Slow Travel II 2008

We arrived in Melbourne on the Overland, one of Australia's three historic trains. The arrival station is Southern Cross, on Spencer Street. The hotel, Harbour View, we find on the corner between this street and La Trobe St. The city has its CBD (Central Business District), rectangular in shape, whose perimeter is bounded to the north by La Trobe St., to the west by the Harbour Esplanade, to the south by Flinders St. and to the east by Spring St. The perimeter is served by the Free City Circle Tram (free), while the main points of interest, even outside the perimeter, are covered by the Tourist Shuttle (free), running from 9.30 to 16.30. Near our hotel there is the Queen Victoria Market with stop no. 7 of the Shuttle. Melbourne, in any case, is easy to get around on foot. The area inside the rectangle is crossed by a limited number of wide streets.

We remember the ones that cross it horizontally: Lt. Lonsdale St., Lonsdale St., Lt. Bourke St. and Bourke St., Lt. Collins St. and Collins St., with the Greek Precinct and the Chinatown Precinct, while Lygon St. lies to the north-east outside the rectangle and is the street of the Italian quarter. Also to the north-east of the rectangle are the Old Melbourne Gaol (the old prison where the famous child Ned Kelly was hanged) and, in the Carlton Gardens, the Melbourne Museum (at least three hours to visit). A little beyond the Carlton Gardens you can enter the Fitzroy district and Brunswick St. Inside the rectangle, on King Street, not far from our hotel, there is a small Aboriginal museum, while in the southern area is the Immigration Museum (free entry). Not to be missed, to the south-east, beyond the Yarra river and reachable by the Shuttle, are the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Created in 1846, they feature plants over 150 years old. Heading back towards the Yarra you find the Queen Victoria Gardens and then, on St. Kilda Road, the National Gallery of Victoria (free entry, except for occasional exhibitions) with paintings by some famous artists and ancient sculptures. Nearby, also on St. Kilda Road, you can admire the works of the Victorian Arts Centre. Anyone interested in science, on the other hand, can take a boat at South Gate and go to Scienceworks (36 AUD return) and visit both the educational part and the Planetarium, where a computerised system simulates the experience of moving through the Universe. Watch the opening times, because the Planetarium is open with 2 shows at 10 and at 14. We left Federation Square for last, the most important square in Melbourne, where there is a rich information centre and the Australian centre for the Moving Image.

On the first day we also visited the Aquarium, amid swarms of school groups. Seven days were barely enough to see all the places we have listed, leaving the hotel at 9 and getting back at 18.