Sign in with Facebook"Marvellous Melbourne" Melbourne by Maryimelda
Melbourne Travel Guide: 3,341 reviews and 7,498 photos
I have been in Melbourne for one reason or another three times this year and yet still I haven't added this fabulous city to my travel pages. I should be ashamed of myself.
I usually visit Melbourne on business and only stay overnight or sometimes two nights, but this weekend, my visit was purely for pleasure. Three of us drove from Brisbane (we must be mad) to go to the Andre Rieu concert at the Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
We arrived in Lygon Street after twenty one hours on the road, cold and hungry. Immediately the search began for just the right restaurant, where we could get a great meal and where the patrons and staff weren't likely to look at us in our crumpled and pitiful travelling attire. In the end we were so taken by the view through the window of Il Cantuccio that we were going in whether we looked respectable or not. See my tip for this fabulous eatery.
After dinner we continued on to our friends at Seaford where we fought each other for the shower and then fell into bed. My head didn't have time to hit the pillow before I was fast asleep. We all felt much better in the morning and after a very late breakfast we donned our finery and headed off to the city to wander around before concert time.
We were lucky to wander past Myer and jumped on the queue to see their famous annual Christmas windows. Whilst I felt the display to be a bit frivolous and "busy" for my liking, I still had to give full credit for the design and the technology to make it work. The theme was "What Santa Really Does" and it featured the entire process of producing all the Christmas gifts right from when the elves go to "college" to when the sleigh is packed.
There were literally hundreds upon hundres of little figures, all of which moved in some way. Very clever, but sadly not my cup of tea.
We had dinner in Hardware Lane at Max Bar and it was great for the price. See my tip for this one too.
On to the Telstra Dome and what a night it was! The concert was by far the most lavish I have ever seen with a life size replica of Schonbrunn Palace as the backdrop. There were skaters and debutantes and the Vienna Opera Ballet and a carriage drawn by six white Lippizan stallions, fountains, balloons (of course) and hundreds of pipers to finish it all off. It was the experience of a lifetime and truly spectacular, but even so, I would have happily paid the same amount of money just to see Andre Rieu and the orchestra without any of the frills. They were in excellent form and the music was really fantastic. It left us all singing all the way back to Brisbane.
Back to Melbourne on business this time. I managed to squeeze in a bit of leisure time however, so I did lots of wandering and camera clicking, although I must admit to being quite disappointed by some of my photographic efforts. The highlight for me was a visit to Old Melbourne Gaol and to the Watch House.
As usual I had some wonderful meals, mainly in Lygon Street which I always enjoy.
Back again in August 2010 on business. Can report that all my reviewed restaurants are still there and still as good as ever.
- Pros:So much to see and do (and eat!).
- Cons:Don't like driving in the city
- In a nutshell:It is always so vibrant and very much alive
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Comments (8)
nice page
Thanks Jim, glad you like it. It's a great city.
I love those guys on Swanston Street corner too!
Each and every one of them worth a visit. Thanks for dropping by.
Will have to revisit one day, and try out some of those excellent restaurant's you found.
Excellent page! Didn't know there was a Shot Tower there, have seen the one in Tassie but not here.... and the Old Gaol, that sounds like a lot of fun! Lucky you behaved!
Sadly never made it to Melborne when in Oz some years ago but it's on the list for a return visit! I love the cathedral's stained glass door, and the Gaol sounds well worth a visit. Tempting restaurant tips too!
Good restaurant tips.
you found some good restaurants in Melbourne - my wife and I swear we had our best pizza ever in melbourne --- I think it was St. Kilda? Too long ago, can't remember...(exceot how good pizza was)