Melbourne, Australia- Part 2

We walked a lot in Melbourne. We averaged 6 hours per day. Pre-trip research revealed there was a market on Sunday mornings at Federation Square. While considerably smaller than it probably is in the summer months, we loved it. I bought a pair of earrings from this guy!

Along the way we visited the National Gallery of Victoria- Ian Potter building, the Immigration Museum, spent some time on Bourke Street, and hit a couple of crafty shops for some bits and bobs.

Another day started out with on and off again mist. It would rain, stop, rain, stop. Clouds were evident in between.

Anchored on the opposite side of the river we saw a double heli-pad. This is the spot for heli-tours of Melbourne. Tours seems to run quite frequently throughout the day.

We switched our day's plan and headed for indoor venues. We did take a tram today since it was raining. The public transportation is slightly complicated by the fact that there is a free loop covering the outer edge of the heart of the city. Outside of that loop you must pay. Today's visits were at the Melbourne Museum (natural history), the Melbourne Gaol and the National Gallery of Victoria.

On the way to the Melbourne Museum we walked through a really nice park. In the middle of it we discovered the Royal Exhibition Hall. We also enjoyed more fall leaves.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The Melbourne Museum. It must have been free stroller occupant day! I've never seen so many strollers in a museum. This museum housed dinosaurs, an area on evolution, human body information and also a really cool insect wing.

Among the insects was the longest living insect--the golden jewel beetle from North America. The sign says this beetle lived 51 years.

The evolution wing highlighted, amongst other things, the work of  Alfred Wallace!!!!!!! If you've never heard of him, please look him up

We learned how the sewing machine figured into the history of Melbourne. Soon after the invention of the commercial sewing machine, they began to be imported to Melbourne. By the 1870s, large numbers were being imported. Sold as easing stress and reducing labour, in the workplace the machines did the opposite and ended up creating sweatshops. Of note is that men did the design work and women did the assembly and sewing.

Another area of this museum had walkways to the outside allowing you to stroll in a woodland setting. You could walk around among the canopy or walk down in the understory. It reminded me of something we saw at the Natural History Museum in Cleveland.

Mid-day we found ourselves on Bourke Street at Pellegrini's. It's an espresso bar. When I asked a friend who had lived in Melbourne for a few years where we should go, the first thing she said was to go to Pellegrini's for a capppuccino. We did! I said it's an espresso bar, but it is also called an Italian coffeehouse. There is a very brief italian menu as well. I had spaghetti bolognaise and B had pasticcio lasagna along with my cappuccino and his diet coke. This place has been here since 1954 and it doesn't look like it's changed much over the years. It's cozy (small) and if you're lucky you can grab a spot at the table in the kitchen itself. We were lucky to get our seats at the counter! It was a busy place.

 Just like an old fashioned lunch counter.

The view into the kitchen! You can dine in the kitchen if you can get a seat.

My cappucino! Yum!

The Melbourne Gaol is an old jail. For some reason we didn't take any photos here. But it was a really interesting place. This is Victoria's oldest surviving prison.You get to read all about the stories of the notorious gangsters and bushrangers who spent time there and or were executed there.  Two famous guys: Squizzy Taylor and Ned Kelly. If you choose to do it, you can also add on a chance to get locked up in a cell. Very interesting place indeed. Some really odd stories. The building was constructed beginning in 1841. By 1851 discovery of gold triggered a huge population growth, making law and order difficult to enforce. A second cell block was started in 1852 and completed in 1858. This is the cell block that still stands today. The Goal closed in 1924 but reopened briefly during WWII to house military detainees--mainly AWOL soldiers.  The system put in place at the Gaol was 2 fold: punishment and reform. Prisoners spent 23 hrs a day in their small cells then 1 hour a day in solitary confinement. No communication between prisoners was allowed. Better behaved prisoners were moved to the 2nd floor and were allowed to work in the yards each day. Large communal cells on the 3rd floor housed debtors, trusted prisoners and those nearing release.  It was the site of 133 hangings. And they really made deathmasks of those executed. You can also do evening ghost tours of the Gaol or if you like, a hangman's night tour.

Still on the same day, after lunch we headed to the National Gallery of Victoria to see a much hyped Van Gogh exhibit. The Gallery itself is free but the special exhibit was $28.00 AU per person. Yikes! As it turns out we've seen many of the items displayed here. Much of the collection was on loan from the Krueller-Mueller Museum in The Netherlands (we loved this place!!!). The rest on loan from a museum in Osterloo. Surprisingly there was only one self-portrait. We also stopped in some of the other galleries which were much less crowded and more pleasant.

Melbourne at night.