1st day of winter

1st of June (Children's day in other countries, not celebrated here) is the first day of winter in Australia.
And it started.. with a rainy weekend. Well, it'll be only the rest of June, July and August, and Spring will be here :)
The thing we miss about winter is the snow. Back in EU we had snow almost every winter, and sometimes we loved it, sometimes we hated it... Every winter it was fun to hear in the news how the authorities were not "prepared" for it, and it was taking few days for the traffic to get back to "normal", and probably few weeks for the parking spaces to get back to normal (yes, that's where the snow from the streets ended up and stayed for a while, turning grey due to pollution and waiting for + temperatures to melt). But, there the winter is at the end of the year, and the nicest thing would be (for the kid in all of us) to have snow for Christmas (however, don't remember when was the last year when we actually had snow for Christmas).
The alternative here in Australia would be Christmas in July... maybe this year we'll see some snow for "Christmas" :)

the most expensive G20 economy

Australians are living in the most expensive G20 economy in the world.

Read more in The Age.

Happy Friday!

Monday mood

.. when autumn leaves start to fall

the 121st day of the year

244 days remaining until the end of the year!

what is it you want to achieve this year ? there is always enough time, all it takes is to start and not give up...

Good night Melbourne

Good morning Melbourne

Job warehouse

Part of Melbourne's history, now heritage listed, the Job Warehouse, 56-58 Bourke St, Melbourne

Riding up

Double Happiness Bar @ 21 Liverpool St, Melbourne

Point Nepean National Park

An amazing place full of history - Point Nepean National Park.

#melbourne #photos

West Gate Bridge

A different view of the West Gate Bridge - photos taken this morning while riding through the Westgate Park, on the bicycle trail that leads to the Punt from Todd road.

Swanston Street morning walk

After a quick morning rain the air is very fresh , and even if the Sun is not showing up there is a good reason to be happy - long weekend is a couple of hours away !

Exhibition Fountain - Carlton Gardens

The Exhibition Fountain (Hochgurtel Fountain) was in use today... It looks great!

It was built in 1880, on a design by sculptor Joseph Hochgurtel, assisted by August Saupe, who had worked on similar pieces in Berlin, Dresden and Copenhagen.

Parliament

Lovely weather in Melbourne today ..

The Eight Hour Movement Monument

The Eight Hour Movement Monument is located at the corner of Russell & Victoria Streets in Melbourne.

'Rest, Labour & Recreation' - 888 - Eight hours labour, eight hours rest, eight hours recreation 

Quiet oasis of the early morning

It is always a pleasure to ride the bicycle in the morning, especially early morning on a public holiday (not riding to work but just for the fun of it)...

The city is different .... quiet

only a few cars on Chapel Street ...

feels like you can make time stand still...

Circus Latino

Circus Latino is at Caulfield.

We went to the show yesterday ! 

Great performance, friendly people and great music too... 

Go and experience the spirit of South America!

Shaddap You Face

Number 1 on the Australian pop charts in 1980, "Shaddap You Face" was also Number 1 in 11 other countries. 

Shaddap You Face - Joe Dolce

Mark Seymour and The Undertow "Castlemaine" Live - Sideshow Alley

I discovered his music not long ago, in a concert organised by Glen Eira Council. Very good music, +1 !

Friday morning

early morning...

St Kilda Pier

Glen Huntly / Elwood 

Middle Brighton

Benvenuta - Carlton, Drummond St

Benvenuta ! Welcome ! .... talking again about the Italian influence on Melbourne.. this time from its heart - Carlton. 

Benvenuta - this is how the main building was originally called. Constructed around 1893, with materials and craftsmen imported from Italy, it is now heritage listed, and known as Medley Hall since '55, part of the University of Melbourne. 

Most likely hiding a very interesting history ... 

I was not able to find a non-fiction book about the history of these places, meanwhile one book (didn't finish it yet) having Carlton as central place - "Scraps of Heaven" by Zable, Arnold.

120 years since finished ... dominating the street

... and while in Carlton, Forza Italia shop on Lygon St is where you can find Lygon St: Si Parla Italiano - didn't see the movie yet (got the DVDs today, going to watch it over the weekend), however the trailer is very interesting.