret at a later date.

Lucky for me 10 minutes further and I have one of the most famous shopping streets in all of Melbourne, Chapel Street, at my disposal. This could potentially be dangerous for my wallet though. And in the other direction I have Bridge Road for excellent brunch spots, more shopping, and closeness to Victoria Street known for great dumpling and Vietnamese spots.

Being just a hop-skip-jump to the city center, I have trains within immediacy and better yet, a few different tramlines to choose from. Apparently, Melbourne is the largest urban tramway in the world! Read about it here.  Old trams, new trams, fast trams, slow trams – they’re everywhere in this city and a fun way to get around. Now, I just need to remember to look the right way before getting off so I don’t accidently get taken out by a car!

Nevertheless it’s early days and there are still friends being missed, new ones to be made, eateries and boutique beers to be discovered (Mountain Goat Brewery is just down the street), and plenty more in store. In the meantime, I’m off for the next 3 weeks to Sydney -> Perth -> Brisbane -> Hilton Head (USA) -> Brisbane and finally back to Melbourne to truly begin it all.