Elaine's Tender Loving Cakes: MELBOURNE TRIP- PART 3- LOOK UP! LOOK UP!

12/3/2013 Afternoon.

So we went down to the city and parked at RCH before taking the tram down to the Town Hall.
This afternoon is all about buildings - the beauty, the architecture and history.

To quote: "A building can be dramatic, iconic, expressive, reflective or quiet, but it must always survive well through time." - from The Star 25/3/2013.

It was a time to look upwards!
I loved all these buildings around the city. They have truly survived well through time and are indeed magnificient and awesome architecture.
So take a walk with us.

The Melbourne Town Hall. I bet many people does not know that you can join the free tour of this place. It is available from Monday to Friday at 11 am and 1 pm.

The red carpet corridor leading to the offices of the Council chambers.

The stunning glass ceiling of the reception room.

stained glass windows in the reception room

This is the door for visitors to enter the reception room-

while this was the door for the Mayor's use- 2 doors in the same room but both different decor!

We went along to view the Grand Organ - however there was an orchestra practising so we were unable to go inside to view the Grand Organ (see the recess on the left - not clear as we were allowed to take photo from the outside only). The Grand Organ was first built in 1872. However it was destroyed during the fire in 1925. Later the second organ was rebuilt in 1929 and refurbished and relaunched in 2001 and now contains drums, bells and almost 8000 pipes across 3 levels of the building!.

"This Organ uses 90,000 cubic fee of air every minute and can produce anything from a delicate whistle to deafending thunder"- wow! - amazing but disappointed that we were unable to hear this. It seems that there is also free lunchtime recital/concert offer now and then.

Next we were taken to see the Council Chambers where the councils meeting were held.
It is impressive with all the wood panelling and leather seats!

the balcony where the public can sit and listen to the meeting

Notice the workmanship of the wood panelling.

The tour took around an hour. We left the Town Hall and wallked down the street towards our next destination.

These are some of the buildings that had left me in awe of their grandeur and architecture of age gone by.

This too had me wondering.... in the middle of a busy street!

The Melbourne State Library. During my few trips to Melbourne, I had passed this building, took a photo or two and yet had never crossed my mind to go in and have a look.

What a surprise, I was entranced and enthralled!

The Enchanted Dome - "a place to reflect, dream and be inspired"

Centenary 100 years- It was modelled on the grand domes of London British Library and Washington Library. It was opened to the public in 1913.

Balconies with its ornate plaster works.

The octgaonal reading room -now known as LaTrobe Reading Room

The distictive feature is the high central desk- a circular structure with a central surveillance point, a design initially developed for prison architecture. The radial seating plans has been liken to "the spokes of a wheel".

Tomes of books lining the galleries- many writers have come here to be inspired and to inspire!

Old printing press

We took our time to visit the Gusto! A culinary history of Victoria

Now what does the word Gusto means to you?
Good food and wine, the right company, fun, laughter?
Gusto - in Italian means taste or flavour. In English- enthusiasam, great enjoyment and zest.

This was a free guided tour as we were walked through the exhibition featuring the culinary collections of the State Library- from the first Australia cookbook published in 1864 to the original World War 1 army biscuit!

After the exhibition, we were feeling hungry but it was already past lunchtime. We stopped for a sandwich break along Collin Street. After resting our feet, we went to get our coffee beans at Little Collins St.