A beautiful spring weekend. An open schedule. Is there anything better than going for a drive and discovering new places? If you’re in Australia, then going for a drive is practically a national pastime and you shouldn’t miss out on all the wonderful things Melbourne has to offer outside its immediate suburbs.

One of the beauties of Melbourne and its suburbs is the fact you can find some of the best places by just having a bit of a wander. My husband and I had the luck to find a fun gem while wandering around not far outside Melbourne.

When you walk into the cozy Hopscotch café, the first thing you are likely to notice is the huge specials board… written completely backwards. Well, not completely, as the only words written straight instruct patrons to turn around and look at the mirrors lining the opposite wall so they can read the board.

On my quest to learn more about Australia, I decided to take some time and narrow down the fact finding to my beloved Melbourne. True to form for any Australian capital city, Melbourne didn’t disappoint in the realm of interesting, strange and funny facts.

Here are just a few to get you started:

*Pronounced “Mel-burn” not “Mel-Born”.
*Melbourne is the capital of Victoria.
*Melbourne has the second largest Greek population, after Athens.
*The Dim Sim, beloved snack of Australians, was invented in 1945 in Melbourne.

It’s Spring! The morning is all beautiful blue sky, bright sunshine, slight breeze and it’s 15ºC by 8AM. For the first days of September the weather god has put a sparkle in the air, zest on the breeze and got the birds out filling the surrounds with song… Well, it is song if you can describe the cacophony of magpie warbles, cockatoo squawks, kookaburra laughs as song.

People on the road as I head for work are cheerful and polite – I double check to make sure I’m in Melbourne – so I guess the lovely day is getting to them as well.

Chocaholics need to know where to go when they need a fix, and there are a couple of must-visit spots for chocolate lovers in Melbourne:

Chocolateria San Churro is actually a franchise with cafes in several states of Australia, but a great spot is the one in the QV Building on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets in downtown Melbourne. Great hot chocolate and excellent churros, and you can get a share plate with a big variety of biscuits and cakes.