Walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens is an escape from city life. It’s peaceful and quiet with the trees masking the noise from the roads. It was founded in 1846 and covers 38 hectares. As we only had a few hours to explore we followed the path back towards the city. My gallery below shows just a few of the scenes on offer.
I liked these quotes so typed them out to be able read them clearly.
This plant caught my eye, at first from a distance I thought it was a light of some kind.
The photo above is of Guilfoyle’s Volcano. It is a restored reservoir built in 1876 built to look like a volcano. From here you can see panoramic scenes of the city.
Top left, Anthony in the Tacoma Pavilion ; Top right, “Looking out” Bottom, Shrine of Remembrance.
Looking through the trees towards the City skyline
There is a cafe here for lunches and coffees and also many places to sit and have a picnic. The Yarra River is only a short walk away where there are many cafes and restaurants.
This is one of my favourite places for lunch, especially on a sunny day.
Another interesting place to explore, particularly when it’s raining is The National Gallery of Victoria. It is normally free entrance, if there is a special exhibition an entrance fee might be required. There are four floors to explore with over 76,000 works of art to see.
I have collated a gallery of my own below. I framed my favourites.
Bronze Eel Trap Aunty Kim Wandin“Really Good” David Shrigley“Venus” Jeff Koons“Dancing Pumpkin” Yayoi Kusama
Paintings by Nipa Doshi
Tea and coffee salon, Sabo, 1939 Saeki Shunko
Parrots Live Forever Audrey Flack
The Sun Eater Joan Miro
I took the above to show my 7 year old grandson as I think some of his artwork is better!
Photograph titled Irises Robert Mapplethorpe
This last one appealed to me because of the shadow and light thrown across the flowers. Tea and Coffee Salon is my favourite and think it would look excellent hanging in my living room.
If you’re looking for quirky places to eat in Melbourne off the beaten track, we found an excellent French restaurant. Midnight in Paris is situated in Prahran High Street and is also an art gallery. They have live music on Fridays and Saturdays. The service and food are excellent.
Herb Crusted FishSeafood Marinara
Our tasty mains
A sample of the artwork on display
Cozy garden at the back
I was tempted to get up and have a little boogie and danced like no-one was watching! But everyone would have been watching it was so small.
During all the times we have been to Macau, we have never visited the famous casinos. This is something that has been on my list for a while.
Macau’s economy relies heavily on gambling. Macau has 61 casinos of which the biggest is The Venetian Macau. It’s surprising to note that Macau is the gambling capital of the World, the hotels and casinos are much larger for one thing.
Walking back from dinner on our first night, we passed by the MGM. So we stepped inside to take a look. There were several sculptures of lions, on display. As everyone knows the lion is the symbol of MGM.
The MGM Hotel
The Lobby of MGM
“The Silk Road” by Robert Paravy & Cecile Paravy-Vigliengo
“Floral Patterns” by Alexandrine Guerin & Yning Zhao
Louise de Macao – Lacy Dress on the Grand Lion by Hong Wai
I loved the amazing detail of these lions, there were many more too.
Entry to the casino
Neither of us are gambling types which is fortunate, otherwise the temptations would be too great!
“Dalinian Dancer” – Salvador Dali
The artwork at the MGM is stunning, I could have stayed a night or two here quite happily. It felt more like a museum than a hotel.
Most of the casinos are located in Taipa and the three biggest are The Venetian, The Parisian and The Londoner. We managed The Venetian and The Londoner, but our senses were overwhelmed and we didn’t get to The Parisian. I did feel as if I had visited three cities in one day.
The Venetian
The Venetian in Macau was built to replicate The Venetian in Las Vegas. To say it is astounding would be an understatement. My first impressions on walking to the canals section were that the weather had improved and turned warmer. Realising that it was in fact a false ceiling, I had the feeling I was an extra on The Truman Show.
Inside The Venetian
The Venetian
It was a Sunday the day we visited and also a festive holiday and the crowds were out in force. When I looked up I was momentarily confused as to what the dark holes in the sky were. I thought at first they were drones. I have to say it was very disconcerting.
Canals of Venice
I’ve now been to Venice!
As we left The Venetian, I looked up to see the striking ceiling, with such complex designs.
Ceiling of The Venetian depicting signs of the Zodiac
The Houses of Parliament from The Londoner in the background.
The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben at The Londoner
After a while Anthony said he had to get out, it was getting to be claustrophobic! They don’t make it easy though to find an exit, everywhere just seemed to lead to more labyrinths.
