Winter firsts in Melbourne -- Part 1
by prudence on 31-Jul-2010
Firsts for us, that is. Melbourne's done all this before.
Last weekend was Melbourne Open House, when places not usually open to the public are laid bare. We visited the Victoria Police Mounted Branch, which we have walked past on many an occasion, but never been able to investigate. Very interesting. The horses normally live out on the farm when they're not on duty, but a few were in the stables that morning to give the place a bit of atmosphere. They'd been on patrol the previous night (Friday), so they were probably still recovering from passive alcoholism. The stables cat was still on duty, of course, and was snoozing his way through the day shift. A lot of police horses are former race horses, apparently, so that must be quite a change of gear -- from feted athlete to upholder of the peace.
Then we toured the Origin Energy Roof Garden. Why don't we do this with every horizontal elevated space?
The queues were massive for the Russell Place substation, so we skipped that, and moved on to the Victorian Trades Hall, "a national treasure and a symbol of the aspirations of the Australian people". This is a really cool place. The building is like the land that time forgot, with its worn bluestone staircase, amazing tiling, much abused Old Council Chamber benches, and listings directing you to the Pastrycooks' Union or the Plasterers' Society. But it's also full of historically resonant moments, commemorating the campaign for the 40-hour week and the anti-conscription votes during World War 1. And the lift is an experience in itself.
Last weekend was also our first time at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which is such an institution that it requires its own survival guide. Our cinema-going usually takes place early on a Saturday when no-one else is up, so it was very different to be part of a big crowd, and have to spend half an hour in the queue outside to make sure you didn't end up in the front row. Nice to be part of a responsive cinephile audience, though. Quaintly, everyone applauds at the end.
And Friday was my first experience of choral evensong at St Paul's Cathedral. This doesn't, of course, have to be a winter activity, but there's something very nice about starting evensong with the sparrows doing twilight twittering in the trees outside, and emerging into the very last minutes of dusk at the end. The rumble and clang of the trams outside is muted, as inside the choristers' voices soar.
If you have to have winter, Melbourne's a good place for it.
Last weekend was Melbourne Open House, when places not usually open to the public are laid bare. We visited the Victoria Police Mounted Branch, which we have walked past on many an occasion, but never been able to investigate. Very interesting. The horses normally live out on the farm when they're not on duty, but a few were in the stables that morning to give the place a bit of atmosphere. They'd been on patrol the previous night (Friday), so they were probably still recovering from passive alcoholism. The stables cat was still on duty, of course, and was snoozing his way through the day shift. A lot of police horses are former race horses, apparently, so that must be quite a change of gear -- from feted athlete to upholder of the peace.
Then we toured the Origin Energy Roof Garden. Why don't we do this with every horizontal elevated space?
The queues were massive for the Russell Place substation, so we skipped that, and moved on to the Victorian Trades Hall, "a national treasure and a symbol of the aspirations of the Australian people". This is a really cool place. The building is like the land that time forgot, with its worn bluestone staircase, amazing tiling, much abused Old Council Chamber benches, and listings directing you to the Pastrycooks' Union or the Plasterers' Society. But it's also full of historically resonant moments, commemorating the campaign for the 40-hour week and the anti-conscription votes during World War 1. And the lift is an experience in itself.
Last weekend was also our first time at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which is such an institution that it requires its own survival guide. Our cinema-going usually takes place early on a Saturday when no-one else is up, so it was very different to be part of a big crowd, and have to spend half an hour in the queue outside to make sure you didn't end up in the front row. Nice to be part of a responsive cinephile audience, though. Quaintly, everyone applauds at the end.
And Friday was my first experience of choral evensong at St Paul's Cathedral. This doesn't, of course, have to be a winter activity, but there's something very nice about starting evensong with the sparrows doing twilight twittering in the trees outside, and emerging into the very last minutes of dusk at the end. The rumble and clang of the trams outside is muted, as inside the choristers' voices soar.
If you have to have winter, Melbourne's a good place for it.