Adventures in weather and sightseeing
The day started out with heavy drizzle and ended in a clear, cool evening of the finest deep blue sky kind. The day's first adveture was the Melbourne Aquarium, perched not far from the Yarra River. I'd forgotten my umbrella, but fortunately the rain took pity on me and kindly stopped before the train arrived at Southern Cross Station (aka the station formerly known as Spencer Street).
The aquarium has its charms, but is really not nearly as interesting as the one back in Sydney. It seems a bit sparser, with less variety and more 'dead' space given over to cafes, shop, educational area et al. Admittedly part of the place was under construction, but all the same it just didn't have much of a zing. That said, it was a great place to while away a rainy morning. Among the highlights were the jellyfish tanks, as there weren't many jellys in Sydney. The baby turtles were pretty high in the cute rankings plus anyone who's seen 'Finding Nemo" can't help but coo at the clownfish.
Part two of the day was a trip to the Immigration Museum, situated in the glorious old Customs House. The museum, which is very new, is beautifully conceived with fascinating exhibits on immigrants to Australia from the 18th C all the way to the 21st C. The various exhibits traced both the general history and specific immigrant stories from all eras, elegantly bringing to life the full range of immigrant experiences. And the museum managed to explore immigration - to my eye - in a very even handed way - i.e. without being patronizing to the immigrants or being overly PC.
Before this trip, I knew very little about Australian immigrants, especially those who came later on in the 20th c as part of managed migration, thus the museum wa a valuable learning tool. Among the immigrants profiled were a Scot, two young Sudanese refugees, an Italian, a Greek Woman, a Chilean dissedent and a Cuban. Different eras, different reasons, different experiences, but all with the common thread of Australia.
After lunch, I had the pleasure of interviewing Li Cunxin, a former dancer with the Houston & Australian Ballets and the author of an award winning autobiography "Mao's Last Dancer". I'd grown up watching Li dance with the Houston Ballet, and he was my favorite dancer back then, so it was a realy treat to get to talk to him in person. He's now a successful stockbroker here in Melbourne and does a lot of motivational speaking. Not surprisingly, he's very well spoken, but also very warm and down to earth.
Unfortunately I spent a bit too long walking through Chinatown, so I arrived too late at the Melbourne Museum to get into the exhibits. The day ended at the Melbourne Central Shopping Center, which is huge, but has about the lowest useful to bleah store ratios I've ever seen. Lots of mediocre ladies clothes boutiques and a distinct lack of anything terribly practical. Basically five floors of worthlessness on top of a train station. Melbourne Public Transportation seemed to trying it's best to take after NJ Transit, in that our express train was standing room only, travelling mostly at a snail's pace with periodic stops just jerky enough to send everyone stumbling around.
The day started out with heavy drizzle and ended in a clear, cool evening of the finest deep blue sky kind. The day's first adveture was the Melbourne Aquarium, perched not far from the Yarra River. I'd forgotten my umbrella, but fortunately the rain took pity on me and kindly stopped before the train arrived at Southern Cross Station (aka the station formerly known as Spencer Street).
The aquarium has its charms, but is really not nearly as interesting as the one back in Sydney. It seems a bit sparser, with less variety and more 'dead' space given over to cafes, shop, educational area et al. Admittedly part of the place was under construction, but all the same it just didn't have much of a zing. That said, it was a great place to while away a rainy morning. Among the highlights were the jellyfish tanks, as there weren't many jellys in Sydney. The baby turtles were pretty high in the cute rankings plus anyone who's seen 'Finding Nemo" can't help but coo at the clownfish.
Part two of the day was a trip to the Immigration Museum, situated in the glorious old Customs House. The museum, which is very new, is beautifully conceived with fascinating exhibits on immigrants to Australia from the 18th C all the way to the 21st C. The various exhibits traced both the general history and specific immigrant stories from all eras, elegantly bringing to life the full range of immigrant experiences. And the museum managed to explore immigration - to my eye - in a very even handed way - i.e. without being patronizing to the immigrants or being overly PC.
Before this trip, I knew very little about Australian immigrants, especially those who came later on in the 20th c as part of managed migration, thus the museum wa a valuable learning tool. Among the immigrants profiled were a Scot, two young Sudanese refugees, an Italian, a Greek Woman, a Chilean dissedent and a Cuban. Different eras, different reasons, different experiences, but all with the common thread of Australia.
After lunch, I had the pleasure of interviewing Li Cunxin, a former dancer with the Houston & Australian Ballets and the author of an award winning autobiography "Mao's Last Dancer". I'd grown up watching Li dance with the Houston Ballet, and he was my favorite dancer back then, so it was a realy treat to get to talk to him in person. He's now a successful stockbroker here in Melbourne and does a lot of motivational speaking. Not surprisingly, he's very well spoken, but also very warm and down to earth.
Unfortunately I spent a bit too long walking through Chinatown, so I arrived too late at the Melbourne Museum to get into the exhibits. The day ended at the Melbourne Central Shopping Center, which is huge, but has about the lowest useful to bleah store ratios I've ever seen. Lots of mediocre ladies clothes boutiques and a distinct lack of anything terribly practical. Basically five floors of worthlessness on top of a train station. Melbourne Public Transportation seemed to trying it's best to take after NJ Transit, in that our express train was standing room only, travelling mostly at a snail's pace with periodic stops just jerky enough to send everyone stumbling around.
posted by Scottish Missy at 4:41 AM
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