Parliament Gardens
Second biggest city in Australia, Melbourne is a pleasant place to visit and – it seems – to live in, with good infrastructures and public transport system, lively cultural and night scenes, parks and gardens, and so on. Charming and sophisticated, Melbourne provides everything urban life can offer.
Street musician playing the guitar
State Library, the only place in town with free internet!! ;)
View over Yarra River, Flinders Street Station and Federation square
Melbourne is said to be the most European city of Australia, maybe thanks to the many 19th and early 20th Century buildings which display a very British athmosphere.
Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens,
built to host an International Exhibition in 1880
Collins Street
Flinders Street Station
In reality the most striking feature of this city is its cosmopolitan population. The Chinese community is very visible but also, for example, the Greek community. And surprisingly, after Athens, Melbourne is the second city with the largest number of Greek inhabitants!
Chinatown was established during the gold rush in the 1850s
At Queen Victoria Market
Queen Victoria market, an historic landmark in North Melbourne, spread over some seven hectares. It highlights Australian products and folklore. 200.000 shoppers visit it every week!
At the south of the city, St Kilda area is famous for its foreshore promenade, marina and beach, and provides a wide range of options for trendy restaurants and cosy bars.
St Kilda
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In each Australian city we visited, and Melbourne is no exception, every national gallery or city museum has a section dedicated to Aboriginal art and craft. Around the 1980s, Aboriginal pieces has been moved from anthropological sections to art departments. Actually the position of Aboriginal people in Australian contemporary society and the way they have been treated since the first settlers are still a very sensitive matter.
About Aboriginal paintings, many things remain enigmatic and interpretation is arduous. Many secrets are kept unrevealed because sacred and only initiated people have the privilege to break the mystery.
The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria
The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria
The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne Museum
The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria
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