Day 73: The Circle-Walk of Melbourne
Melbourne isn’t a particularly big city, and because I still
had more than enough time to roam around the city, I saved all of my
inter-Melbourne sightseeing for this upcoming six days. Of course, since it
isn’t too big a city, I can still get up at a normal time, for me, like 9:30
AM, laze my way into the city, and still see all there is to see. This isn’t a
knock on Melbourne, but just a pat on my back for having the foresight to spend
a full week in the Melbourne area.
My cousin Lisa and I arrived into Melbourne Central station
around 10:45 on Tuesday, being lazy enough to escape a morning shower that was
beating down on the city for about three hours. We were warned about the clouds
and rained, but by the time we got there, the sky had cleared and the rain had
stopped. It was a beautiful day in Melbourne. Our first trip was to go to
Hardware Lane to get a pick-me-up coffee. Hardware Lane is one of the many,
many lanes throughout Melbourne, all little nooks between the larger streets,
packed to the gills with rows of outdoor restaurants.
Hardware Lane, close to Melbourne Central Station, was
mostly empty as we got there too early for the clientele that many of these
places cater to, but our destination was humming. The Hardware Society (a great
name for a bar/pub/club), is located on the quieter end of Hardware Lane, and
has an extremely trendy vibe inside. The place was filled with twenty-something
yuppies eating extravagantly presented forms of eggs and toast. We had simple
coffee, and the coffee was quite good. The Hardware Society was the type of
place that had one patron with a Fu Manchu mustache topping a bushy beard and
one of the waiters with two of the largest in-ear hoop earrings (no idea what
their real name is) I’ve ever seen. This isn’t a bad thing, but more evidence
of how good of a people watching spot this is.
The Melbourne CBD north of the Yarra is a medium sized grid
with easy to remember names for its streets (Collins, Bourke, Lonsdale and
‘Little Collins’, ‘Little Bourke’, ‘Little Lonsdale’ between them) and avenues
(‘King’, ‘William’, ‘Queen’, ‘Elizabeth’, and ending that cute theme,
‘Swanston). We walked around a good dozen of these cross-streets, just to get a
vibe of Melbourne. I was immediately struck by how broad the streets and
sidewalks are, giving Melbourne a great open feel, and how omnipresent the tram
is in Melbourne. The tram system in Melbourne is their subway, running to and
through most of the main streets in the City.
We finished our walk and headed for lunch at Mamak, a
Malaysian restaurant in the heart of the CBD on Lonsdale. Here we met Gavan,
who came there from Uni (the Australian short-form for University which is
always used). Mamak had all the normal food, but had a special lunch menu, with
different Karis. Lisa and I ordered lamb, while Gavan ordered it with chicken.
The connecting trait was that the meat was plentiful and well cooked, and the
rice came in a ridiculous quantity. We also had Roti Canai (despite, as I now
know, it being a breakfast food), which was made about as well as it always is.
We finished lunch rather quickly, which allowed us to go with Gavan back to
Uni, as he had class starting at 2 PM. We took the tram back to the University,
and I had the great pleasure of stepping foot on a University Campus for the
first time since I left my last final last December.
Melbourne University is located about 4-5 km north of the CBD, and unlike NYU and much like Columbia (or Georgetown), it has a nice campus feel despite its proximity to a bustling city center. We first went to the Commerce Building (the University of Melbourne’s undergraduate business school), which reminded me a lot of the Tisch Building on West 4th Street (I wouldn’t lie to admit that I’m a little nostalgic at this point), with the students mulling around the school. Then we went to the Law Building, which Lisa studied in, which was another modern building that wouldn’t be out of place in a US University. From there, we went on a stroll through the campus, passing by the main quad, the main campus grounds, the old administrative buildings, the arts building, all of these adorned with brick and ivy. Honestly, it reminded me most of Georgetown, a place that I had some experience with, as it traipsed up and down a little hill. Soon enough, Gavan had to leave us for class (at about this time, my nostalgia ended), and Lisa and I returned back to the Melbourne CBD to do more walking.
In fairness, we had plans to do some indoor stuff, and we
did for a while. Lisa and I got off near Fed Square, opposite the beautifully
ornate, old Flinders Street Station. Fed Square is a tidy little square walled
by strangely constructed buildings and open bars and a large video screen, with
great views of the entire CBD. We would have time to stop and take in the
sights later, but we had a destination: The National Gallery, which was located
inside Fed Square. Of course, when we got there, Lisa realized that there are
two National Gallery of Victoria’s, and the one near Fed Square was the
National Gallery of Victoria: Australia, as opposed to the National Gallery of
Victoria: International. Being that I was interested in seeing Australian Art,
and more interested in not having to leave this air conditioned indoor
paradise, we stayed at the NGV-A.
