Melbourne Places

Is graf art or urban art taking on a new look? Where are the strong and vibrant colours we usually see in a piece?

This piece decorates the wall along the side of Westbury Street as it intersects with Carlisle Street in Balaclava. I love it.  I don’t miss the vibrant wake-me up colours.

It is perfect [...]

We lunched at this stylish restaurant in Carlisle Street recently and enjoyed the experience – its one we hope to repeat, soon.

Ilona Staller is in a building which was once a bank then it became a Red Rooster outlet and now it has reinvented itself as a comfortable stylish restaurant.
The striking art deco building dominates [...]

Raglan Street runs along-side the railway line near the Balaclava station.
On Sunday morning the street-scape featured a shrink wrapped car.

It was very well wrapped.

It would have taken a number of packs of cling wrap to secure the vehicle is such a way. There should be a prize for the person who can guess [...]

Graff Art in Alma Park lifted my spirits on a cold dull winter morning. The wall that separates the Army Reserve buildings from the park are a magnet for Graff Art as well as what I think of as ugly badly formed tags.

This Piece is one of the best.
I love the colours, the execution and [...]

The corner of Hotham and Inkerman Streets seems an unlikely place to find a flourishing Op Shop.  None-the-less this corner is home to a Sacred Heart Mission Opportunity Shop.

It has been here for a couple of years and although there isn’t much foot traffic it is a busy corner for road traffic.  There is free [...]

Gattica  Restaurant on Carlisle Street,  Balaclava is a favourite place of a friend of mine  who lives in Fitzroy North.  He is delighted when he has business around St Kilda East so he can head to Gattica.  His is always talking about the coffee and the Hash Stack he has there.
With such a recommendation I [...]

Melbourne is changing!   “Well of course,” I hear you say.
I know this happens all the time but it came as a shock to me when I found a place I knew well was to change.
Yesterday I drove past a corner I used to live near.  As I waited at the red traffic light I [...]

When a cafe has been operating for a few years it may seem a waste of time reviewing it – others have done so before – but I believe Melbourne Places needs to visit and talk about the old favourites.  Not everyone knows these places.  Not every well known cafe lives up to its original [...]

W-class trams date back to the 1930’s.

W-class Tram at the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Street
A W-class tram was the first tram I rode in Melbourne.  It was before I lived here and in the days when there was a conductor on board.
I clambered up the high wooden step and sat on a hard seat [...]

Batch!  Why do  people chose the names they do for their businesses- I’m always curious about that?

Batch in Carlisle Street, East St Kilda !
When Batch was first mentioned to me and I heard that the owner was a New Zealander and that he uses a sort of Kiwiana  decor I immediately thought of New Zealand’s [...]