The Melbourne Experience

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 230
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Don''t, for one minute, think Melbourne is the ugly, boring sister to Sydney. In fact, Melbourne is the most multicultural city in Australia. Being a coastal city, it has much the same things to offer as Sydney, namely a healthy mix of city living and lazy surfer-dude beach life. But it is less obvious than Sydney and this understated, and somewhat coy atmosphere makes you instantly fall in love with this city.

The best way to get around is now by bike. A new cycle-share scheme has been introduced along with an extensive cycle-lane network. Trams are popular by night, but by day, two wheels are the way forward.

Some of the best parts of the town to see by bike are the vibrant bohemian centres of St. Kilda, Fitzroy and Carlton, places where music and atmosphere simply spills out onto the street. Much of the architecture here is Victorian and recently renovated, but old, leafy boulevards are now leading to modern urban developments such as Federation Square, which is cool contemporary design at its best.

Aside from cruising the streets on two wheels, sipping cold beer and eating Michelin-star worthy food, ...
... there is plenty to do in Melbourne. Melbourne Museum wants to introduce visitors to the state of Victoria''s natural environment and cultural history.

Exhibition highlights include a living rainforest, Aboriginal cultural centre and Evolution Gallery''s dinosaur and whale skeletons. The contents may be old, but the building could be more modern and it is the perfect setting to make the exhibits even more eye-catching.

Everyone thinks of Sydney when they think of art galleries down under, but actually Melbourne has Australia''s finest collection in the National Gallery of Australia. There are international artist''s works such as Rembrandt and Warhol, plus national classics from Tom Roberts and Sidney Nolan. Because of the sheer size of the collection, the gallery has been divided in two. One site is on Federation Square, the other remains on St. Kilda Road.

Melbourne is carving a name for itself on the international culinary stage, and it''s beginning to compete with such metropolitan heavyweights as Paris, London, and New York in its quantity of haute cuisine restaurants. It is no wonder the finished product tastes so good when the ingredients are of such a high quality.

You can see this for yourself at Queen Victoria Market. It is packed to the brim with heritage-listed produce with entire halls devoted to meat, seafood, cheese, vegetables and finger-food delights such as olive, pastries, cakes and mouth-watering pizzas. The city''s rich multiculturalism is played out best in its food. Bonny Kominek is a travel expert and freelance writer. They recommend Octopus Travel for Melbourne hotels.