Melbourne Day 5 and 6

 DAY 5 

THURSDAY: Melbourne CBD

A little sparrow at the markets, I think he was waiting for his coffee order.

Vegan cupcakes at the market

On Thursday morning we caught the tram to the Queen Victoria Markets. I got another iced decaf coffee. Jon got a breakfast burger. The market was only partway full (there were so many empty spaces) and most of it was the same cheap clothes, tourist merchandise and expensive leather goods. We got a couple of cute presents and a Wednesday tee for $20. We did get a Melbourne magnet for our fridge because I realised a while back having cheesy merchandise from holidays is fun. 

After looking around the markets, we headed back to the deli hall for lunch (the food court was closed for renovations). I grabbed a vegan pie and a Biscoff cupcake from a Ferguson Plarre's Bakehouse. The pie was really amazing! Jon got prosciutto and salmon wrapped cream cheese. There weren't really many places to sit as there was no food court and most of the seats were wet from early morning rain. We found a bench and had a quick lunch. There was some interesting signage across from us about the history of the markets and a doctor who supported women's rights and provided free medical services to the poor. (I forgot to take a picture and I can't find anything online without knowing his name.) We threw a few crumbs to the pigeons. 

I love how beautiful they used to make functional things like lamp posts!

We went back to the Hellenic Museum which was across from the tram stop near our hotel. There were three wonderful paintings outside by a female artist (name) Loretta Lizzio of three less known Greek women from history. Read about it here. 

Agnodike of Athens, Physican

Hydna of Scione, swimmer

 Anyte of Tagea, writer

A sculpture inside the museum. The figure looked hauntingly lifelike.

The Hellenic museum was small, but it had some really interesting exhibits. Downstairs there was information and artifacts from the different eras of Greece, showing influences of the other civilisations that occupied their country.

The Oath Being Taken by Lord Byton at Missolonghi, by Ludovico Upparini  

 

The Hellenic Museum is in the former Royal Mint, hence this rather dramatic room that used to be the safe.

 There was another amazing exhibition where the artist, Marian Maguire, imagined an alternate history where Ancient Greek and Maori cultures met. I didn't take any pictures due to the low lighting. You can read about it here.

Photograph from the Hellenic Museum site.

This reminded me of Absalom Askew, one of my favourite characters from Katherine Harbour's Thorn Jack books.

Witchcraft shop in the Royal Arcade

We went to the Brotherhood of St Laurence opshop in the basement of The Royal Arcade. It was really humid day and we got hot and tired walking around. We also accidentally found Fortress which was useful later. We got a sports bag from Kmart for taking all our shopping home, and saw some Gashopon machines that were too expensive. 

We planned to go to Chinatown but we were hot and hungry so we went to Vapiano which we had just passed by and got a vegan magherita pizza. I got a lychee and elderflower cooler (lychee, cranberry and elderflower syrup, topped with house-made lemonade) and Jon got a Bundaberg ginger beer. We felt more refreshed but still tired.

Some tiny birds nesting in old vents on the building across from Vapiano.

 After that we headed back to the hotel and dropped off our stuff. We went back out to Wunderkammer briefly as it on my bucket list. It was a really cool shop with interesting bones, taxidermy and weird art. 

If I could have afforded this I would have got it! One day I will have money for art!

For dinner we went to Vegie Tribe and met my friend Steph and her boyfriend Zachary. It was an all you can eat vegan buffet for $29. The pizza was yummy if a little dry. Jon liked the curry and lasagne although he thought everything was amazing. I really liked the custard and mousse and the pistachio and raspberry macarons. I forgot to get a photo with Steph as we were too busy talking!

Photo from Vegie Tribe.

Jon and I headed to Evie's Disco Diner for 9 but it was completely empty except for us so we looked for other things to do.

The Medieval themed Tavern at Fortress

We got to Fortress Melbourne about 45 minutes before close. Fortress is a huge gaming centre with computers, sideshow games, a medieval themed tavern and boardgames. They just opened one in Sydney recently. This was the first one we went to. Jon got a non-alcoholic version of the Kadath's Dream cocktail and I got a taro milk tea on soy. I hadn't actually had one before, it was so good.

We grabbed some Hungry Jacks on the way home then went to the karaoke booths again at around 11pm. The girl from Karaoke also worked at Hana photos (photobooth two shops away) apparently, saw her giving someone a plush animal hat to wear.

Easter egg Steph got me!

DAY 6 

FRIDAY: Prahran

Sculpture of a tram sticking up from the ground near our tram stop.

We checked out of our hotel and had a quick look at the opshop across from the tram stop. We took our bags to the station lockers then got the tram out to Prahran. We started at the Prahran Food Markets. I got an iced decaf coffee. 

Our brunch at the markets: 

Jon's breakfast tart

My vegan quiche

The delicious orange and hazelnut cake I got to take away. Also from Stir the Pot. You can see all the candied orange and bits of pistachio on on the top.

I just liked the duck on the sign.

This amazing mushroom stall at the markets!

We found some opshops at Prahran. I can't remember the first one. I think it was a big warehouse. There was also two Uniting opshops next to each other but completely separate with different layouts and staff. A fashionable older lady running the second one talked to us about the McQueen exhibition. We had a few minutes look at the Antique Emporium Prahran but didn't have the time to fully look at it. It would have taken hours! This turned out to be a good decision as we ended up running late...

The Antique Emporium Prahran was huge!

Wrought iron frog set, too heavy and expensive to take home!

 

After that I grabbed a delicious fresh orange, apple and carrot juice from a local café (one of the best I have ever had) and ate the cake at a local little park. I am not sure which one it was, maybe Gratton park. It was delicious. There was an $100 fine for feeding pigeons so I didn't give them any. 

Our last view of Prahran, with some really European looking houses across from the tram stop.

We then got our trams back to Southern Cross station, got our bags and got the Skybus back to the airport. Due to some poor calculation, we barely made it in time to check in our big bag. Luckily we were able to carry our duffle on as the check in machine was also malfunctioning. (Yep, it's all automated now!)

On the plane they gave us a light dinner. It was a Yummy Karma vegan corn and zucchini fritters with tamarind and mint sauce. It was delicious, vegan, nut and gluten free! I was so impressed to be offered a base option that was vegan without having to take things off or to order a different meal! And of course it catered to most food allergies if anyone had one!

We grabbed some Hungry Jacks at the airport as it was getting late and got the train home. Jon's parents picked us up and dropped us home. We had our leftover vegan ice-creams from the freezer and went to bed. The next day we got the pets.

It was a whirlwind trip and there are still so many things we want to see in Melbourne, so we will definitely have to go back!