The Eiffel Tower
In a different light
Before heading over to The Londoner I managed to take a couple of photos of the Eiffel Tower at The Parisian.
The Londoner
Another ornate ceiling
The statue of Eros
Eros at Piccadilly Square
Which London Station?
We stopped for a drink at one of the many cafes inside and watched The Changing of the Guards.
Big Ben
I enjoyed visiting The Londoner, the architecture is unbelievable. I can’t imagine how it would be to stay in a place like this. For one, the cost would be extortionate and also I think it would feel too overwhelming.
I’m happy that we visited some of the casinos but I doubt we would go back, Macau has so much more to offer. If you visit and want to see some fabulous art, I would suggest one of the big casinos.
It’s been a fairly quiet month here in Perth for me. Many outings with Rosie of course, including one to the zoo. A few dinner dates, a concert in the park and a trip to the cinema. The weather has been very changeable, with a few hot days, extremely windy ones and too many cold ones!
On the day we went to the zoo it was slightly overcast and a few rain clouds about. Ideal for walking. I thought I had arrived early enough to find a carpark near the entrance, but not early enough as it was full. We drove around up and down the side streets and eventually found one, around ten minutes walk. Rosie seemed happy to walk. We hired a stroller once inside, but I ended up pushing it mostly empty! We had a lovely few hours checking out all the animals.
One of the many brass sculptures at the zoo
A tree kangaroo
“Such a strong girl”
Aboriginal Artwork
From here it all went downhill pretty fast. We walked back the allotted ten minutes and I said to Rosie, “hmm, I don’t remember walking past this building”. Well, after dragging Rosie up and down for almost 40 minutes, I called my daughter. I said, “Sorry, but you will have to come and pick us up. I’ve lost the car.” This was supposed to be her day to herself. We had to wait another 20 minutes but I was glad of the rest. Anyway, of course we found the car pretty quickly, I had missed a turning. Needless to say, the zoo is off the list for a while.
A day out with the munchkins at our favourite place, Chapel Farm. They keep some alpacas on the grounds. Such cute animals.
The artist himself
From a walk around Subiaco, looking at the new murals being painted.
Christmas cookie baking, although the icing was the best part
Taken on separate nights while having happy hour in my garden
So technically, I didn’t drive from Perth, but flew to Adelaide to meet Anthony who did drive! Also while I’m being upfront here I didn’t do any of the driving, I did a lot of sleeping though. If sleeping was an olympic sport, I would definitely be up for a gold medal.
I arrived shortly before Anthony and checked into the Stamford Grand in Glenelg. We’ve stayed here before, a few years ago and it was a welcome return. I was fortunate enough to be upgraded to a fantastically large room overlooking the ocean.
Glenelg, South Australia
Stamford Grand Hotel, Glenelg, South AustraliaView from our room Grand staircase, Stamford Grand, Glenelg
After I had checked in I went for a walk along the promenade and down the pier. There were quite a few people around considering it was a Tuesday afternoon in winter.
View across the bay from the pierReflections of the sun’s rays
Beautiful sunset from the room
Anthony arrived shortly before sunset and we walked to the marina where there are many restaurants. We chose a tapas place and had an excellent dinner.
After a good night’s rest and a buffet breakfast we set off on our long drive over to St. Kilda in Victoria. It would take approximately 8 hours and 30 minutes, plenty of sleeping time.
Serviceton, Victoria
Anthony is already in Victoria and I’m still in South Australia – “you snooze, you lose”.
We had hoped to have a coffee break here but sadly the cafe had closed it’s doors for good.
One of the great things about driving these long distances is that you get to see all the small country towns. Some aren’t the best, but there are some wonderful surprises along the way. An example is Kaniva, Victoria where we stopped for lunch.
Kaniva, Victoria
I did enjoy the sheep art trail along the road. I looked up the meaning of why there are so many sheep. I found it was to encourage visitors to look closer at the town. There are 46 sheep in all, we definitely didn’t have the time to find them all. Grazing sheep are still very much part of a sustainable agricultural future for this area. They help improve both soil health and plant biodiversity. Source: Kaniva.org
We bought sandwiches and ate at one of the picnic tables, enjoying the winter sun.
Then we were off again to arrive in Melbourne in time for dinner at Laurence and Maddy’s.
The time had come for our visit to Melbourne again. We had planned five days with Laurence and Maddy. They were both still on their Christmas break from work so it meant we could spend every day together.
