Down Underdog

Riverside walks? Check. Masterchef quality dining? Check. Charming downtown area? Check. Cosmopolitan vibe? Check. Friendly people? Check.

Melbourne today seems to effortlessly tick all the right boxes. It wasn’t always this way. Founded nearly a century after Sydney, Melbourne thrived on the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s and ‘60s. When the gold fever abated by the early 1890s, the city stopped being ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ and found itself back in the shadows of Sydney’s gleaming beauty. From there to being consistently voted among the “world’s most livable cities” is a testament to the power of the underdog. Recollect the iconic 1960s advertising campaign of Avis car rentals – “We’re No. 2, so we try harder” – that is what Melbourne did too.

And what it lacked in spectacular landmarks that have graced a million postcards out of Sydney – the man-made Opera House and the natural Great Barrier Reef – it has made up for with a buzzing food, arts, and culture scene. The magnificent Great Ocean Drive. And that temple to sport, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or the G, as Melburnians call it.

For me, Melbourne’s charm is entirely in its easygoing European feel – cobblestoned lanes, alfresco cafés, and large green spaces in the middle of the city. Friends tell me that the “inner city” – the Central Business District – is the best place to begin my exploration of Melbourne.

So one morning, I find myself at the open space in front of Federation Square, that sits between two old and elegant buildings: the Flinders Street train station and St. Paul’s Cathedral. The former is a brick red and muted yellow Edwardian structure from the early 1900s and the latter also a dull red, with tall spires; both of them are in stark contrast to the sharp lines and angles of Federation Square. I remember reading that the Federation Square building has 16 restaurants and pubs and several cultural spaces including the Ian Potter gallery and Australian Center for Moving Images. So it is no surprise that all of Melbourne heads there to hang out whenever possible.

I am waiting for my guide for the ‘Lanes and Arcades’ tour organized by a local walking tours company. The walk begins from the Square, and takes me through narrow alleys filled with shops and cafés spilling on to the road. Speaking of which, wherever I turn, I see cafés crowded with people chatting over coffee and cupcakes: happy couples, young men and women in business suits, mothers with their babies on strollers parked close to them and of course, dozens of tourists with their cameras.

The tour itself is superb, offering glimpses into the history of the city and leading me through some of the truly hidden secrets that I would never have found on my own. We wander among tiny shops selling everything from dozens of flavours of locally produced honey and beautiful handmade stationery, to varieties of coloured buttons and witchcraft paraphernalia. Most of these little shops are managed by the owners themselves, all friendly and chatty. And did I mention the chocolates and cupcakes? I haven’t seen so much of these being consumed without a thought to those pesky things called calories anywhere other than in Vienna.

Sean, my guide for this walk, shares with us so much trivia about Melbourne that it gets difficult to follow him after a while. It is obvious that he really loves his city and expects all visitors to. When we walk through the arcade now known as Howey’s Place, he narrates the delightful life story of Edward William Cole. This eccentric entrepreneur started a small book business in 1865 and in eight years, grew it enough to open a large store near Little Collins Street. Cole was a pioneer in marketing and found himself not just new customers but also a wife “neat in dress and not extravagant or absurd” through a newspaper advertisement.

His seemed to have been the kind of bookstore I love; people were encouraged to walk in, browse and even read there. The more I hear about Cole, the more I find myself liking him (I already think of him as good old Ed). Apart from stocking a huge collection of books, he authored many for children, called ‘Funny Picture Books.’ Another name: Instructor to Delight the Children and Make Home Happier.

My absolute favourite in this walk though, is the old GPO, with its high ceilings and large atrium dating back to 1859. After a major fire accident in 2001, the GPO was converted into a shopping mall for swanky brands, with more cafés in the cheerful atrium area. Sean says that Melburnians treasure this as a heritage spot and that road distances to and from the city are still measured from here.

Another unique aspect of Melbourne’s inner city circle is how its once unsightly graffiti has been curbed and turned into attractive street art. Really, how many cities do you know of that have state managed graffiti monitoring and mentoring systems in place? So once dirty and unsafe side alleys are now famous for their graffiti and the city now attracts artists like Banksy.

I can see where Sean’s joy and pride in his city come from. And I know for sure that for me too, Melbourne is one of the world’s most livable cities.

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For more information on the Lanes and Arcades Tour, visit the Hidden Secrets Tour website.

This article was originally published in Atelier Diva as Southern Sojourn.

Melbourne must-dos

About a decade or so earlier, Melbourne woke up and decided that it had had enough of playing second fiddle to Sydney. In the constant Melbourne-Sydney rivalry, somewhat like that between Mumbai and Delhi, Melbourne kept coming up a poor second. This city did not have anything attention-grabbing, not an Opera House and spectacular harbour, nor was it blessed with proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.

So, like the famous Avis ad of the 1960s, which said (in relation to Hertz): “We are only No. 2, so we try harder”, Melbourne tried harder. And last year, it was voted the most livable city in the world in the Economist Intelligence Unit survey (with stiff competition from Vienna and Vancouver). While it may not have any iconic landmarks, it does have oodles of charm that makes you slowly fall in love with the city.

