although i may have raved about flinders street station in some of my posts, and of how i consider it to be my favorite, of course there are other train stations in melbourne that are just as interesting.

take for example parliament station, which is an underground railway station underneath the parliament house of victoria that was constructed using mining methods.

to be honest, i couldn’t really care less how or when it was built because the one thing that really tripped me out in there?

the escalators.

yep, the escalators. and nope, i don’t have this fear of escalators but man, that was the loooooongest escalator ride of my life! i kid you not. the looooooongest. and i really mean all those exaggerated ooooo’s with all my heart because the whole freaking time, in my head i was screaming “get me out of here!!!”

seriously, i thought it would never stop. i swear it was so twilight zone. one that leaves you with mixed feelings of excitement, nausea, vertigo, panic, claustrophobia… plus all the other uncomfortable feelings that you can throw in to this salad bowl of conflicting emotions. especially at that point where you look up and see that the stairs and the people in front of you are moving almost vertically.

don’t get me started on what it feels like when you look down. because as much as i didn’t exactly enjoy that moment, i was also dumb enough to look down just to subject my brain and my body to the different sensations that i would experience. see if there’s a difference between looking up and looking down. either way, two words: total self-torture.

you wanna know what forever feels like? take one of the parliament train station’s escalators. that’s what forever feels like. and i’m not even kidding.

after flinders street station, my next favorite would have to be melbourne central. not the station itself but the old historic building incorporated inside the mall complex to preserve it and save it from demolition.

the original building was actually a shot tower called coop’s shot tower because it was operated by the coops family who manufactured lead shots. i’m not really sure what “shots” mean but i’m guessing it may have to be those circular bullets used during the war — or shotgun weddings — back in the days. correct me if i’m wrong.

anyhow, according to wikipedia, coop’s shot tower was completed in 1888 and is 50 meters high. if you can’t picture how high 50 meters is, think 9-storey high buildings. if you still can’t, fret not. neither can i.

yey, instant bestfriends!