The NGV-A started out as advertised with a slew of
aboriginal art, which was most interesting. Then, it devolved into a series of
more traditional art that just happened to have been
painted/sculpted/put-together by people of Australian origin. It wasn’t a big
museum, and was quickly finished before the series of Australian Art grew
tiring. After, Lisa and I continued our walking tour of Central Melbourne by
heading across the Yarra River over to the South Side, where the Arts Center lay.
The Melbourne Arts Center is two parts, first the Hamer
Hall, a circular building that doesn’t look to impressive from the outside, and
then the Melbourne Arts Center, a large building with an Eiffel Tower like structure
on top. It is quite a strange, but impressive sight with the long spire
protruding through the Melbourne sky. Right behind the Melbourne Arts Center is
the NGV: I, but of course, my lack of research and preparation hurt us as we
soon found out it was closed on Tuesdays.
Slightly dismayed (but not really, as that might have been
too much art), we decided to check one of the bigger sights off of our lists by
hitting up the Eureka Tower, the tallest building in Melbourne. Located right
off of the South Bank of the Yarra River. The building is relatively new, and
its gleaming blue exterior announces itself grandly on top of the rest of
Melbourne. The view from the top gives a good insight into the layout of
Melbourne. First, I realized how centrally located everything in Melbourne is.
One end of the Central Melbourne is really the Etihad Stadium located in the
docklands to the West. The other is the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Tennis
Center (like everything in Australia, Melbourne’s city limits begins and ends
with sports). The other insight is just how big the rest of the Melbourne is,
as low rising residential areas stretch as far as the eye can see. Melbourne,
is a large and small city at the same time, and really all of my favorite
cities share those traits.
After we descended from up on high from the Eureka Tower
Skydeck, Lisa and I took a walk along the South Bank area of the Yarra River.
This collection of posh, glass-faced buildings lining the river all have open
bars on their ground floor, allowing for extremely good views of the Melbourne
skyline. Melbourne’s skyline is a mystery unto itself. To me, it is so
perfectly constructed that it looks almost fake. Look, Melbourne’s not New
York, or Hong Kong, with a cadre of 1,000 foot tall buildings competing for
airtime. Melbourne instead has the perfect collection of different buildings of
different heights displaying different colors and different shapes. It is hard
to make such a well meshed collection of buildings on SIM City. The view of the
skyline was just as good from our next destination in Fed Square.
From Fed Square, you get a view of every side of the city.
There are three main groups of buildings. The first two are on the North Side
of the Yarra River, on either side of the Flinders Street Station, with the
main financial buildings on the West Side and the Government buildings on the
East. The third section is on the opposite side of the Yarra River, housing the
Melbourne Arts Center (who’s Eifel Tower-esque spire makes it quite tall) the
Eureka Tower, the Crown Casino and some other new, glistening buildings. Our
destination in Fed Square was BeerDeluxe, a beer emporium quietly tucked into
the back corner of Fed Square. BeerDeluxe had about the most voluminous
collection of craft and imported beers I’ve ever seen. So much so that I even
debated snatching one of their ‘Beer Bible’ menus as a souvenir (I decided
against it; Lisa’s discerning glare at my suggestion helped). I had two beers,
one a draft wheat beer and the other a citrusy ale. Both were good, and both
reminded me once again about how lucky I am to get this opportunity to get a
daytime buzz in so many different cities.
After we finished drinking we headed back close to Flinders
Street Station to start eating. In fairness, we only had one thing to eat,
which was a Belgian Waffle from a Belgian Waffle stand in DeGraves’ Lane,
another idyllic but crowded little lane tucked behind Flinders Street Station.
Gavan had built up the waffles quite a bit, so I was expecting big things as a
lover of all things Belgian (Waffles, mostly). I had one of my favorite
combinations, with a Banana and Chocolate Belgian Waffle, going a little
overboard on the sweetness. Two things stuck out from my waffle experience.
First, I somehow managed to navigate the entire waffle without dropping any of
the chocolate on myself. Oh, and it was delicious. I assured myself right there
that I was definitely getting another waffle before my time in Melbourne was
done.
Finished both eating and drinking to our hearts content,
Lisa and I returned back to the Carnegie train station and back home after a
long day of walking. We actually didn’t “see” many things in the literal sense
(partly because the NGV-I was closed), but I’ve never been to big about
“seeing” my way through a city unless that city is in Europe. I like to get a
feel for the city, walk around its main areas, strain my neck looking skyward
at the wonders above me. Today in Melbourne, I was able to do that and more.
I’ll probably have a stronger opinion later when I’ve left, but for now
Melbourne is not Sydney, but it may not be any worse. Certainly, from a
tourists perspective there aren’t as many ‘can’t-miss’ sites in Melbourne, but
there is a slower, more personable charm running through that city. Also, that
skyline. It is perfect, truly the best possible skyline for a city that doesn’t
have a lineup of 1,200 foot tall mammoths to lean on.
