Melbourne 2

Parliament

On our last morning in Melbourne, we walked with Alan and Karen over to the old mint where they had a Hellenistic exhibit. The traveling show had lots of old artifacts from Ancient Greece which were interesting. More exciting was a series of photographs commissioned by the museum to include artifacts in a modern ethereal setting. We were treated to a series of dreamy (not sexy) poses with various gold artifacts from the show. Another part of the museum had drawings of Greek clothing from the early 1900s. Finally, there was a series of paintings by an Australian artist from the year that he spent in Greece. These more modern touches made the entire exhibit much more exciting.

Click to enlarge

After lunch, the others chose to rest so I took the tram down to the Old Treasury Building to view a “The Foundations of Melbourne”. I was kind of expecting some sort of geological presentation, but was pleased to find it was a series of maps and exhibits delineating the growth of Melbourne over the years. These included early maps, drawings, and photographs. One birds-eye map was blown up to wall size and labeled to show the buildings where they are today. Another panorama from decades ago filled a room. Below it was a current picture from the same perspective. All of this helped my understanding of Melbourne’s past and present.

The Old Treasury was built to store gold from the mines in the nearby Ballarat area, but as so often happens with ideas like this, it was constructed a few years too late and probably never held any gold at all. The downstairs vaults are used to tell the story of gold and mining in the area. Another section of the basement had been redecorated to show how an early Treasurer had lived their with his nine children. I always find it interesting to get this picture of how people lived in the past in their small spaces.

The permanent display in the museum is of the Bush Rangers. These were the thieves who stole the hard-earned gold from miners or stage lines as they carried the gold to Melbourne. Ned Kelly, the most famous of them all is featured, but several others are also highlighted included a 16-year old who had a song written for him. The song was available for listening. I suppose it is similar to the Mexican songs written today about their drug lords. Kelly was finally captured and hanged in Melbourne. He and his three cohorts had tried wearing metal armor to protect them from bullets, but the police just shot them in the legs and arms which the armor didn’t cover. Over 3000 people signed petitions for his release even though there was no doubt he had killed people during his criminal activity. Glenrowan, the town where he was captured has made an entire tourist industry out of his crimes. Another related section showed how women criminals were treated. This section included a group of police photos of some sketchy looking women. I would not want to meet them in a dark alley. They also included police record sheets of several criminals, both women and Bush Rangers.

They do look like criminals

After leaving the museum, I walked over to St. Peter’s Cathedral. The center section is largely unadorned, quite a contrast from cathedrals in Europe and Latin America where gold is so prevalent. It does showcase some beautiful stained glass and includes a more ornate series of chapels along the outside walls of the building. While I was there the organist came in and began playing adding a beautiful background to my visit. The grounds are quite extensive including fountains and statues.

On the way back I checked out a couple restaurants on Hardware Alley for dinner. One, Max, was so highly recommended by the hotel staff that we decided to try it. It lived up to expectations. That was helped by the free starter drink we all received.

Melbourne is a great city and quite different from Sydney. Smaller than Sydney, life is lived at a less frenetic pace. It still has great restaurants, magnificent museums, a fantastic market, and some excellent theatre. In addition to the local productions, “The Book of Mormon,” “The Bodyguard” and “Aladdin” we all showing. We’ve seen Book of Mormon and Alladin and we were not interested in seeing The Bodyguard and did not really have time anyway, but perhaps on our next trip …