St. Paul's Cathedral
An Anglican cathedral right by Federation Square.
Federation Square
I'm not sure how to describe it but it is an open area surrounded by some major public spaces and building. It is also where the visitor center is in Melbourne so it is a good first stop to find information and lots of pamphlets and a map of course.
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
It is the branch of the National Gallery of Victoria that houses Australian art. It is a lot more modern than the other building in terms of the works featured.
National Gallery of Victoria: International
The international part of the Gallery of Victoria. Much larger and more imposing than the other building. There was a long line because of their special paid exhibit of Van Gogh, which of course I had to go see.
Queen Victoria Gardens
A garden memorial to Queen Victoria. I'm not actually sure where these gardens end and the botanic gardens begin.
Shrine of Remembrance
It was first built as a memorial to those in Victoria who served in World War I but has then expanded to include all Australians who have served in war.
Royal Botanic Gardens
It has an enclosed space within a metal fence but there is also park greenery on the outside so I don't know if those are part of the Gardens. It's very large inside with lots of small greenhouses and different types of plants.
Harbour Town Shopping Centre, Melbourne Star Observation Wheel
I guess it is almost like an outlet shopping center. Much of it was in construction when I went and it was a weekday so it was very empty. It does have the Melbourne Star, which is a huge ferris wheel that lights up at night.
Queen Victoria Market
It is an open air market that features all sorts of things. In the winter, they also do night markets.
University of Melbourne, Ian Potter Museum of Art
The University of Melbourne is very nice with lots of pretty buildings and seems so very European. Although I'm sure many old universities have these types of buildings. I did not go to a very old or historic university so we had none of these buildings. So every time I see a campus like this I'm in awe. Also, I don't know who Ian Potter but I got the sense he is an important art figure.
Carlton Gardens, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Museum
Apparently the Royal Exhibition Building is a world heritage site. Right now it is mostly used as a hosting venue. The Melbourne Museum is a good destination for kids where it is information on the history of Melbourne and the wildlife and other things that are about Melbourne.
Melbourne Town Hall, City Square
I didn't get a good picture of this because the City Square was actually under construction. The Melbourne town hall is a large old building, smaller than the parliament building but still has great architecture.
Southbank, Crown Casino
Southbank is an area south of the Yarra river, which by the way is the tiniest major river I've seen. Where it is through Melbourne it might as well be a creek. But I did learn that Australia is not a country of big rivers. It is a scenic area with shops and restaurants and places to hang out along the river and see the cityscape. The Crown Casino is huge and very easy to get lost in.
Sealife Melbourne Aquarium
I have to go to every aquarium of course. I felt that this one was smaller than the Sydney one but it still had a lot of interesting things.
Immigration Museum
This was really interesting and a definite must see. Kind of like the Chinese museum, it does enlighten people on immigration stories but this one has stories of all kinds from people of all backgrounds. It describes the process of immigration not just in the past but even now. It even has a booth where people can see actual immigration interviews.
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
It is an odd brown metal building. The actual art space inside is very small and it was all one level even though the building was so large. It just had really high ceilings. The art was definitely...modern and unconventional.
VCA Artspace
I was seduced by the pink sign. It features art for sale by the students of VCA.
Eureka Skydeck 88
88 since the public viewing space is on the 88th floor of the Eureka building. It gives a great view of the city from the Southbank area.
Block Arcade, Royal Arcade, Melbourne Emporium, Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne Central Station
These are all buildings downtown that are also very interesting shopping areas. Many of them are connected or at least right next to each other.
Chadstone Outlets
My aunt definitely recommended I go to this outlet since the sheer size of this outlet mall is amazing in itself. It is not in the city but there is a free shuttle to get to it everyday.
That's it for my posts about Melbourne. I did get to do a lot and a nice thing about travelling alone is I get to go at my own pace. But it is sad eating meals alone and of course no one to take photos of me! Probably because there is no one to take my photo I was pretty much bumming it the whole trip. Melbourne was a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it to anyone travelling to Australia. There is just so much to do!