Our trip didn’t start too well with our late night flight delayed for one hour (at least we were on time!). This meant it would be too late for Laurence to pick us up. When we arrived we found the taxi queue to be too long for us to wait, so decided to book the hotel opposite. Any sensible person would walk across the road and ask for a room, but thinking I was being clever I booked online while on the side of the road. Booking.Com didn’t allow me to book for the day before, so I went ahead and booked for that day, which meant that we couldn’t check in until 3 pm, which I found out when we went to check in! By now it was 2.30 am and we were desperate for a room. Fortunately I managed to get through to Booking.Com and convey my mistake! Hoping that the hotel would waive the cost as we now had to book direct through them. Anyway I didn’t get charged otherwise it would have been a very expensive mistake. Although I had to explain all this to the staff as they kept saying they couldn’t refund me. Lesson: Do not book online at the side of the road.
For the next five days we ate and drank our way around Melbourne’s fine restaurants.
We stayed in a one bedroom apartment just across the road from Laurence and Maddy which was ideal.
It was hot and humid one minute and cold and rainy the next. It’s true what they say about Melbourne – Four seasons in one day.
We had a quick trip to St. Kilda for happy hour followed by dinner at Bistro Thierry – no points for guessing it was French.
MatchingMy Handsome MenEpaule d’Agneau BraiséeBraised RabbitBœuf à la Bourguignonne en croûteTarte Tatin
No trip to Melbourne is complete for Anthony without a shopping day, so it was into town for that.
We had lunch in a very popular Vietnamese restaurant, cocktails on a rooftop bar and dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant.
A moving sculpture
Legacy Anzac Centenary Mural
Rabbit Yin Yang
Her Bar
Bornja Restaurant
The Gang of Four
Thursday it was my day to choose somewhere to go. So we drove to Williamstown around 30 minutes drive from St. Kilda. It was a beautiful sunny day and the beach was packed with umbrellas and cabanas. We had a seafood lunch overlooking the bay and wander around after.
View of Melbourne Skyline
Williamstown was Melbourne’s first port settlement and named after William 1V in 1837. Of course there was an indigenous settlement long before this. The Yalukit-willam clan of the Kulin nation were the first people to call this town home.
Nowadays it is a popular place for family holidays with gorgeous sandy beaches and many restaurants and cafes. It reminded me of an English seaside town, without the weather to go with it though.
We had a dinner at their place one night with Laurence grilling steaks on his Weber.
Too soon and it was our last day and it was pouring! Maddy had mentioned she wanted to see the Triennial exhibition at the National Gallery so we caught a tram to the city for a visit. The exhibition is free and hosts many different exhibitions throughout the year.
Taking photos was allowed so I took a few of the ones that I liked or intrigued me the best!
Larger than life sculptures by Thomas J Price
Walking into the room above, I asked myself what constitutes art? I said to Laurence I could do this, looks easy. To which he answered “aah but that’s the trick to make it look easy but in reality it’s very difficult”. I’m still not sure I would put this on my wall though.
Paintings by Farrokh Mahdavi an Iranian artist. InUntitled,pink is the universal colour of our flesh; it transcends politics, race, nationality, territoriality and gender. Source – NGV
Comedian Maurizio Cattelan – Italian born artist
Well I could definitely do this. My thoughts: ”The Emperor’s New Clothes”. I have cropped this as much as I could but it was in a room with nothing else.
In 1999, Cattelan duct taped his art dealer, Massimo De Carlo, to a wall for the opening of his exhibitionA Perfect Day.
Mound of wollen yarn Real strawberries preserved foreverHanging on for dear lifeA photographer is always trapped behind his lens
I loved the ones above as I found them profound and moving.
Displaced along with members of his immediate family during the Kosovo War (1998–99), Petrit Halilaj’s Very volcanic over this green feather explores his experience as a thirteen-year-old refugee living for more than two years in Kukës II camp in Albania. Art materials were distributed to children at the camp by visiting Italian psychologist Giacomo Poli. Poli encouraged the children to externalise and process their experiences through drawing. Spotting his talent, Poli would much later arrange for Halilaj to attend art school in Italy. Source – NGV
I enjoy looking at old paintings of Royalty and Noblemen and Women and one floor was showing these, although not part of the Triennel exhibition.
Anthony’s family has a family tree dating back to Louis XIV by one of his mistresses and above is Louis XIII. Is there a likeness? He would have to shave his beard to be sure! On that note I will close this lengthy post.
Thanks for joining me on our recent trip to Melbourne!
Unique – being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. Oxford Dictionary definition.
This week Amy @ The World is a Book has set the theme of Unique. As we are in Seminyak, Bali this week I have spotted a few unique opportunities around the streets.
Hey Ho and off we go
The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique. Isaac Bashevis Singer
“Flaming Flamingoes!”
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead
Baked and Caked Denims
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. Douglas Adams
My friends had planned a day out of Paris today to see the house and gardens of Monet. It would take around 90 minutes to get there by metro and overground train. Once off the train there is a shuttle bus that takes you directly to the house and gardens. As there was a queue to enter we decided on lunch first. There were many places to choose and all looked so quaint. We settled on one by the entrance and I had the largest omelette, cannot imagine how many eggs were used.
‘My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece. I can only draw what I see. Everything I have earned has gone into these gardens. It took me time to understand my waterlilies.“
No Perth!
Monet’s House
Claude Monet lived in his house in Giverny for forty-three years, from 1883 to 1926. You can see and feel his passion for gardening as you walk through the beautifully planned gardens and especially the water gardens. The windows of the house all look out onto the garden and I could imagine sitting there with a summer breeze gazing out onto this spectacular array of colour.
Looking Out
Looking In
Exquisitely decorated rooms, my favourite was the kitchen with the blue tiled fireplace.
After we had wandered through the house we ventured out into the gardens and down to the water gardens.
“I am following Nature without being able to grasp her… I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.“
I must have flowers. Always and always. Water Lilies’ is an extension of my life. Without the water the lilies cannot live, as I am without art.
“The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration”
Finishing up in the gardens we had a wander through the village just outside the grounds. We saw some beautiful ivy clad houses, including the mayor’s. There were many art galleries as you would expect displaying all of Monet’s works.
The Mayor’s House
The famous Hotel Baudy, once a humble grocers and cafe owned by Angelina and Gaston Baudy. In 1886 Willard Metcalfe, a young American painter living in Paris, came looking for accommodation but was turned away by Mrs. Baudy as she only had the one bed. Many months later he returned with a group of artists and Mr. and Mrs. Baudy gave up their house and stayed with a neighbour. Realising they had a new potential business on their hands they turned their house into a hotel. Over the years this hotel housed many famous painters such as Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
We had an incredible day here and I’m so glad my friend made the suggestion. It wasn’t something that was on my agenda and was a wonderful surprise.
Yesterday evening I thought it would be a good idea to drive to Cottesloe to watch the sunset. My dear hubby did say he didn’t think there would one as it was too cloudy, of course he was right. I’ve never seen such a strange sky. After a 40 degrees the day before the temperature plummeted to 25 degrees bringing the most intense thick clouds and a very nippy wind. Still I managed to capture some shots of sculptures I’ve not seen before.
White alien looking ladies in someone’s front gardenA gloomy looking sunset
Every Friday Cee or Marsha from Always Write host a challenge – Photographing Public Art. The art should be visible from the street or sidewalk or in any outdoor places. Some suggestions from Cee below.
Seasonal Displays
Graffiti
Statues and Sculptures
Collections
Store Windows
Murals
Transportation
Car Shows
Artistic Construction (Bridge, benches and buildings)
Porto was the last stop on our road trip from Biarritz to Porto in 2015. I had been told to visit the railway station to look at the murals on display. These are quite spectacular and well worth a visit. It is now a world heritage site and opened in 1904. The murals are the work of artist Jorge Colaco. The murals represent historic events in and daily life. They comprise approximately 20,000 azulejo tiles.
Prince Henry the Navigator
King John and Queen Philippa
Transport of that time
Egaz Moniz offering his life, his wife and his sons during the siege of Guimaraes
Daily Life
Harvest Time
Posted as part of Becky’s PastSquares for October – Blue Squares
The featured image is titled ‘Treecycle’ by Cecile Williams. It is indeed made from recycled books, wood and screws.
These are more artworks that we discovered on our recent tour of Pemberton, WA. It’s an amazing trail of nature and art, cleverly designed to blend in with the natural surroundings of the forest.
‘Written on the Wind’ By Norma MacDonald
‘Sundew’ By Nat Williamson
‘Competitive Ground’ By Peter Hill
‘Whole, You Were Meant To Be Here’ By Lorenna Grant
‘Australia House’ By Cornelia Conrads
‘Rising From the Ashes’ By Kim Perrier
There is a whole community of artists and sculptors in this small town and you can read there story here.
