Day in Melbourne

Melbourne is a cultural melting pot with a huge number of diverse restaurant options and shops. The architecture is a real mix of colonial wonder, gothic grandeur and post modern optimism ;) the city seems to merge all of these elements successfully making it a fantastic place to walk around. I would suggest (as the lonely planet does) that starting from Flinders Street Station ( Square) gives you the best access to the city itself with the wonderful ACMI and Arts centres nearby and St Paul’s Cathedral just to your left as you exit the terminal. As I arrive into the city I notice that there is a Disney display in ACMI (Entrance fee $16), which focuses on the development of animation from hand drawn artwork of the early films to the use of computer aided animation of ‘modern classics’. Detailed displays range from Snow White through Beauty and the Beast to Entangled and demonstrates how the artists have progressed in the development of Stories from the original versions to the Disney classics - it is a wonderful mix of video animation, historical records, artefacts and images, which will keep people of all ages fascinated. I noticed that most of the visitors were adults ;) In the same building there are FREE exhibits on the history of the moving image where you can see the Mad Max car and have a go at producing your own 3 second ‘Matrix’ style scene captured on 36 cameras that take images of you from every conceivable angle - great fun and has the option to have a link to your video sent to you via e-mail. You can check out my effort at:
http://www.acmi.net.au/timeslice/Timeslice.htm?file=ts-20110309-d087b2c5707af89df5645b44a9a605f8.flv
Enjoy :).
Leaving the ACMI centre I walked up and around Collin Street which seemed to thrive with fashion houses and was near to the HYATT, GUCCI, LOUI VOUTTON etc… leading you up to Parliament House and cutting across (watching out for trams!) you enter China Town, full of small novelty stores and restaurants - amazing to think that these two areas are literally side by side… I return to the centre in time to attend the Eucharist service at St Paul’s Cathedral while admiring the breathtaking workmanship of the cathedrals interior and superb lantern window. Melbourne is a city that you can loose yourself in for several days so plan ahead :)