Welcome to Melbourne
When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors, took our broken hearts put them in a drawer. Everybody here was someone else before, searching for a sound we hadn’t heard before. And it said…
Welcome to New York — Taylor Swift
I find it hard to imagine a more wonderful city in the world than Melbourne. Perhaps Tokyo gives it a good run for its money and that’s saying a lot about both cities.
This city was never even on my list of places to see and was a last-minute addition based on countless number of people in Sydney who told me (making sure no one heard them) that (a) Sydney sucks and (b) I needed to see Melbourne. With everyone telling me I needed to see this city, I had to find out for myself.
When I arrived the city was in full blown Christmas mode with Little Bourke street fully decorated.
Beautiful red bells hung off wires down the length of the entire avenue.
Interesting thing about their library is that the main Victoria Library does not allow people to check out books anymore but instead anyone can come in and read the books.
Just down the road and on my way to a local bar is a David Jones shopping center. One of two main malls in the city. Melbourne is a huge shopping destination for Australians, but given my situation I didn’t participate in any of that.
The Bar 1806 was a fantastic place to start my Melbourne trip. The speakeasy decor made it feel sophisticated without being overly pretentious.
The bartender quickly honed in on my tastes and was able to just make me fantastic drinks without me asking for anything in particular.
Oh and just outside the bar in the shopping center is this Nutella micro-store where you could personalize your own Nutella Jar. I did not do it sadly because there is no way I should be eating a 750g jar of Nutella.
The sun was setting on Melbourne so I decided to make my way over to St. Kilda beach to experience another unique aspect of the city.
Beautiful sunset on the way to see the…
Penguins!
Holy shit they have real life penguins here people!
And they are adorable! They come ashore just after sunset. Very shy and skiddish and they find their nests among the rocks along the beach. Hundreds of people show up to watch and marvel.
The next day I made my way back into the city and snapped some photos of the CBD (Central Business District). It’s essentially what we call a ‘downtown’ except Aussies try to be hip and cool about it. It didn’t work on me.
The beautiful Yarra River runs right through the heart of the city.
Looking out west.
Main train station at Flinders Street and the downtown.
Odd Federation Square structure found right next to the train station.
Oh, and the gorgeous Flinders Street Station just across from Federation Square.
The Federation Square was hosting a Lego Christmas during my stay.
An entire Christmas Tree made entirely of Lego.
I couldn’t pass up a photo-op.
The Art of Melbourne
There is so much artwork all over Melbourne. What’s really quite beautiful is that street art is fully legal and encouraged here. It ups the game everywhere for graffiti. It no longer looks like blight but instead local and aspiring artists compete to have the best artwork and adding value to the city.
Existance is punishment.
More nice artwork.
This is probably my favorite piece below.
Great alleyways.
The artwork and creativity extend beyond graffiti. At nightfall some buildings are lit up with lasers to change their entire look and feel and keep it in theme of Christmas.
The National Gallery of Victoria was hosting an exhibition of Warhol and Weiwei’s best work.
Again couldn’t pass up a photo-op with the Almighty $
The famous cans of soup.
Coca-Cola…
Artwork extends beyond the museum and onto other buildings such as fire departments and government buildings.
Even buildings themselves become art. This type of quirky architecture is common in the city that it’s impossible to find a boring building that looks ‘normal’.
Even churches get in on some action:
Coffee. You’ve never tasted coffee like this in your life. The city is renowned for its coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but I drink coffee in Melbourne and the perfect combination I came up with was coffee with macroons and ice cream, I called it The Holy Trinity.
Bubblegum macroon is probably my favorite flavor.
All-carb dieters rejoice here.
The South Melbourne Market and Victoria Market are the two main markets in the city. You can find all sorts of pre-made or freshly made food here. One of the things I loved was having fresh oysters each day for breakfast. At $1.20 per oyster it was a no-brainer.
The atomic burger.
Some of your gag reflexes may go off on this one but it’s pickled baby octopus. As the baby octopus found it it’s quite literally to die for.
The Culture
Ok I couldn’t really pass up an opportunity to see my tween idol Taylor Swift live in concert once again. It was her last performance on the 1989 World Tour and since we’re both doing a world tour I just had to see her again.
Welcome to Melbourne! It’s been waiting for you!
After the concert it was time for some further cultural exchange with the local wildlife at the Healesville Sanctuary.
Feeding some corn to my bird.
Those deep blue eyes, I get lost in them every time.
They also had a Tasmanian Devil!
Finally a great eagle soaring above us all.
The End
After almost three weeks of Melbourne it was time to say goodbye and be on my way to the next adventure in New Zealand. My time in Melbourne was some of the happiest I’ve ever been. The people are fantastic, everyone is approachable and easy to talk to. The food is fresh and drinks are long and strong. This city easily ranks as one of the best places on my trip thus far.
All photos shot on Canon EOS 70D DSLR… just kidding it’s all iPhone 6S.
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