Local Travel Tip

G’Day Mates! Today we are going to travel to a new area of the world- Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne is the second-largest city in Australia. The city is built on a coastal plain at the top of the giant horseshoe shaped waterport called, Port Phillip Bay. Melbourne is perhaps Australia’s most cultured and politically conservative city, it offers hip restaurants, an array of cultural events, great shopping, and an exciting night life. In the surrounding areas just outside Melbourne you will find dramatic coastal vistas, ski slopes, outback wilderness, vineyards, rugged mountain peaks and enthralling wildlife- like the famed Australian kangaroo.

I would recommend going to Chinatown, little Greece, and Lygon street. Chinatown has various Chinese shops and restaurants and little Greece is a street with Greek influences as well. Lygon Street has evolved into a mixture of Thai, Afghan, Malay, Caribbean and Greek. These different locations all represent the multiculturalism that Australia has been a part of the last few years.

Melbourne, Australia

Planning on going on a big trip? You may want to consider getting travel insurance for those- unexpected situations.

Travel insurance provides protection against two main things-

1) trip-cancellation

2) 24-hour emergency assistance

It helps you get your money back, if for some reason, you have to cancel your vacation or go home early. It’s a smart purchase if you’ve planned a major vacation well in advance and spent lots of your hard earned money. The trick is knowing which policy will be best for you.

Some policies include international medical insurance, emergency medical evacuation (including helicopter transport), accidental death and dismemberment, and family travel benefits.

Make sure that you don’t overbuy- because travel insurance can only reimburse the cost of your trip!

Travel Insurance

I would highly recommend stopping to see the Hagia Sophia the next time you are in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Hagia Sophia church was started in 532, often referred to as the Church of Holy Wisdom. Surprisingly it took only five measly years to complete- which is a miracle for its size and detailed architecture. For more than a thousand years, Hagia Sophia was the largest and grandest church in the world. When Sultan Mehmet II converted it into a mosque, the loss devastated Orthodox Christians who had previously worshiped there. Hagia Sophia’s design impressed the Ottomans greatly, that resulted in a duplicated design in other mosques throughout the empire. In 1935, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, declared the church to be a modern museum. Since then, workers have started to restore mosaics and such to maintain the structure and beauty of the building.

This church has loads of history and amazing architecture- don’t miss out on seeing it for yourself!

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia