Ground Level
CAE Building
253-265 Flinders Lane
Melbourne

With its home in the foyer of the Melbourne’s CAE and new(ish) CBD City Library, The Journal finds itself aptly named. The coffee won’t blow your socks off, but it’s a fab vibe and perfectly decent blend (as long as you don’t get the english girl who sometimes overheats the milk…).

Brekky, lunch and dinner are all simple but well put together using quality produce.  The turnover is high, so you know it’s always fresh.  Early evening might find you elbowing CAE students in a firmish fashion as the large communal tables are perfect for a pre or post class natter which can lead to a pretty dominating presence.  It’s very buzzy though, the unsolicited lecture on sustainable farming in Eritrea is all just part of the vibe.

This word of caution brought to you by
Apartment Alkira – Melbourne’s Best Self-Contained Apartment by a country mile.

Moody and sultry as many sub-terrestrial venues are, Maha is a seductive space hidden in the basement of a Bond Street building.  With very little in the way of neighbors to draw the crowds, this secret treasure is surprisingly busy.  Don’t Melbournians just love a hidden treasure?

The exciting menu – an Australian take on Middle Eastern – explains the enthusiasm for a place that’s a tad ‘out of the way’. Duck breast, quince, zalzet malti and parsnip with a spice duck jus and cumin crusted lamb cutlet, house cured basterma and fried egg are the types of dishes that mark Maha on the map of Melbourne’s truly exciting ethnic food. The service is warm and friendly and the farewell gift of a tiny vial of Middle Eastern spices is an all-too-rare token of generous hospitality.

The best bit of course, is that it is literally at the back doorstep of Apartment Alkira – Melbourne Short Stay Apartment accommodation.  So if you feel like eating ‘close to home’, scoot down the back stairs and you’ll be in Middle Eastern heaven.

Maha Website
21 Bond Street
Melbourne CBD
(to the rear of Apartment Alkira, 18 Queen Street)

For regular updates on what’s groovy and what’s snoozy, why not check out our Apartment Alkira – Melbourne Short Stay insider Twitterings. Twitter@ApartmentAlkira

Craft once belonged to Nanna.  Crocheted paddington bears, twee little doileys, patchwork quilts that induced epileptic fits at a fifty paces.

Well move over Nanna, cos Craft’s just got sexy.  And the best place to check it out is not too far from Melbourne Short Stay Apartment Alkira, on Flinders Lane.  Flinders Lane is part of Melbourne’s arts strip, hosting a whole range of commercial and independent galleries.  Tucked up the Spring Street end is Craft Victoria where their mission is to bring craft to the masses.  They have a small retail outlet and support an exhibition programme for up and coming ‘crafters’.  Definitely worth a look.

Website: Craft Victoria

Downstairs
31 Flinders Lane
Melbourne

Looking for crafty CBD Accommodation in the city centre?
Might we suggest Apartment Alkira – Melbourne Shortstay Apartment Accommodation in the CBD

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…and now you can.  The recently launched Melbourne Bike Share scheme has these spunky cobalt blue two wheelers dotted all over the CBD, just waiting for your bottom – plump or boney – to nestle itself on the amply comfy seat.

Over the next few months, the roll-out plan will see 600 bikes available across 50 stations in Melbourne’s city.  Check out the website for locations and pricing.  One wee (or not-so-wee) drawback is that you’ll need to bring your own helmut, which, admittedly could be a drag if you’re renting Apartment Alkira, our short stay apartment and you’re coming from Switzerland (something of a drag on the plane).

http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/

This inducement to good health and exercise

was brought to you by Apartment Alkira, Melbourne’s own Art Deco Short Stay Apartment.

Cutler & Co
Gertrude St
Fitzroy

Swing past this place during daylight hours and you might think you’re passing a mafia hang out or swanky advertising agency.  Understated and utilitarian at first glance, this gastronome’s pleasure palace sparkles and shimmies best in the evening hours. 

An elegant yet raw aesthetic plays perfectly in what could be a cavernous space.  Any hard edges are softened by the lovely staff as they swan you over to the bar – or shmooze you to your table.  But the real sparkle and shimmy begins when your meals hit the table.  Devine and sublime combinations of gorgeous fresh produce coaxed to virtuosic performances by highly skilled food-loving souls.  A real treat.

