Our first stop on today’s walking tour of Melbourne is the Queen Victoria Market. The market is quite similar to markets in SE Asia. The big difference is the first world orderly layout, presentation and sanitary standards. There are so many stalls, as in SE Asia, how does a vendor make enough money to even pay the rent on the stall, much less make a living. I rarely see anyone buying anything at all. Half the market is an upscale flea market and the other half is fruit and veggies. The fruit looks so delicious! Another building has deli counters, baking, cheeses, fresh fish and butcher meats. We are glad we went early as by the time we are leaving, it is getting busy.
Flinders Lane is a popular spot for viewing graffiti. We run into a number of large Asian tour groups taking photos of the artwork. It is very cool to see all the side lane walls filled with graffiti artwork, both well done and not. There doesn’t seem to a code of conduct involved in the inclusion of artwork. Some artists just spray over existing pieces. Although there is a limited amount of space and this action does provide a constantly changing tapestry, is it bad form and not respectful toward the previous artist?
Most of the buildings decorated thus are older brick structures. The streets are a mix of modern and old architecture. This patchwork is everywhere in the city. In our home town of Edmonton the modus operandi is to rip it down and build something new. Here bits of the city’s history are maintained, the character and fabric developed as the city grew remains for the citizens and tourists alike.
Next stop, the ACMI, Australian Center for the Moving Image. We tour the rather large exhibit ‘The Story of the Moving Image.’ It is quite detailed and actually has TV sets from the 1950s, 60s and on ward. We chuckle as we had these antiques at home when we were kids! The exhibit also shows flip books, claymation, old movie techniques, right up to modern times with CGI. A ton of the displays are interactive and the kids as well as the adults are taking part. A super show and worthwhile visit if you are in Melbourne.
For a respite we attend a piano concert in The Scots’ Church. Every two weeks the church has a free concert and this week’s was Berta Brozgul playing works by Mozart, Chopin and Scriabin. Murray found the music a bit unobtainable as it was rather disjointed. What it did do was show off the performer’s virtuosity. She is quite talented so the music accomplished that goal. That said it was enjoyable to get out of the hubbub and sit quietly listening to classical music.
Folks in Melbourne love their coffee. A number of coffee places have line ups outside their doors. All day long! We think we should join the line so we too can order a sought after coffee, but alas!, we do not drink coffee.
Murray writes…..We started out early this morning and the temp was cool, 13C. There were only very few people on the street. As 10 or 10.30 rolled around and the stores opened up a few more souls ventured out and there was a bit of sidewalk action. At 11.30 we sat down and had lunch. Out on the street again just after 12 and the crowds had thickened once more. After the hour and a half at the mini concert we step outside at 2.30. The sun had poked through the clouds, it was warm and the streets were crawling with people. Late risers, fair weather people I don’t know. Maybe it is just the regular rhythm of Melbourne.
Today we ticked off a good number of our ‘things to do in Melbourne’ bucket list. We have another full day tomorrow, and with good weather, we should polish off the rest of the list.
