Melbourne City – with fresh eyes – Food and Adventures Along the Way

We love Melbourne, and staying in the City is one of our favourite quick getaways.

It’s early February and the weather normally would be hot.

But, you know what they say about Melbourne – if you don’t like the weather, wait 30 minutes. Today is wet and cold – a rugging up wintery clothing coldness type of day that’s sweeping across eastern Australia as we speak. Thankfully, I came prepared and am dressed like someone on an antarctic trek.

This time, we’re visiting Melbourne City like newbie tourists, with fresh eyes for sights, sounds, art, culture and, of course, food.

We felt like a light lunch in a small Collins Street arcade. We had eaten at this little cafe before, with our plates perched precariously on a rickety shelf, people watching amidst the busy lunchtime worker crowds.

You can’t go wrong with calamari, an aioli dipping sauce and salad (great choice Jeff!), but you can go wrong with a beetroot, feta and walnut salad, when the beetroot is out of a tin. Disappointing as the balsamic and mustard dressing clashed with the vinegary tinned beetroot.

Hyatt Centric Melbourne

Each time we’ve been to Melbourne, we’ve stayed in a different hotel, spreading the love. This time, our stay is at the cool retro fitted Hyatt Centric Melbourne. Very impressed with location, staff and vibe.

The evening began with a drink at the 25th floor bar and restaurant.

Breakfast with a view

Delhi Streets

We chose a simple Indian Street food venue just around the corner from the hotel. Relaxed, busy and buzzing with locals. Very good curries – recommend Delhi Streets for a casual dining experience. A little heavy on the starchy carbs for my preference, but that’s Indian food for you.

Free Walking Tour

I love this quote.
“Walking is mapping with your feet. It helps you piece a city together, connecting up neighborhoods that might otherwise have remained discrete entities, different planets bound to each other, sustained yet remote. I like seeing how in fact they blend into one another, I like noticing the boundaries between them. Walking helps me feel at home. There’s a small pleasure in seeing how well I’ve come to know the city through my wanderings on foot, crossing through different neighborhoods of the city, some I used to know quite well, others I may not have seen in a while, like getting reacquainted with someone I once met at a party.”
Source: Lauren Elkin – Why We Walk

One of our favourite ways to get to know a city we’re visiting is to do the free walking tour. Even though we’d been to Melbourne countless times, a guided tour by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable local can give interesting aspects of architecture and the history of the city and its people that’s difficult to pick up on your own.

Possibly not the best day. Thank you Melbourne for turning on the rain, wind, sun, heat and cold, all in the space of three hours.