travel travel: Christmas Card from Melbourne Australia

G�day from Down Under where it�s sunny and hot!

I�ve really been struggling with the warm temperatures here in Melbournebecause it simply does not feel like Christmas. How can stores being playing Christmas carols about Rudolph and white Christmases when the country uses kangaroos for Santa�s sleigh and there�s not a snowflake in sight?

It�s strange! You can read more about the differences in my recent guest blog post called

Australia vs. the U.S. Christmas Around the Globe series for a fellow expat blogger in Germany.

Despite the fact that it�s summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the city has excelled at trying to make everything look festive as you�ll see in my photos below. Just imagine walking around in a sundress and flip flops vs. sweaters and winter coat.

Plus, the awful holiday consumerism that takes over the U.S. is very minimal here in Australia. I don�t feel that crazy frenzy to buy, buy, buy; and it�s lovely! I had to explain what Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is to an Australian friend because it doesn�t exist here and they don�t understand the concept. Trust me, I don�t either.

I swear Aussies are the friendliest bunch you�ll ever meet; and they�re happy to chat when I tell them this is our first warm Christmas. I�ve had several sales clerks tell me that they can�t imagine a white Christmas.

This Christmas tree in Federation Square took more than 1,200 hours to build, is built from 500,000 LEGO blocks and weighs a massive 3.5 tons! This tree is taller than a two-story house and is the largest LEGO Christmas tree in the Southern Hemisphere.

While our families and friends are dealing with winter temperatures and snow in the U.S. and Europe, we�ll be spending the holidays with Aussie friends by the beach. Maybe this will become a new tradition?

Happy Holidays!

Joy

Melbourne Town Hall by day.

Bottom two photos: Every night through Christmas, you�ll find colorful, animated illuminations projected onto the exterior of the 148-year-old Melbourne Town Hall. Visit daily from 9-11 p.m.

The Myers department store celebrated the 60th anniversary of its animated Christmas Windows display, similar to the windows at Macy�s and Bloomingdales in NYC. This year�s theme is based on the children�s book, Little Dog and the Christmas Wish, which is set on Christmas Eve in 1956 and includes many of Melbourne�s most iconic sites such as Flinders Street (train) Station, the Block Arcade and the Hopetoun Tea. This is a cute display!

Do you have a sweet tooth? In Melbourne�s CBD, you�ll find an Aussie Gingerbread Village by Epicure. Entry is a gold coin donation to Make-A-Wish Australia. The village is made from 500 kilograms of gingerbread, 360 kilograms of royal icing, 150 kilograms of marzipan and around 800 miniature Christmas trees. Instead of winter snow scenes, the village features Melbourne icons such as the Luna Park amusement park and beach scenes.