What does a typical twelve year-old daughter like to do on holidays apart from going to a theme park? Many of them can’t think of anything better to do than go shopping and Melbourne is a fantastic place to go to do that and to eat well at the same time. It’s an easy and convenient place to go in Australia for a change of scene that is also reminiscent of Europe.
It's easy to get there from the airport
Melbourne Central Business District (CBD) is a quick twenty minutes ride from Tullamarine Airport on one of their SkyBuses to one of the main train stations, Spencer Street. If you’re returning by SkyBus to the train station watch out for peak hour traffic as it may be quicker to walk if you’re based in the city.
Shops and cafes in the CBD
There are numerous fun places to go shopping in the CBD. While you’re in the city, all the big brand shops are there including Zara and Dotti that are great value and also where you can get all your basics. Nearby is Koko Black in the Royal Arcade, Bourke Street, where you can enter into a cosy chocolate heaven. Everything is chocolate here from deserts to drinks and the chocolates that you can leave with. Between chocolates in the city, if you want to find more interesting, funky clothes, explore Quick Brown Fox or Arabella Ramsay for more quirky, vintage styling that are both in Flinders Lane.
A few great restaurants
After a long hard day of walking around shops try ending the day with an Italian meal. Italian food is synonymous with Melbourne. Around 40% of the Victorian population has Italian ancestry which is by far the highest concentration in Australia. It makes sense then that some of the oldest restaurants are Italian such as Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar and Grossi Florentino which has both a salad bar for more informal and affordable eating and a fine dining restaurant.
At Grossi Florentino the service is impeccable – efficient, friendly, gracious and with a touch of humour. On the other hand, at Caffe e Cucina in Chapel Street, South Yarra, you can be left for twenty minutes waiting for a slice of cake for afternoon tea while the waiters are drinking wine at the bar.
If an early Spanish meal is more to your taste, then Bar Lourinha is a lively and fun place to go to. If you get there at around 6pm you may get a seat at one of their high tables before the after work rush fills the place in an instant. The food is served on entre-sized, rustic plates and four dishes between three people will fill you all up. The goat was especially worth having as it was falling-off-the-bone tender and sweet while in contrast, spicy sausages pepped you up.
Having a picnic in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens
If you want a break from restaurant/café eating, visit the Queen Victoria Markets and then catch a tram to have a picnic in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. At the markets you can buy small quantities of delicious morsels from delicatessens, fruits and vegetables and cakes. You can walk across to Spencer Street from the Markets and take one of seven trams along St Kilda Road to stop at the Shrine of Remembrance which is next to the Botanic Gardens. There you can eat to your heart’s content amidst the lush and peaceful surroundings of the Gardens.
When you return home you'll have lots of clothes and be very well fed but probably not have gained weight as you'll have done so much walking.
Tempe Macgowan - I started writing years ago as I was so passionate about a story that I came across that I wanted to tell everybody about it.
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