More thoughts on eating brought to you by
Melbourne’s tastiest Short Stay Accommodation Venue – Apartment Alkira

Melbourne is a city of many things. Coffee. Excellent Food. Prized Grafitti. Sport (yawn). Trams. The ‘Yellow Peril’ (don’t ask, it’s a long story). Shopping. Daggy cruises down the Yarra. Arty precincts. Laneways. And Laughs.

Well at least in April. For almost the whole month, very funny people from far and wide (and some from just up the street) have a crack at making Melbournians (and our guests) laugh. And the people they love it. Last year attendance almost hit 500,000, and with the continued gloominess precipitating a need to be amused, there are predictions that this year’s comedy crowd will be mammoth.  Just for the record, according to ‘look forward’, Melbourne’s Comedy Festival now officially outranks The Grand Prix and The Melbourne Cup as one of the biggest events of the calendar.

So, where to go and what to do, to score yourself one of those laughs. Ot at least a little snigger/giggle/shoulder shake. First stop should be the Comedy Festival Website. But if you’ve feeling spontaneous and want to court serendipity, you can just rock up to the Melbourne Town Hall (corner of Collins and Swanston) or the Halftix booth slightly to the north of the fancy Town Hall building, and see who’s on. Melbourne’s daily paper “The Age” is worth checking out too – as a major sponsor, it gives the festival a good guernsey.  Off you go. Giggle your way to a new tomorrow.

Melbourne Comedy Website

Hype courtesy of Apartment Alkira -
Melbourne’s best boutique short-stay apartment accommodation.

Gluttony.  Yes, most of the time I feel bad about it.   Not, however, during one fortnight in March, when the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival consumes the city and insists upon its wholehearted worship. A little-known fact about the festival is that food and wine consumed during it’s fortnight reign has absolutely no calorific content. Shortstay visitors and locals alike should feel free to gorge with immunity.  What better time to find accommodation in such a sinful city.  Check out programme details at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival website.

This incitement to naughtiness is brought to you by your shortstay apartment specialist – Apartment Alkira.

A terrific resource for any visitor to Melbourne – be it for a “short-stay” or “long”, www.threethousand.com is a fab website profiling off-beat and slightly obscure Melbourne happenings.

They don’t do advertorials so you can be sure what’s recommended hasn’t been tainted by the lure of advertising pennies. For a good guide to what’s on in Melbourne, where to eat (though not where to stay!), check it out. If you’re feeling keen you can subscribe to a regular email update of great things to do/see/buy in Melbourne. You won’t find Melbourne accommodation suggestions but there’s loads of other goodness.

www.threethousand.com

“How to get to the best bits of Melbourne”, brought to you by a
groovy Melbourne apartment – Apartment Alkira

A five minute meander from Apartment Alkira, along the banks of the Yarra and over to the other side brings you to an odd space that is the Victorian Arts Centre’s “Blackbox”. This dark cavernous space seems to have multiple personalities – theatre venue for the odd fledgling production, cabaret venue from time to time, and her current incarnation as gallery space for a contemporary new media art show.

Way ‘funner’ than its title would suggest Experimena Utopia Now, International Biennial of Media Art uses ‘new media’ – digital, robotic, internet, screen-based, interactive – to mull over the fact that our lives are constantly being altered by new forms of technology.  No biggie, I know.  But there are some fun interpretations, including a hanging garden of plants that respond musically to human touch and movement and an animated impression of your facial expressions via a direct link from you sitting in a chair to an on-screen animation.  Thirty international artists are involved in this playful show which showcases current thinking in new media art.

So maybe you wouldn’t normally hunt something like this down, but with a healthy dose of humor and at the very affordable price of…well…nothing, this free show is worth poking your head into (en route to a glass of bubbles or a cooling lager at Southbank perhaps?).

Experimenta Utopia Now
International Biennial of media art
The Arts Centre,  Blackbox
12 February 2010 – 14 March 2010
FREE!

Experimenta Website

Another “what’s on in Melbourne” update by the short letting
accommodation specialists at Apartment Alkira – have fun!