Thursday, June 10, 2010

Melbourne – Realise your Flights of Fancy!

Melbourne – A Colourful, Colonial and Cultural Cocktail

One of the world’s most liveable city, Melbourne simply enthrals visitors with its multiple charms. The city has numerous unique traits like being the largest Italian city outside Italy and the world’s third largest Greek city. A colourful dash of Arabic, Jewish, Vietnamese, and Chinese communities makes the destination a heady eclectic cocktail. With scores of museums, art galleries, cultural festivals, and performances, Melbourne is a contender to the title of cultural capital of Australia. Lofty Victorian buildings and scores of gardens and parks serve as beautiful reminders of Melbourne’s colonial legacy.

The Union Jack shaped Fitzroy Gardens housing the Old Treasury Building, the Parliament House, and the Carlton Gardens with the Melbourne Museum are perfect for nice quiet strolls. The South Yarra Como House colonial mansions and the Werribee Park complete with the Victoria State Rose Garden seem to transport one to the colonial times. The boroughs outside the city are so richly flavoured by their specific local practices that they often appear to be theme parks in themselves.

Sprawling greens and exciting wildlife

Wildlife enthusiasts would do well to visit Healesville Sanctuary, a bush land snuggled into the Yarra Valley foothills. The sanctuary is teeming with as many as 200 native species of wildlife with the platypus, kangaroos, koalas and dingoes to name just a few. One of the hottest tourist magnets in Melbourne is the Birds of Prey Presentation in an outdoor amphitheatre setting, where visitors can get up close to the awe inspiring flights of winged creatures like the majestic peregrine falcon, kite, osprey, buzzard, wedge tailed eagle. Don’t forget to take the Burra Burra Yan Tour under an Aboriginal guide for juicy tid bits on the bush land.

Vibrant Shopping and Entertainment

For night birds and pub crawlers, Melbourne is mecca with the city being known as the bar capital and live music hub of Australia. There are scores of bars and pubs designed to suit every pocket. Melbourne is also a veritable paradise for shopaholics. Some of the most happening shopping joints are Melbourne Central, Block Arcade, Royal Arcade, Myer, David Jones, and Queen Victoria Market. While, Prahran and South Yarra are dotted with nightclubs and fashion boutiques, St. Kilda is marked by the bagel belt, live music, and the beach. Similarly, Fitzroy gives a bohemian feel, while Carlton is full of Italian restaurants. All these delights are within the reach of anyone who can afford one of the many cheap flights to Melbourne.

A holiday to Melbourne definitely emerges as a highly rewarding experience. It is easy to spend day after day checking out mesmerising landmarks like the Old Melbourne Gaol, Eureka Skydeck 88, Federation Square, Melbourne Observation Deck, Melbourne Museum, and National Gallery of Victoria International. Melbourne vacations definitely make you realise why it is called the most liveable city.

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