Author: Rosie

Grab a laneways walking tour map from the tourist caravan in the Bourke Street Mall, it is a good way to spend the morning.  Join the throngs on Degraves Street for a coffee,the grimy, seedy lane is straight out of a post holocaust futuristic movie or straight from a scene of Blade Runner.  It is a must do and an excellent people watching experience.

A little off the beaten track is the amazing Hosier and Riddiford Lanes.  These thin lanes are covered top to bottom with graffitti/street art.  Rosie loves the colour, boldness and texture of the art as it meets window frames, pipes and wheelie bins.  There is always plenty of cameras clicking and a steady stream of people passing the window as we dine in our favourite Melbourne Restaurant ‘Movida’ as their front door is in the lane..

The Boss and HM love the area across the river, its more open and out of the CBD skyscraper shadows, HM said the shopping was magnificent and you have to believe her, cause she knows!  Chapel Street is sooooo long, we caught a taxi ( but you can quite comfortably catch a tram from Bourke St or Flinders Station) and made a beeline for the Chapel Street Bazaar. 

When HM says not to bother doing or seeing something….take her word for it!  Rosie and The Operator had read the guidebooks and we were looking forward to a trip on the tram out to St Kilda and take some sunshine while walking the pier.  The book said that you would ‘enjoy the charm of yesterday’ in this suburb.  I think we got there 15 years too late….faded glory isn’t even an apt description, it was empty, tired, drab and sad. 

The vege hall smells of fresh produce and flowers, stall holders are yelling their daily specials, the colours are vibrant and the the fruit and vege are displayed immaculately.  The place is crowded and people jostle and push, serious daily buyers of all ages bang their wheelie trolleys into your ankles in a bid to get by.