Melbourne

Comments (Archived):

1. Most people from Melbourne would hate you for making that reference. I’m from Queensland so don’t care either way.Glad to see you’re enjoying Australia.

2. Hey you can see my old apartment towering over the Langham Hotel on the left edge of shot 😉 Now living in London, there’s lots I miss about Melbourne. If you’re in town for a few more days here’s some rituals to check out:Chocolates from the Koko Black chocolate salon in the block arcade – up there with the best from Belgium. Make an afternoon of it and get the platter with a warm cup.A baguette from Laurent on Lt Collins – mmmm…. deliciousWatching the world go by sitting in any of the numerous little cafes down a alley way, central place is a good oneAmazing coffees from Pelligrini on Bourke St. Traditional Italian caffeterria, and I believe possibly the first in Oz to import a capuccino/espresso machine back in the early 1900’s. Walk in, stand at the bar, order your espresso, shoot it down and leave. Just like being in RomaA good traditional greek souvalaki. Stalictites on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell are usually excellent, but if you want to combine it with your love of live music check out a band on Brunswick St and then stumble down to the Souvalaki King for a traditional Australian hang-over preventerLive music at the Espy in St. KildaExcellent vegetarian in a casual setting with an amazing view at Soul Mama’s at the St. Kilda Sea Baths.Hit the outer bayside suburbs if the weather is nice to enjoy the beach at sunset. Top it off by going to a traditional fish & chip shop and getting a hamburger with the lot, a piece of flake, and minimum chips 😉 Mordialloc is accessible and cute, the fish shop is down the end of the main street near the surf shop. Plus the bottle shop next door has a BYO food policy, so you can crack open a bottle of wine in the store and drink it while enjoying your meal.Plus too many excellent Japanese restaurants to know where to start.Can you tell I get a little home sick at times? Can you tell it’s mainly the diversity and quality of food that makes me homesick? I hope you have an awesome time down there

   1. Wow. Such a great list. The best thing about semi real time blogging a vacation is getting comments/suggestions like this!ThanksFred

   2. I live in Mentone (2 mins from Mordialloc) and couldn’t agree more. The sunsets have been beautiful this last week, and the cool change is amazing when it sweeps off the bay after a hot 40c degree day.For me, it’s great to hear from everyone about how cool Melbourne is, being a local. Thanks for the props! 🙂 Glenn is right, make sure you get a burger with the lot + fish and chips.

3. Very interesting Fred. I actually just returned to San Francisco after a couple week trip to Sydney and Melbourne, and have made the opposite comparisons to my friends that you have made. While I liked Sydney quite a bit, it seemed to lack the sense of community I have grown to love about San Francisco – and the people seemed a bit more surface oriented than those I encountered in Melbourne. Many of the streets I visited in Melbourne on the other hand could have been traded nearly on a one for one basis with those I love in SF (St Kilda was akin to Upper Haight, Brunswick reminded me of Valencia…)The difference in vibe even was transparent even in the concerts I attended while over there. For example, the crowd at the Black Lips show at the Oxford Art Factory reminded me of the typically jaded attendees of a show on Sunset strip when compared to their recent show here. Both live shows I saw in Melbourne (Daft Punk and a local indi band) felt much more SF….but like any city, it’s tough to shape any accurate opinion after only a few days. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your trip though! Definitely try to make the time to drive down the great ocean highway towards Lorne. The scenery of the drive rivals even that of my beloved Highway 1.

   1. Melbourne is certainly more of a community than sydney. I was talking more about the visual feel than the people feelI am envious of the shows you saw. Things have been quiet because of the christmas holidayFred

4. I would agree with Jim M, in my mind Sydney is more LA, and arguably Auckland NZ is a smaller Sydney.As an occasional visitor in Melbourne I would suggest a trip to Queen Victoria Market food section.http://www.qvm.com.au/home.php

   1. I would absolutely second the suggestion to the Queen Victoria Market. especially if you can make it to one of the Wednesday evening summer sessions.

5. you’d know you were in LA if the sky was the same poop color as that water. and there’s less amigos in Melbourne.

6. I saw the photo you took at Melbourne Cricket Ground. did u go there to watch the test match? Interesting, cuz I never thought that cricket can be interesting to folks outside the few cricket-playing countries.. 🙂

   1. Yes. We were at the test match. It was interesting – for about 30-40 minutesAfter that it got kind of boring because we really didn’t know what was going onFred