"Melbourne - Saint Kilda" Top 5 Page for this destination Saint Kilda by Intrepidduck

My first ever visit to St Kilda was a trip to Luna Park as a small child. I braved the Scenic Railway terrified but felt that little bit grown up. That was in the 1970s and it wasn't until the late 1980s when I first ventured there alone. Even then the process of urban gentrification was on. I remember wandering over there frequently when an art student at Prahran College. I would frequent the Galleon Cafe and on occassion see an interesting live gig or two - the highlight being Nike Cave and the Bad Seeds play the last ever concert at The Venve. It was a hot balmy night and the place was full from the stickey carpet to the creeking rafters, a real night to remember. Outside on Fitzroy Street there were such characters like Cigarette Sal who had only one line in life, infact only one word of entire conversational interaction with others - "Zigarette?" Later on I encountered also the poor old man who would ask for a megre 10 cents, he just hadn't upped his asking price since perhaps the introduction of decimal currency in 1966. One felt so sorry for him you would hand him a dollar! While the streets of St Kilda are still filled with the characters the world has abandoned the general vibe of the suburb has changed considerably. It was the first part of Melbourne to in a strange way to become a bit like Sydney - perhaps the Bay adding to this comparisson. Now St Kilda is much a playground on the weekend for the young and well heeled. Inspite of the trendification I'm still drawn to this enchanting bayside suburb of Melbourne.

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