Random alleyway graffiti in Melbourne

Melbourne is truely a city of secret alley ways, cafés and bars.  It's been a while since either Chris or I have been here so our collective memory about the place was a little patchy.  However, after only a day and a bit here, it's totally living up to all the tallk.

A lot of people tell us that Melbourne is a lot like Wellington in NZ.  It's true in that Wellington also has a large café culture (although that may change with the impending economic melt down) but other than that and the weather I suppose, I honestly can't see too many similarities between the two cities.  Melbourne is home to almost 4 million people whilst Wellington has only 800,000 or so.  Melbourne has a pretty cool tram system running through the streets whilst Wellington got rid of it's trams many many years ago.  Anyway, I guess the general feeling here is more similar to the feeling you get when in Wellington than in Brisbane.

Anyway, our main reason for coming to Melbourne was to catch up with some friends from our Trade Me days in Wellington.  I love staying in touch with people; it's great seeing what they're up to and how they're enjoying their new lives wherever they've ended up.  This time we were lucky enough to be able to stay with our friends Toni and Phil, right in the heart of Melbourne.  We've got 4 nights here which is sweeeeeeet!!

We arrived in Melbourne on Thursday night and already we've been to more than 10 bars, restaurants and cafés!!  Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Spaghetti Tree which is apparently a bit of a legendary place here in Melbourne.  The food was good and the atmosphere was relaxed, but the whole place seemed like a bit of an odd mix of Italian, Indian and English pub.  Don't ask, it's hard to explain.

The graffiti in Melbourne is quite an art form and seems appreicated by those who live here.  From what we understand, certain alleyways are dedicated to legal graffiti - a very cool idea.  Speaking of alleyways... this place is full of them.  While walking around yesterday, we glanced down pretty much every alleyway we saw just in case there might have been a bar and/or café down the end.  You really wouldn't think that there's anything other than smelly rubbish, graffitied walls and broken windows down these narrow side streets but if you're curious enough, you may just find some awesome little hidden bar right down the end.  I personally wouldn't be so curious if I didn't have a couple of guys by my side but in a group, it's good fun finding these places.

All in all, Melbourne is scoring some serious browny points at the moment with Chris and I both announcing that we could easily live here.  Maybe we will one day... who knows!!?

Anyway, enough for now - time for some more chillaxing...