Our guide for our time in Melbourne is Aaron, a young guy studying social work. Today we did a tour around the city, pointing out the major attractions. We started in the Royal Park. On the way Aaron mentioned that Melbourne has many parks and this was one of the largest. We first took notice of a sculpture that was a friendship gift from Turkey, acknowledging that even after the war, WWI, that Australia and Turkey are not enemies. This was on our way to the Shrine of Remembrance, a monument originally built in honor of those who fought in WWI, but has since also included those from subsequent wars.
I had previously noted how much attention is given to the soldiers from WWI while in the US it seems to me that there is not as much attention to those who fell in the “War to end all wars”. I began to realize here, that because Australia and New Zealand, being part of the British Empire at the time entered the war early, while the US did not enter until 1917. And while the numbers killed or missing in action are not so far apart, Australia lost 63,000 while the US lost 53,000, the impact on the population at the time was enormously different. Australia’s loss represents about 1.2% of the population while in the US the loss represented about 0.1%.
All that being said, the shrine and the surrounding gardens and monuments was very impactful.
Our next stop was St Ali, presumably the best coffee in the city. Aaron explained to us, and it was confirmed from other sources that Coffee, and brunch, is an important part of the culture in Australia, and in particular in Melbourne where people will spend hours in a café with friends. Of course, the coffee is ok, but it is not Illy.
We walked through the area and through a market with fresh foods, seafood, meats and pastries were on offer, as well as various crafts and goods.
We then went to Arthur Park for a view of the city across the lake.
We continued our exploration of the various neighborhoods in Melbourne noting the terraced architecture and the railings of many of the houses.
We stopped in Brighton to walk along the beach were there were beach “sheds” that could be purchased, if you have the money as apparently, they are quite expensive to own.
The city of Melbourne is a mix of classic Victorian architecture and modern skyscrapers. Throughout the city there are lanes and alleyways filled with local cafes and street art. This was prevalent throughout and we encountered it everywhere. Much is political, and conveys a message about aboriginal rights, gay rights or other social issues. Some is whimsical. In some cases, the art is commissioned and in others it is an expression of an individual.
Aaron let us off in the city and we visited the Ian Potter Center: NGV. It is the world’s first major gallery dedicated exclusively to Australian art. The collection includes many works by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. As we walked through the many works expressed themes of exclusion and redemption as well as history and culture by many artists.
It was getting late, so we made our way back to the hotel to change. For dinner we headed to Hardware Lane, where there are many restaurants to choose from. We stopped at Trim, and had a wonderful dinner, then hopped (can you guess what Cathy had for dinner?) back to our hotel.
