Nearly ten years ago, Judi and me visited Australia for the first time. I vividly remember how everything felt so different from home - the look of the cities, the vibe of the people, the vastly different birds, flora and fauna. It was my first time outside of Europe, and the first of our many trips to other countries. Now, after Russia, Mongolia, China, a lot of South East Asia and a little drive through the outback, arriving in Adelaide and, after a night bus drive, in Melbourne, felt like coming home.

Melbourne is the second biggest city in Australia, after Sydney, and with more than five million people bigger than a lot of big cities in Europe. We arrived early in the morning, locked away our luggage, and went exploring.

What we found, felt so much like home like we haven't had in a long while. Fancy little cafés with delicious banana bread for breakfast, like we sometimes had in our favourite café in Lüneburg, a huge market with western prices, a fancy bookstore dedicated only to cookbooks, the hipster district Fitzroy, with galleries and vintage (some would say, second hand) shops, big museums with modern art, and a bustling Riverside with after-work bars and a brilliant view of the skyline. And that was just the first day!

Our accommodation was, despite an earlier negative blogpost about it, a couchsurfing host. Simon and his girlfriend Heidi live well in the outskirts of Melbourne in Croydon, close to an hour from the city centre. But for four nights, they were the most relaxed hosts we could imagine, with a pizza movie junk food night to begin with, and lots of tips for our ongoing journey. Having a room for ourselves felt like living in a shared flat again.

The following days we explored more and more of the city, and came to like it more and more: the vegetarian nonprofit volunteer run restaurant, situated in a convent right on the river. The exhibitions in the National Gallery of Victoria. The view from the hills close to Croydon. The interior of the Victoria library. The stroll through Botanic Gardens. I even attended a tech meet-up, to meet and chat with local techies about the local scene. You never know.

And then there are the Melbournians themselves. A multicultural bunch, doing what they do, all kinds of cultures, clothing styles, levels of loudness and politeness, all in one big city. And western convenience on every corner, be it as a 7-11 store, the Woolworths supermarket with cheap ice-cream, are largely working public transport system, or just the fact to be able to pay with a tap of the credit card.

We thoroughly enjoyed all of that, and the thought of "we could totally live here" crossed our minds more than once. But now, Sydney first, probably with even more homecoming feeling. Merry Christmas everyone.