A weekend in Melbourne July 14, 2016 A jam-packed 2 days in the culture capital of Australia. View fullsize On my way to Melbourne: in order to sit in the exit row, you need to wear a feather in your ear! View fullsize Sunny Saturday morning over Melbourne - the first in weeks! View fullsize View from our hotel room, of Flinders Street Station and the CBD beyond. View fullsize Someone hasn't yet adjusted to the time difference. View fullsize Potato Rosties. So cute! View fullsize Colourful Australian fruit. View fullsize The Kiwi monster. View fullsize He heard someone ringing. View fullsize Our first stop is Federation Square, which has a bonfire going for the cold winter days. View fullsize The National Gallery of Victoria. View fullsize I found me some snow in July! View fullsize St. Paul's Cathedral. View fullsize The famous Flinders Street railway station, opened in 1854. View fullsize Next colorful stop: Hoiser Lane, famous for its graffiti! View fullsize I dare say there wasn't a square inch not touched by the street art! View fullsize The mess outside didn't seem to bother this chef. View fullsize The filmographer in action. View fullsize St. Michael's Uniting Church. View fullsize Vintage Melbourne. View fullsize The interior of Collins Place; it was designed by I.M. Pei. View fullsize At the top of the 50-floor tower is the Sofitel - the bathrooms of which one can access for a great (free) view! View fullsize Looking south-east toward the cricket ground. View fullsize Above the clouds! View fullsize Expressive sculpture outside Collins Place. View fullsize The famous City Circle Tram, operating with classic W Class rolling stock. View fullsize On the steps of the Parliament of Victoria. View fullsize Ornate since 1855. View fullsize The Hotel Windsor, a luxury hotel dating back to 1883. View fullsize The Princess Theatre, built in 1854 and now showing Matilda! View fullsize Entering Chinatown - which runs along Little Bourke Street. View fullsize A cute mural. View fullsize Her Majesty's Theatre, built in 1886. Coming soon: Kinky Boots! View fullsize Kids dueling each other with their phones in a cafe window. View fullsize Chinatown - still sleepy from a late night before. View fullsize Slightly more elaborate gates. View fullsize A cute bike, and a cute head. View fullsize Preparing for a busy day! View fullsize More Chinatown. View fullsize The Bourke Street Mall - open only to foot traffic and trams. View fullsize A swanky new tram, in front of an impressive H&M outlet. View fullsize This H&M sits inside the Victorian-era former Melbourne General Post Office. View fullsize Street musicians turning heads. View fullsize People-spotting. View fullsize One of Melbourne's many alleys. View fullsize The hopping Saturday morning cafe scene! View fullsize Someone dropped a giant coin purse! View fullsize Heading into the Royal Arcade, originally constructed in 1869. View fullsize A heritage shopping arcade at its finest. View fullsize An entire store of Russian Nesting Dolls. View fullsize Mythical figures Gog and Magog, who help ring in the hour every hour. View fullsize I fear the coming of the hour! View fullsize More hopping cafes in alleys. View fullsize Where to see and be seen in Melbourne! View fullsize Block Arcade. View fullsize A cute sculpture of kids having fun inside the arcade. View fullsize Block Arcade opened in 1892. View fullsize Mmm! Let's stop here for lunch. View fullsize No shortage of people here! View fullsize The graffiti artists have also been here! View fullsize Guess how they take orders at this cafe. View fullsize All food $5 ... with lots of exceptions! View fullsize No privacy with these suitcases! View fullsize Cute cafes at every corner! View fullsize Back to Flinders Street Station - we've completed our giant loop. View fullsize Flinders Street Station is apparently the busiest railway station in Australia... which I find a bit hard to believe. View fullsize Another City Circle Line tram. View fullsize Another tourist attraction: horse-drawn carriage rides. View fullsize Dog and master, in matching outfits. View fullsize Next stop on this Sunny Saturday: Luna Park Melbourne! View fullsize These seagulls don't seem to think it's anything special. View fullsize The park was packed - it was the last weekend of the Victoria schools' winter holidays. View fullsize The famous Scenic Railway, which has operated continuously since 1912. View fullsize One of only 3 coasters left that have a brake man. View fullsize Two thumbs up! The boy behind me also agrees. View fullsize Great timing - it's also Christmas in July! View fullsize Kids and parents were queuing to play inside the snow globe. View fullsize I even got a chance to meet Santa mid-year. View fullsize And kids got a chance to ride reindeer. (That's a bit weird, right?) View fullsize One final shot of the Scenic Railway. View fullsize The Palais Theatre, which first opened in 1927, is somehow the largest seated theatre in Australia. View fullsize No trip to St. Kilda is complete without a stop at the beach. View fullsize The St. Kilda beach is one of the most famous beaches in Melbourne. View fullsize It's never too cool to play in the sand. View fullsize Looking north. View fullsize The St. Kilda pier is home to a colony of Little Penguins! (We didn't see them.) View fullsize This dog had crazy energy. He was running laps up and down the beach, trying to catch flying