Magical Melbourne

Ahhhhhhh Melbourne, my home town!! Now this blog might be biased ...... and it probably is as I've spend most of my life running around the streets of Melbourne's suburbs bouncing tennis balls as I walked .... yes I did that, don't judge now! But isn't it better to get information and insight from a local if you ever want to go to the end of the world (literally!)??? Melbourne might be one of the ugliest cities in the world at first glance and have a 'bacteria invested' brown river running through the middle of it but once you go beyond those two factors it's one of the most amazing, special and magical places you could visit within Australia.

The thing about Melbourne is that you need to know where to go. The city is like a maze, with so many nocks and crannies that need to be explored to get the full experience. This includes places like Lygon Street, our little Italy within the city. You will find pizza, pasta, gelato and great coffee all made by Italian immigrants that moved to Australia. It is a delightful day sitting in the window of a coffee shop sipping on a hot Cappuccino with a pistachio biscotti or even walking the street itself in the sun. I can a sure you that you will see one or two Ferraris going up the street as fast as they possible can to show off. A place that I would definitely recommended when visiting the strip would be Brunetti's. An impressively large and fancy Italian cafe and cake shop where they sell everything from mini tiramisu to a large coffee bar that serves any type of coffee you desire. For the Torontion readers don't assume it is like Little Italy, perhaps multiple this by five or ten and add a few thousand al-fresco diners and you are more like it.

If you are into more of a typical stereo type Australian experience, then head off to St Kilda beach. It's not that spectacular as the beaches that you find up north but it's still a beach with salty sea air. If you find yourself in the area during the evening, then go check out the beautiful sunset that sets over the bay. In the area there a lot of quirky restaurants and European cafes but the best thing to do is go to the local fish and chips shop, buy hot chips, eat them on the beach while watching an Australian sunset.

Another great thing about the city is the Australasia influences you can find. Along side the aroma of coffee you will smell the fragrance of Vietnamese Phở, Pad Thai and Chinese stir-fry cooked in a wok. These elements are a big part of an Melbournian's diet and an experience you get when visiting the city. Melbournians are more likely to have asian street food for lunch than a burger. The most ionic thing in Melbourne is visiting the alley-ways the makeup the CBD (Central Business District or Down Town area). Little alleyways all connect with one another and always full of life with the air full of laughter, chatter and life. But that's not the only thing in the air, the aroma of coffee adds a beautiful fragrance - the home of the Flat White, Melbourne offers some of the best coffee culture anywhere. Where-ever there is great food or coffee you will struggle to walk through the crowd in these tight alleyways. Somewhere which you must go is Hopetoun Tea House. They have the best scones with jam and cream in the city!! There is always a line to get in (everyday of the year) so I would recommend going early or booking.

It's the little things that makeup Melbourne. Like the fact the we have the biggest population of Greeks outside off Greece. Or the fact that we are home to one of the biggest tennis slams, The Australian Open. We host the F1 once a year and is home to the most legendary sport in the world that is only played in Australia, Aussie Rules Football (Australian Football League, AFL)). And we live up to the stereotype at the 'footy' people eat pies with a beer, saying "G'day" to one another and constantly yelling at the players on the field.

As you can probably tell from the post that Melbourne is centred around culture and food. Other things that you can do are biking along the bay front in Brighton, walking around the Botanical Gardens or shop at one of the biggest shopping centres/malls, Chadstone Shopping Centre.

That's all for Magical Melbourne. If you ever visit Melbourne I hope this post help with your experience. If you're from Melbourne like me, I hope I did the city justice.

Let me know what you think about the post by leaving a comment below. Also give this post some love by hitting the love heart and the bottom of the page. Also, a big shout out to one of my good friends AussieChic for letting me use her photos in this post!!

Until next time..... Write Later,

Straya Stef xxx