Getting Lost in the Grid

 After my last blog, you may be wondering what I thought of Melbourne. Did it live up to expectations?

Well it depends on if you're judging it by the sights you see...

or the food you put into your mouth.

The city of Melbourne is a grid. The Hoddle Grid to be exact. Half a mile by one mile of wide perpendicular streets.

Before

 After

But those early entrepreneurial Melbournians needed a way to access the buildings with their carts, and thus grew a culture of laneways that have been recently urbanized, regenerated and hipster-ized. Completely with authorized graffiti and the small art installation exhibits tucked away, from rooftop honey to a whiskey bar, you can find the heart of Melbourne culture in the laneways and arcades of Melbourne, but you need a tourguide to navigate them. Luckily we had one (despite my dad's hesitation on going on a "shopping & food" tour). In three days we couldn't even touch one percent of them of some of these 65.

1. ACDC Lane
2. Albert Coates Lane
3. Artemis Lane
4. Bank Place
5. Beaney Lane
6. Bennetts Lane
7. Bligh Place
8. Block Place
9. Dame Edna Everidge Place
10. Centre Place
11. Caledonian Lane
12. Chapter House Lane
13. Church Lane
14. Club Lane
15. Cohen Place
16. Commerce Way
17. Crombie Lane
18. Custom House Lane
19. Davisons Place
20. Degraves Street 
21. Duckboard Place
22. Equitable Place
23. Evans Lane
24. Exploration Lane
25. Flinders Court
26. Francis Street
27. Goldie Place
28. Gurners Lane
29. Hardware Lane
30. Hayward Lane
31. Healeys Lane
32. Highlander Lane
33. Hosier Lane
34. Jane Bell Lane
35. Jones Lane
36. Manchester Lane - known for its nightclubs in the 1913 Manchester House and home to a new business model of the pop up Shebeen, where 100% of the profits go to the developing world. And when the doors close, you'd never know there was a restaurant there.
    
    
37. Manton Lane
38. Market Lane
39. Meyers Place
40. McKillop Street
41. Niagara Lane
42. Rankins Lane
43. Red Cape Lane
44. Tattersalls Lane
45. Tivoli Arcade
46. Union Lane
47. Waratah Place
48. Warburton Alley
49. Windsor Place
50. The Causeway Lane
51. Australia on Collins
52. Block Arcade 
53. Campbell Arcade
54. Capitol Arcade
55. Cathedral Arcade
56. Centrepoint
57. Centreway Arcade
58. Collins two3four
59. Collins Place
60. Howey Place -I'm claiming this as "Howie" place :)
61. Port Phillip Arcade
62. Royal Arcade
63. The Paramount
64. The Walk Arcade
65. The Galleria

Who wouldn't want to go dress shopping in this 1920's arcade? 

(If you look really closely, yes, those are dresses lining the second floor railing.)

 

Or look through one of these windows to fall victim to one of these cakes, macaroon or a new favorite, hot chocolate affogato.

So who's going to meet me in Melbourne for afternoon tea?