seagulls. View fullsize Getting ready for a day at sea. View fullsize Relaxing on the boardwalk with a good read and a good coat. View fullsize Do you think they're siblings? View fullsize A seagull showing utmost respect to the statue below. View fullsize Back in Central Melbourne for a stroll along the Yarra River. View fullsize Guardians overlooking the water. View fullsize One of many wire sculptures lining the Sandridge Railway Bridge. View fullsize The Southbank Pedestrian Bridge. View fullsize 95 photos later, it's finally time for lunch! View fullsize Last stop of the day: the State Library of Victoria. View fullsize People outside were gathering to meet up, play chess, and catch Pokemon! View fullsize One such chess game. View fullsize The famous Domed Reading Room, which opened in 1913. View fullsize The reading room is 34.75 m in both diameter and height! View fullsize The dome was the largest of its type in the world when completed. View fullsize Anyone is welcome to come work in the grand reading room. View fullsize Outside the reading room are galleries that feel like a museum! View fullsize One piece of modern art made entirely of old paper tickets from the city's transit systems. View fullsize A cafe that operates out of a cylinder on the street! View fullsize This seagull has shown the ultimate disrespect! View fullsize Back in Federation Square, the bonfire has more customers at this later hour. View fullsize And the skating rink is open for business. Have to say, based on this sample set, Melbourners don't know how to skate! View fullsize Posing with his like-coloured friends. View fullsize A book fair inside the ACMI. View fullsize We got a new fangled room! The massive Regent Suite. View fullsize Puts our condo in Bangkok to shame. View fullsize We'll just have to hang out in the hotel all day tomorrow. View fullsize View from the new room - overlooking Melbourne City Town Hall. View fullsize The Regent Theatre, with our hotel to the right. View fullsize Cute owls guard a bookstore on Collins Street. View fullsize Another spotting of the City Circle Tram! View fullsize The Treasury Gardens. View fullsize The Department of Education and Training. View fullsize A Conservatory inside the Fitzroy Gardens. View fullsize A nice warm greenhouse. View fullsize We did a walking tour through a cute area in East Melbourne, filled with old Victorian houses. View fullsize Like this one. View fullsize And these. View fullsize This church has been thoroughly renovated, and is now condos. View fullsize Would be a neat place to live. View fullsize Any idea what these plants are? They're perfectly round, for starters. View fullsize Queen Bess Row - built in 1886, but now 3 private houses. View fullsize Someone's excited by his car! View fullsize Spot the little green man at the base of the tree? View fullsize Which way do we go? View fullsize One of many statues surrounding the Melbourne Cricket Ground. View fullsize Melbourne Cricket Ground... also known as "The G." View fullsize Another statue to a rugby great. View fullsize There was a game on between two city teams. View fullsize Crossing over the tracks, to the Olympic Park. View fullsize Melbourne hosted the Olympics in 1956! View fullsize This statue, called Sportsmanship, is dedicated to John Landy, who stopped mid-race to help up a fellow runner who'd fallen, and then went on to win the race. View fullsize Crossing back over Yarra River, heading toward town. View fullsize No city is complete without a skate park. View fullsize There was a happening Sunday market outside the Arts Centre Melbourne. View fullsize Freshly grilled wieners on the grill of a car! View fullsize And no shortage of fresh pastries. View fullsize The Arts Centre Melbourne - where Ira Glass will be performing next weekend! View fullsize Turkish women making Gozleme - my new favourite. View fullsize Continuing our way back north. View fullsize This pup's enjoying his Sunday afternoon drive. View fullsize Colourful buildings -- part of a campus? View fullsize At Queen Victoria Market - there was a massive line for these fresh hot doughnuts. View fullsize Organic produce from around Victoria. View fullsize You can tell that these are organic lemons! View fullsize No shortage of meats and other deli items. View fullsize Freshly baked breads. View fullsize And of course, Star Wars Shortbreads. I knew we were missing out on something at Christmas! View fullsize Honeycomb by the kilo. That's my style. View fullsize Enjoying a freshly made flat white. View fullsize Regular produce elsewhere in the market. View fullsize Spending the rest of the rainy afternoon at the National Gallery of Victoria. View fullsize This was a watercolour exhibit. View fullsize Lots of neat aboriginal art. View fullsize A man and his ram, just trying to cross the street. View fullsize The ram is as puzzled as the other pedestrians. View fullsize It was a rainy day for wedding photos! View fullsize Taking a loop on the City Circle Tram, to take respite from the rain ... while there was still some daylight. View fullsize Enjoying the 1920s tram. View fullsize Finally splurging on a $6 gourmet doughnut. It's doughnut time! View fullsize A good choice? View fullsize Bye bye! Off to Sydney! (Somehow, you're still allowed to go to the gate, even if you're not flying!!) View fullsize Good morning, Sydney. View fullsize Blue skies over the City of Celebrations.
