Got to spend 2 nights and 2 good full days in Melbourne, was a great city, barely scratched the surface and look forward to going again one day. Lots of Random pics of what caught my eye.
Starbucks is hanging in, I think they have gone from over 200 stores to under 70. Everyone I went to (mainly for reliable wifi) was busy and had lineups
What a gorgeous city. It reminds me of a cross of Boston and Seattle.
The Immigration Musem is comical though. My friend moved to NY from Sydney. He's of Italian descent, and his grandparents moved to Australia from Italy. He told me that Aussies, despite their false reputation for openness and liberalism, are very racist with respect to Italians.
It was in the 12c range I guess, the one day got up to probably 19c or so. Nights were chilly. But it was weird cause some were bundled up in parkas with gloves and scarves and others were in shorts and t-shirts. I just wore jeans and a hoodie most of the time and was plenty warm.
this was where upscale South Yarra transitions into more eclectic Prahran, some suburbs south-east of the CBD, the new metro will come out here somewhere, Chapel street goes on for miles
Inside the market
other end outside of market
Borscht, Vodka and Tears - this stretch of chapel is full of every kind of place to eat or lounge
when you look down the side streets you could see lots of infill
Chadstone is a suburb and home to the largest mall in Australia and I think it is the second largest in the southern hemisphere if not the largest, its a Westfield and is very upscale and was open late till 9, but some of the stores were closed before 7. It was about a 20 minute bus ride from st kilda.
very popular with tourists from Asia, some stores required lineups
a gucci lineup
coming soon:
Dior and Chanel have stand alone beauty stores
coming soon:
They also have Rolex, Cartier, Valentino, Armani Kids, Omega, pretty much every high-end luxury brand that exists has a store here.
I agree. Despite the racism noted above, it's a gorgeous city with an amazing San Diego-like climate.
It's crazy that in a city where it's at least in the low 50s during their winter that such a fancy mall is indoors. Americans in the Carolinas and Georgia are always outside when it's 55 in January and February.
Phryne Fisher, often called "Miss Fisher", is the main character in Australian author Kerry Greenwood's series of Phryne Fisher detective novels. Phryne is a wealthy aristocrat and private detective who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne, in the late 1920s. With the assistance of her maid Dot, and Bert and Cec (who are wharfies, taxi drivers and red raggers), she solves all manner of crimes as a quintessentially Australian construction. Phryne is no ordinary aristocrat, as she can fly a plane, drives her own car (a Hispano-Suiza) and sometimes wears trousers. However, while displaying bohemian panache, she manages also to maintain style and class.
I'll admit that, tragically, I'm easily influenced by what I read and watch, and having watched a TV series on Netflix that's based on this book series I now have an aching desire to go to Melbourne.
__________________ "To sustain the life of a large, modern city in this cloying, clinging heat is an amazing achievement. It is no wonder that the white men and women in Greenville walk with a slow, dragging pride, as if they had taken up a challenge and intended to defy it without end." -- Rebecca West for The New Yorker, 1947
It's interesting how Australian cities have always seemed to prefer building flashy Dubai-esque towers with strange colors and patterns. Very different from the US, or most of the western world really.
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Spawn of questionable parentage!
I love it. I could live there looks like a very cool city. I'm hoping to be in Australia next summer to visit a friend of mine although in Sydney. Can't wait!