Melbourne is an amazing city. Arriving, I’d really had no idea what to expect — Indeed, I thought Melbourne was a city of maybe 1 million, but no, there’s something like 3.5 million people here. The topography of the city is nothing special, and the remnants of an industrial city can be seen on the outskirts. However, there has been massive re-investment in Melbourne in the last few years, with spectacular results
First and foremost here is the architecture: There are beautiful examples of almost every major style/school of architecture since the Victorian age. The house I’m staying at is itself a beautiful old Victorian townhouse. These townhouses, which all feature nice iron latticework are in a mixture of states, but judging from the neighbourhoods, are affordable to for people to purchase and live in.
Within the city proper, they’ve done massive redevelopment along the river Yarra, with beautiful walkways, new buildings & bridges & parks making it really interesting to walk along. The design work gone into this city is amazing. The scale, amount and importance given to contemporary design, both in architecture, signage and postering is wonderful to see. The presence of public, contemporary art in all sorts of strange corners suggests a city willing to invest heavily in its culture (which, judging by the amount of clubs, concerts, etc that are present, is indeed true).
The highlight so far has been the Melbourne Museum, it’s design on such as vast scale, incorporating & reflecting elements of the old, victorian-era building opposite it is breathtaking. I didn’t actually have time to wander through the museum itself, but the grounds themselves were well worth the visit.
I’m off now to meet my dad, then some party at the house we’re staying at (although Jamiroquai is apparently playing a concert here at the Rod Laver Stadium, so I may try and go see that), then tomorrow, we’re driving to Sydney along the coast road (a 2-day trip). Last night, we were taken out to dinner by a couple of my Dad’s colleagues, and the guy who picked us up drove a convertible. So now we may rent a convertible to do the drive, which would be way cool. I’ve never really been in one before last night, I don’t think.