Visit South Bank. This area...
by Sile
Visit South Bank. This area is alive with restaurants and has a trendy craft market on Sundays. Really beautiful setting next to the river Yarra. If you aren't satisfied by the presence of a river, head further south to the suburb of St. Kilda. Walk along the waterfront or it is also perfect for roller blading. Head down to the cafe district and be temped by all the delicious cakes in the bakeries. I have so many fond memories of this beautiful city that I cannot possibly mention just one. The whole environment is a great place to live and even if it doesn't compete with Sydney for your average tourist I personaly find it a much nicer place to live since the choice of food here is just incredible.
The statue
by iandsmith
This group stands about 2.5 or 3m high and it's made of cast bronze. It was erected in 1989, commissioned from the artist Paul Juraszek, by the City of Malvern with the help of the Visual Arts & Crafts board of the Australia Council. It represents a pair of mythological figures, standing and facing each other with arms outstretched: a huge, musclebound, aggressively male Minotaur, and a female Diana or huntress figure wearing a kind of feather cloak with a lioness at her feet. The plaque tells us the sculpture is "a symbol of universal human endeavour."
As you can see from the benches next to the figures and the grass around them, the sculpture is intended to be the focal point of a key public open space (it's opposite Malvern Town Hall.) However, it is rare to see people sitting next to these large, strange, detailed, spiky objects, and nobody walks between them, except small children (drawn in by the big cat or by the big male organ, which are both placed at kid-eye-level). The nervous tension given off by these two figures is perhaps just a bit too weird for Malvern; at least, it's tension that each figure is directing exclusively toward the other, and walking between them feels a bit like inadvertently stepping between a married couple having some sort of silent but furious argument on the tram or in the supermarket. However, when the sculptures were installed they did succeed in bringing the Malvern and Armadale community together, temporarily, with residents and local traders joining in a furious chorus of disapproval. In the History of Malvern 1988-1994, (shortly to be published by the City of Stonnington, Alleyn Best writes:
"Two horrible monsters!" denounced an elderly Malvern resident to the press. "Styles out of kilter with the stately dignified face of Malvern," another resident exclaimed. "Satanic sculptures", wrote an East Malvern resident later. "A courageous decision by Malvern Council," countered the art world. The Mayor considered these works of art would make Malvern a tourist attraction, at the same time adding "the female statue was more imposing and that emphasis should be directed away from the male."
Controversy surrounded the statues from the moment they were being installed. There was even press speculation that the male statue’s genitalia would be modified prior to the opening, but in fact no alterations were made. A shopkeeper next door stated that "People reel into my store in shock, partly from focussing on the statues and partly from slipping on the new pavement...using words like totally inappropriate, pagan, evil, rambo, phallic, and a site for a black mass. As a Christian, I feel my whole heritage in the fair City of Malvern is being thrown to the lions daily when passing the statues." Armadale Baptist Church members protested in the Square in July, calling on Malvern Council to remove the statues. "Surely we can celebrate human endeavour in an appropriate way other than raising statues that represent bestial figures of ancient mythology and a goddess of a dead religion," said their pastor.
Lazy days......
by alisonr
One of the nicest things to do in Melbourne is to take a whole day and just walk around the city. Do a bit of shopping, stop off for lunch or a snack somewhere, have a coffee, people watch, more shopping. Melbourne is a well set out city with excellent sign posting and transport. My family!! (4 beautiful cousins, my pop, aunty and uncle and many more!)
Wet Windy Weather Gear a must!
by TiNkSta
Make sure you have a big enough bag to accommodate cold weather clothing (even if you are coming in the warmer months bring some warm clothes - see below). An umbrella is required on and off all year round. The weather here is incredibly unstable and you should make sure you have plenty of warm clothes as even in the hottest months of summer the weather can dramatically change from one day to the next. Even if it's sunny and the forecast is for warm weather ALWAYS take a warm coat or jacket with you if you intend to be out for the day. It can be a pain to carry around but boy do you appreciate it once it turns cold! Alternatively if you don't have the packing space you can of course buy umbrellas, parkas, warm jumpers, jackets etc here! All available here, make sure you have prescriptions for any regular medication you may be on. Otherwise most things are readily available. Great photo oppurtunities around the city so of course bring your camera!! As needed depending on your holiday requirements. There are great beaches about an hour or so out of Melbourne and plenty of great places to camp.
Check out the Street Art
by SilverRebel
One person's graffitti is another persons street art!! There is some world class street art in Melbourne particularly around the small streets and lanes of the CBD start off with Hosiers lane adjacent to the Forum theatre off Flinders Street.
Don't forget Melbourne is the place to visit if you want the capital of music, food, arts and culture in Australia.
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this pic was taken 24th september
Ackland Street and the cake shops
circa 1902 Neo-Gothic Regent Theatre - look up!
The12Apostles
