Day 21: She used to bring me roses

Out into the streets of Melbourne again today, as explored from the less salubrious end of town. We headed up through a park and up to the large Victoria Market to check out what has been billed in the guides as a 'foodie mecca'. Sadly mecca was not open. Totally closed. Not a word on _that_ in the guide book.

We were close now to the old Melbourne Gaol so we went in for a nice visit to the old cells, complete with Ned Kelly's armour and death mask, and death masks of lots of other ex-inmates. Not totally sure how appropriate this place is for 'family friendly fun' but it does include a model of a gallows, operated by a push button, which a 3 year old child was having endless fun with, and you can also buy from the gift shop a number of cuddly toys, all dressed up in Ned Kelly Armour (tm). Very odd.

Taking the approach of in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound to heart we also went for the tour of the old police station which turned out to be exactly what we feared hoped it would be: an over-the-top actor shouting at everyone and calling them wankers. Great.


In the evening we went out for dinner in a great little side street that Dan had again found. About 8 restaurants all jammed in together with outdoor seating. As you go down the alley, they are all vying for your business and get wonderfully competitive - we scored a 2-course meal and a glass of wine for $27 (so about 15 quid). We then wandered off to see where we could go for a street.

We took the approach of wandering down any sufficiently dark alley that looked like it could be interesting and found a classy bar where a magazine launch was just finishing. We had asked the doorman if it was a private do, and finding that it was, asked if he could recommend anywhere else. He popped inside to get opinions, and the editor of the magazine invited us in to join them. Free bar, which was nice. The club was all red-brick walls, candles all over the place and Louis XVI style chairs and chaise-longues.

We got chatting and got some good recommendations for further places, which we then checked out.

Cookie is a bar on three different levels, but the best one is on the roof. Wood tables, deckchairs and a large cinema screen set on an astro-turfed roof 5 stories up. We were sat right up in the roofline of the city, with the weather on the cool-side but still lovely and warm.

We then went on to the next recommendation: Gin Palace. Following the theme of the evening, this was down a dark side alley, just past a cheap supermarket. No real advertisment or markings, just a small sign above a single door.

The bar served really, really good martinis (plain gin for me, and apple for Dan). Decor again was really good - pretty p0lush chairs and sofas, but all faded chic. The loos could undo you a bit if you happened to be the worse for wares, as they have plastered the walls with urinals, some upside-down above the 'real' ones. I don't _think_ I got it wrong but we won't ever be going back there anyway!


Tomorrow: Going Coastal.