The beautiful Southbank

The Queens Bridge is a historic road bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The bridge was built in 1889 and has five wrought iron plate girder spans, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.



Once you cross the Queens Bridge from CBD you'll get to the beautiful Southbank.


Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located south of the Yarra River. Formerly an industrial area, it was transformed into a densely populated district of high rise apartment and office buildings beginning in the early 1990s as part of an urban renewal program.
Here you can find Australia's tallest tower measured to its highest floor, the Eureka Tower.

The Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. This has been incorporated into the design, with the building's gold crown representing the gold rush and a red stripe representing the blood spilt during the revolt.



On the side of the Eureka Tower you can see The Bee Colony artwork:


And the entrance to the Eureka Skydeck


Today was the first time I walked on that side of the Yarra river .. and I think this is the most beautiful part of Melbourne CBD zone...

Little Italy - Melbourne

If you are from Europe - Italy and not only, and you want to remember how it was, just take a walk on Lygon Street - Carlton on a Saturday night.

Towards the centre of the Carlton suburb - the "italian" suburb of Melbourne, on the corner of Lygon Street and Argyle Place, there is a small Italian-inspired piazza named Piazza Italia - a joint-redevelopment by Melbourne and its sister city, Milan, in Italy.

La Dolce Italia, is an Italian festival organized in and near Piazza Italia on 27th of February 2011, and offers a fresh new look to what was once the iconic Lygon Street Festa, which was sadly canceled in 2009.

Before the festival, on 26th of Feb - Italian music and short films :


Once you are there, don't miss the restaurants and get a good pizza.







or an ice cream



The Guinness World Record Attempt - World's longest pizza preparations before the event :



Don't know yet what was the result of this attempt, but the weather was not so great on Sunday so they might have had some problems.
All the photos above are taken on Saturday. Next year I'll try to provide photos from the actual festival.

Mad Max

"A Few Years From Now..." in Australia

The first Mad Max was shot over a period of twelve weeks in Australia, between December 1978 and February 1979, in and around Melbourne. Many of the car-chase scenes for Mad Max were filmed near the town of Lara, just north of Geelong.
Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome were mostly filmed in remote outback locations, and with less different unique locations used, there aren't as many identifiable locations to list as mentioned on Mad Max Movie website. See details on Mad Max Movie website and also some interesting photos from each location.




Mad Max on Wikipedia.

Victoria - public holidays

If you are in Australia and you are planning a holiday, you'll find out that is very difficult to find any available rooms at an affordable hotel if you start to search for one only a few days before leaving on holiday, especially during the public holidays.

Just try to do a test - search for something available in Sydney around New Year's Day and you'll understanding what I'm talking about (and one other thing you'll find out by doing this test is that the prices during such events are usually much higher than during the year, because many are willing to pay more just to be there for this event).

So, to be prepared you need to plan in advance, find a hotel you like (from your previous holidays/feedback from others/location/price) and book it as is still available.

Find below the public holidays in Victoria for 2011 and 2012.

[ difficult times between June and November, right ? :(( ]

So, plan it ...

Victoria - 2011

New Year's Day	Monday, 3 January 2011
Australia Day	Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Labour Day	Monday, 14 March 2011
Good Friday	Friday, 22 April 2011
Easter Saturday	Saturday, 23 April 2011
Easter Monday	Monday, 25 April 2011
ANZAC Day	Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Queen's Birthday	Monday, 13 June 2011
Melbourne Cup Day	Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Christmas Day	Monday, 26 December 2011
Boxing Day	Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Victoria - 2012

New Year's Day	Monday, 2 January 2012
Australia Day	Thursday, 26 January 2012
Labour Day	Monday, 12 March 2012
Good Friday	Friday, 6 April 2012
Easter Saturday	Saturday, 7 April 2012
Easter Monday	Monday, 9 April 2012
ANZAC Day	Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Queen's Birthday	Monday, 11 June 2012
Melbourne Cup Day	Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Christmas Day	Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Boxing Day	Wednesday, 26 December 2012

... and enjoy it as much as you can...

Melbourne, 2nd

Melbourne, world's second most livable city

The "Yes, Melbourne" Project

After almost 2 weeks of walking through the CBD, here it is how my "Yes, Melbourne" project looks like :

Yes, Melbourne - Flinders Street

Flinders Street - From Parliament Train Station to William Street.
(photos from Wednesday 16/02/2011)


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