Head to Melbourne to make the most of early winter weather. As a local friend remarked, “Melbourne does winter very well.”

So, my list of Melbourne must-dos here -

1. Pay homage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

If you are Indian, then this is the first thing you should do. Or probably will want to do. The venue of several legendary matches has guided tours for visitors when you can go and pay your respects on these hallowed grounds (say a salaam to the Rod Laver arena next door while you are at it). The tour takes you inside the areas normally closed to the public, including glimpses into the dressing rooms of the cricketers. It is only when you walk through the MCG that you realize that cricket is only one of the many games this ground has supported and nurtured over the years; information about sporting legends and their achievements are strewn all over the place. End the tour at the MCG museum, a superb collection of sporting trivia and memorabilia.

2. Take a walking tour

Melbourne is a city made for walking in, especially the central part which has a very European feel about it. Cobbled lanes, narrow arcades, cozy boutiques, outdoor cafes – the works. The Hidden Secrets Tour is highly recommended for not just the route they take you through but also the fact that the tour offers a lot of information about the history of this city. Their guides are knowledgeable and witty and the three hours pass in a jiffy. In particular, their Lanes and Arcades Tour shows a normally hidden side of the inner city, its small shops and cafes that tourists may not ever find on their own, including a shop selling magic and witchcraft items! (Tour cost: 115 AUD), with lunch.

Or devise your own coffee and chocolate tour – yes, Melbourne is proud of its coffee, chocolate and cupcakes. There are little Belgian chocolate shops dotted all over the central district, their window displays winking at you even if you determinedly try ignoring them. If you would rather do this in a more organized manner (remember this is chocolate we are talking about, so give it the respect it deserves), go on a Chocolate Tour – you can choose from a variety of them, indulging and perhaps shopping as you go along.

3. Go Harley Davidsoning

John Karmouche, the man who runs the Harley Davidson Tours in Melbourne says a rather dubious thing on his website: “I have come to understand the term ‘Pleasure Experience’. That is what we are committed to doing – giving pleasure.” You know that HD owners take their bikes very seriously and have a somewhat deep relationship with it, so take that statement at face value. John means that he cannot think of anything more pleasurable than riding around his city on an HD. It is a unique way of seeing the city, the wind on your cheeks and constant commentary from the front.

Their most popular (and deservedly so) tour is the Great Ocean Drive tour, which takes you down the, well, Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles, the large limestone rocks jutting out of the sea. Or head to a winery in the Yarra Valley and spend an afternoon tasting different wines and listening to stories about them. Even if you are HD-inclined, do not leave Melbourne without going on the Great Ocean Drive – hire a car or take a bus tour but make sure you take in one of the most stunning drives in the world.

4. See the skyline on Eureka Skydeck 88

See the city skyline stretching out in front of and below you from the Skydeck on the 88th floor of the Eureka building. Early morning and late evening are the best times to visit, though there is a different experience to be had at any time of the day. You can walk around the Skydeck for views of the sea on one side and the city on the other. If you are feeling very brave, then buy an additional ticket for The Edge, a glass cube that projects 3 metres out from the building, so that you are suspended in mid air, 300 metres above the ground.

5. Spend a day at the Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula is the stuff that tourism authorities’ dreams are made of: it has something for everyone. Adventure, nature, thermal spa, winery, beach activities – you name it, you got it. This is a great place for a day tour for the entire family. Children have a lot of activities to keep them happy. Take them strawberry picking – you buy a container and pick and eat as much as you can fill in that. Or go into a lavender farm (try the lavender honey and jams available in the gift shop), which also doubles up as an offbeat venue for weddings once in a while. When the weather is fine, go dolphin-watching into the ocean or horse-riding on the back lanes of the area.

Back in Melbourne, go bar-hopping in the evenings, take a river cruise on the Yarra or simply sit at Federation Square across the road from Flinders Street Station and watch the world pass by. And come away feeling charmed by this city, as I did.

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Originally published here

Street art in Melbourne

Melbourne is a lovely, lovely city – very European in feel with all those cozy outdoor cafes and little lanes and shops to explore all day. I took a walking tour in the center of the city and one of the most interesting things there was the graffiti all over the place. My guide explained that this was all state approved – Melbourne once actually had a problem with vandals painting on the walls. And then the government decided to do the best thing to stop that – make it legal and therefore, take the fun out of it (for the vandals, not the good citizens!). And now Melbourne is considered one of the best cities in the world for street art. This BBC story says, “The city has emerged as an unlikely leader in urban art, being compared with Berlin, New York and Sao Paolo, and attracting urban art A-listers like Blek le Rat (the Parisian “godfather of the stencil”) and Banksy.” And there is even a specialized graffiti-spotting Melbourne Street Tour.

There are forms to fill and processes to follow before your street art can be allowed to stay – or even be called art. And the state of Victoria takes its street graffiti very seriously – so there is a graffiti management plan, a graffiti mentoring program in schools and strict and heavy fines for unauthorized graffiti, including name tagging (just spraying your name on the walls). But this means that the back lanes and alleys of Melbourne are now clean and interesting to walk through.

[Notice the art on the garbage cans?]