Melbourne, Finally

We may have saved the best for last in visiting the capital of Victoria, but with only one day instead of three due to volcano-related delays, we may never know. Rising to the challenge, we were determined to make the best of our brief stay.

Flinders Street train station

We arrived early from Tasmania on the overnight ferry, and our hotel was ideally situated across from the historic Flinders Street Station, and very near Federation Square, described by Lonely Planet as “a riotous explosion of steel, glass, and abstract geometry”.

 

It also is home to the main Visitors Center, and we were very lucky to get a free orientation tour from a volunteer city Ambassador. Our guide was a lively, well-informed, enthusiastic, and fit pensioner, Clive.

Clive

We were led on a brisk 3-hour introduction to the city, beginning with the crucial Mighty Yarra River.

 

We covered early colonial history through the gold rush boom days and riches of the 1850’2 and 60’s. By the end of the century, Melbourne was sophisticated and the center of commerce on the continent. Lovely buildings went up, like this Venetian Gothic Rialto, originally offices and a warehouse next to the Wool Exchange.

 

In the 20^th Century, Chicago-style skyscrapers went up, like this one inspired by the Chicago Tribune Building.

Manchester Unity Building

Art Deco was also embraced, as in this building that housed the editorial offices of ”The Age” newspaper. I especially liked the mosaic mural.

 

South of the river is the Arts Precinct (below).

 

Most recently, the city has embraced street art, designating several colorful alleyways for this purpose. Clive posed in front of one above.The artist Banksy even had a few pieces. Last year one was accidentally painted over by city workers.

 

Melbourne has a good job preserving at least the facades of these beauties from an earlier time. We learned other important historical facts. Did you know Melbourne stonemasons in the 1856 were among the first to get the 8-hour work day, or that the brief Eureka Rebellion by gold miners against the crown in 1854 was suppressed but eventually led to significant improvement in conditions?

Like most major Australian cities, there is free transportation around the CBD. Melbourne has both a tram and a bus, following different routes, so after the whirlwind walking tour we rode around the city twice. Later I took more of a walk, getting a closer view of neo-gothic St.Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral.

 

There is a Chinatown and a small Greek quarter one street over. This city has the third largest Greek-speaking population in the world, and is a sister city to Thessaloniki where I still have relatives.

 

Several gardens are scattered around the CBD. Nearby Fitzroy Gardens has a miniature Tudor village.

It also has what is probably the oldest building in the country, the 1755 English cottage where Captain Cook’s parents lived and he may have also resided. It was brought from Yorkshire and reassembled here in 1934.

Cooks' Cottage

We had time for one last memorable meal. I chose Maha, a modern Mediterranean/Middle Eastern-influenced popular spot near the hotel. It was too pretentious by half, but the food was worth it, delicately and uniquely flavored and presented, beautiful to look at and to eat.

We saw and did a lot in a very short time, but it was time to pack up and get ready for the long flight home in the morning, the volcano gods willing.