Apartment Alkira – Boutique Melbourne Short Stay Accommodation

OK, it’s not our usual style, but we take a moment for a spot of  bragging on behalf of Melbourne – who just made The Sunday New York Times’ ‘Where to Go in 2011′ hit list.  Yay, you go girl. Full article here: Sunday New York Times And while we’re thumping the drum, some more lovely feedback [...]

No more whinging about the unusual summertime drizzle in Melbourne. Crossing all digits and sending our warmest thoughts to all affected by the floods, especially to Jordan, 13, who died after telling the rescuers to save his brother first. Now that makes you feel humble. To Support Flood Victims Queensland Flood Appeal http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html Volunteering http://www.emergencyvolunteering.com.au/ [...]

Now before you start yawning at the title of this post alone, this is no static display of dodgy maps and line drawings of men in wigs.  The Polly Woodside is a 125 year floating merchant ship which forms the central focus of the museum, with associated info and documentation around different areas of the [...]

Gird your loins.  Shoulders back.  Chest out.  Armour on.  Ok, now you’re ready to visit Melbourne’s notorious Moroccan Soup Bar. Overplayed perhaps, but the owner of this North Fitzroy eatery seems to have appropriated the reputation of Sienfeld’s soup nazi. Not entirely fairly in my experience, but she does run a tight ship, so don’t be put off [...]

It was always going to be difficult for this new French eatery to fail. Thick with Melbourne gastronomic and savvy business talent, PM24 has awesome lineage, set to see it position itself as Melbourne’s New French in 2011. The PM bit of the name belongs to Phillip Mouchel, the French michelin starred executive chef who [...]

The highly celebrated ‘Gigibaba’ looks deceptively understated, but this modern Turkish eatery at the top end of the slightly seedy Smith Street Fitzroy has a lot going for it. That is unless you are  a) impatient, b) vegetarian, or,  c) on the pudgier side of pudgey. The no-booking policy is a test for the virgos among us [...]

The revolution is here.  Anyone noticed?   Quietly, sneakily, the ‘dead end’ of the CBD has morphed into something slightly cooler, slightly hipper, and is now routinely referred to as the ‘New York’ end. Groovy wee cafe haunts rub shoulders with design shops and specialist  ’restaurant quality sandwich outlets’.  Joining the coterie of movers and shakers [...]

A fabulous Melbourne institution, The Butterfly Club is one of the quirkiest and most highly original performance venues in the city. Think clutter.  And lots of it.  Three teensy rooms or ‘salons’ are bedecked with every kitch item from a battery farm of 1960′s nanna’s homes.  Porcelain dolls rub shoulders with plastic tack-a-rama, mirrors with [...]

Who knew librarians had such cool names?  Especially in the 1800s.   The State Library of Victoria’s very groovy cafe ‘Mr Tulk’  pinches it’s name, rather shamelessly, from the first librarian to run the State Library of Victoria (SLV). This is appropriate of course, as Mr Tulk is based at the LaTrobe Street entrance to the [...]

If you think ‘Kindle’ is best used to start a fire, then the State Library of Victoria is probably where you should be heading to for your literary fix when visiting Melbourne. Accommodating over 1.5 million books and 16,000 serials, the library is housed in a magnificent 19th century building on Swanston Street – at [...]