Melbourne: Laneways and Arcades

I decided to make the most of my first Austrailian long weekend and took a last minute trip to Melbourne for the Easter break. Although a bit cooler than tropical Darwin I had a wonderful time in the city expolring the infamous laneways, art galleries and immersing myself in a weekend of proper Aussie sport.

Melbourne is often described as the most European or British of the Australian cities. There are many narrow laneways that interconnect the larger sweeping main roads that cross-cross across the city.

These smaller lanes are filled with cafés and trendy hipster shops and are also lined with street art, for which Melbourne is renowned.

There are also beautiful arcades which link the main roads, the Royal Arcade, the Block Arcade and the Manchester Unity Arcade are some of the more famous ones.

Emerging onto the main roads the buildings are equally impressive - even H&M looked magnificent!

I loved the city of Melbourne, although it actually reminded me more of lower Manhatten than Europe. Perhaps it was the grid system, the speed at which the city had developed (during the gold rush) or the laid back super trendy inhabitants - I loved it nonetheless.

 More to follow....