Friday, July 21, 2017

MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY BY NSW TRAINLINK

Having flown many times between Melbourne and Sydney, we decided to take the train this time. There was no check-in process and hassle of long queue for dropping baggage and security check. Going through gate 1 at the Southern Cross Station, we were told to go direct to platform for boarding.   
 
Southern Cross Station.
 The NSW TrainLink XPT train.
Through TrainLink website, we managed to secure the advance purchase fare for First Class tickets at AUD85 per person.  
 The first class carriage.
 Reclining seats (40 degrees) with a comfortable leg room of 49.53cm.
 Baggage compartment at the rear of the First class carriage.
Leaving the station 25 minutes late at 08:55AM for our 938 km journey to Sydney.
Melbourne city in the distance.
 
 
The cafe carriage offered a range of snacks, hot and cold meals and drink. 
My breakfast with hot coffee.
 
 Lovely countryside scenery.
Short stopover at stations.
 
 
 
 
 
 Plenty of farmlands all the way.
 
 
 Sunset. 
 
 
Arriving Sydney Central Station at almost 08:00PM.

I found that traveling by train from Melbourne was a bit boring as the 11 + hours journey was too long. The scenery was not too bad with farm lands and livestock.

While having travelled by trains in other parts of the world, the railway infrastructure in Australia is  much lower comparing to Europe and some parts of Asia. However, it's a worthwhile experience.





Wednesday, July 12, 2017

BRUNETTI - ITALIAN STYLE CAFE IN MELBOURNE

There are several "Brunetti"s in Melbourne. A friend took us to the one located at Lygon street,Carlton. It's a must visit cafe & restaurant in Melbourne for Italian style coffee from the bar and cakes from the pasticceria. They have a good selection of delicious European style sweets and desserts.
Amazingly this cafe has so much to offer - a huge variety of cakes, sweets, ice cream, pizza, biscuits and etc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I settled down for a combination of a cheese cake and cappuccino. It's superb!