Melbourne Places

Last week I had lunch at the buffet in the Melba Room at the Langham Hotel, Southbank, for the second time.  It proved to be as good as my first visit about nine months ago.

The grand staircase leading to the Melba Room.
On this cold, bleak, winter Friday the dining room was almost full.  [...]

The camellia collection at the Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne is planted in an imaginative way.  The area is a sort of square with a twisting path that wanders between the plantings giving a touch of magic – almost as if you were in a private room of camellias.

Turn right after this beautiful tree and  you [...]

This is an exhibition of frocks from 1855 to 1960.  It is interesting to see how design and fashion has changed over those 100 years.  Especially when you think it reflects enormous social and lifestyle changes for women.

Day dress 1865-1870 sold in Geelong
The exhibition focused on where the dress was made and sold – that [...]

The Sticky Institute was a great Melbourne Place to find.  I came across it one day when I was hurrying through the underpass from Degraves Street to Flinders Street Station.  I ducked into the subway under Flinders Street to speed up the journey and came face to face with the sign. I pulled up short, [...]

Rupert Bunny is an Australian Artist who having been born here in Melbourne left for the cosmopolitan world of London and Paris.  You can imagine how different life in Europe was at the beginning of the 20th century to life in Melbourne or any Australian city.  His paintings depict it.
Rupert had grown up in an [...]

It’s a weekday and you have time on your hands and you’re hungry?  One way to spend part of the day is eating in the Melba Room at The Langham Hotel, 1 Southgate Avenue, Southgate.

The Langham Hotel overlooking the Yarra River catching the last rays of the day’s sun.
This hotel used to be called the [...]

Every month or so I drop into the Kirra Galleries in the Atrium of Federation Square to catch their latest exhibition.
This gallery is full of wonderful and magical glass. It specializes in Australian Glass and we’re not talking wine bottles and chunky water glasses, we’re talking delicate and whimsical designs made from hot glass by [...]

A regular Saturday Book Market is held in the Atrium of Federation Square from 11am to 5pm. There are over 5,000 books displayed at a variety of stalls that command the entire floor area of the atrium.

It is a great place for a market – warm on a cold winter’s day and cool in the [...]

The Ian Potter Center in Federation Square is a great way to spend a damp and misty winter’s day.

The Atrium Ian Potter Centre.
This wonderful space houses part of  NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) .  This Gallery shows only Australian Art – which, as far as I know, makes it unique in Australia.  Take one of [...]

Block-Arcade-from-Collins Street