Melbourne Australia

I have been trying to decide how to talk about Melbourne. I was not expecting much from this city, but I have been delightfully surprised by how beautiful and interesting it is. I could go on and on talking about it! It is the capitol of the state of Victoria, which is in the south east part of Australia. The city is a combination of modern high rises and businesses and lovely, old buildings which were built in the early days of the city.  Melbourne (pronounced Melburn) was one of the places England sent their convicts, so there are a lot of old jails! They experienced a 10 year gold rush in the mid 1800’s which made it one of the most affluent and populous settlements in Australia at the time (hence the beautiful, old buildings).

Captain William Lonsdale laid out the city in a grid pattern with wide streets (to accommodate turning horse drawn carts) and narrower streets in between. There are even narrower streets interspersed, called lane ways, to allow deliveries to businesses. There is a free tram system in the middle of the city which makes getting around a real treat.

Fountain in Carlton Gardens

On our last day in Melbourne we visited two wonderful museums. Many of the museums are free (especially for seniors) and there were lots of people out enjoying them, in spite of the light rain that lasted all morning. The Melbourne Museum is in a park next to the Royal Exhibition Hall.It is a modern looking building with lots of exhibits, somewhat akin to our natural history museums. We came to see the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Center. It was so interesting – but way too much to absorb; all about the original inhabitants of Australia.

Next,we took the free tram to Federation Square. This is an area along the banks of the Yarra River

Yarra River at Federation Square

with many art galleries, museums, shops, boat rentals, etc. There was a big screen where people were watching the tennis from the Australian Open. The NGV International museum we visited was in a complex called the National Gallery of Victoria. There were three floors of a very eclectic mix of art – from modern and contemporary to old masters to design to sculptures & ceramics. We saw lots of interesting pieces. One of our favorites was a large pool of water filled with 6 different sizes of white ceramic bowls. There was a current in the water, so the bowls moved about randomly and made beautiful music when they clinked together. The artist was also a musician and we loved the music that was created! And this was only two of so many things to see. I wish we could have stayed longer.