A Guide to Melbourne, courtesy of galadarling.com

Shopping
Myer department store is fantastic. Myer & David Jones are competing department stores RIGHT next to one another. It’s very strange in that both stores span a few blocks, with streets dividing each store section. They are much of a muchness, though I prefer Myer — I think their range is better & the sales staff are all very competent & pleasant. Their “Basement” store, which, funnily enough, is in the basement of the store, is pretty cool with a selection of reasonably-priced clothes, shoes & accessories. It is also enormous. Until TopShop & H&M come to Australia, this is about as close as it’s going to get. I also recommend Myer’s women’s shoe section — go to the store between Bourke Street & Little Bourke Street, catch the elevator up to level 1 & you’ll find Manolo Blahnik, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Marc Jacobs, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy & a whole lot of other very nice brands. Their selection of Blahniks can be small, but as far as I know they’re the only place in the city selling them. Miss Louise on Collins Street is also a proprietor of great little homes for your feet. (By which, of course, I mean shoes.) They stock Christian Louboutin & a whole lot of other goodies. It is definitely worth checking out. While you’re on Collins Street, if you want to do a little luxury shopping, you are in the right place. Chanel, Bvlgari, Louis Vuitton, Hermes & Gucci all have shops here. Don’t expect a lot of personality, though. It is a pretty boring part of town. Some other shops I like in the central city include Cactus Jam (lots of amazing things, including Chloé shoes!), Smitten Kitten for luscious underwear, Douglas & Hope for quilts, bags & other random loveliness, Belinda in the GPO (stock includes pieces by Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Diane Von Furstenberg, Costume National, Jimmy Choo & candles by Diptyque), Genki (lots of weird cute things, including FRUiTS, Street & Lula magazines), Aesop for beautiful skincare, & Alannah Hill for BEAUTIFUL clothes, shoes & hats. (They also get extra points because at the moment, whenever I walk past they are absolutely blasting Amy Winehouse.) Brunswick Street is a pretty interesting area, but it depends on what you’re looking for really. I think Brunswick Street is like a much bigger version of Cuba Street (in Wellington), with less places to sit down. I guess I’m just not interested in that stuff anymore, it’s all a bit cookie-cutter to me. For those of you who are, however, Brunswick Street is where you go to kit yourself out in alternative fashion. The one thing I really love in that area is Polyester Books. If you prefer old things, try Circa Vintage for genuine, beautiful vintage (Gertrude Street) or Episode, which is kind of like a big, secondhand department store on Sydney Road. There’s also the infamous Retrostar on Swanston Street. For books, I suggest going to Metropolis. It’s up a few flights of stairs, but belieeeeve me, it is worth it. They have a fantastic selection. Also, read this for extra credit: The Vogue Forum & their members thoughts on Melbourne shopping (some good suggestions).

Good eatin’!
Crabapple Bakery cupcakes. Crabapple Bakery does absolutely incredible cupcakes. They have a shop at the Prahran Markets, & are open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. If you don’t want to hike out to Prahran (a pretty short tram ride from the central city), there’s a cute little cafe called Switchboard (in the foyer of the Manchester Unity building, 220 Collins Street) in town which sometimes has a small selection of Crabapple’s cupcakes. Macarons from Laurent Bakery. If you’re after macarons, you should hit up Laurent Bakery. They come in chocolate, coffee, lemon, pistachio, strawberry & vanilla flavours. (Very few places in the world do a decent macaron, as evidenced!) There are a few Laurent locations scattered around Melbourne, but probably the easiest one to get to is in the city, at 306 Little Collins Street. (Don’t be suckered into the $9 chicken foccacia though — mine was full of brown chicken & gristle, ewww.) There are a lot of places specialising in chocolate in Melbourne. My favourite is Koko Black in Royal Arcade (335 Bourke Street). Koko Black is a lovely little salon serving incredible chocolate drinks & food. Their chocolate coffees are… dare I say it… exquisite. They don’t use powder mixes, it’s all melted dark Belgian chocolate. Drool. Go there with someone you like & share a Belgian Spoil platter (chocolate cake, chocolates, shortbread, ice-cream & chocolate mousse) or an Ice-Cream Martini (wild strawberry ice-cream with sienna strawberry ganache & chocolate garnish, anyone?). Sit upstairs & look out over the arcade. Oh, & for the record, my favourite cafe at time of writing is Brown Sugar in Block Place. They have incredible (& consistent) coffee & food.

Good drinkin’!
I am actually not a big drinker, & there are more bars in this goddamn city than I could even begin to write about. See Bar Secrets, this & this. (My favourites are the Melbourne Supper Club, Sister Bella (no clues for you!), Robot & The Croft Institute.)

Things to do
The Rooftop Cinema is an amazing Melbourne experience. Situated smack-bang in the centre of town (on Swanston Street), during summer they screen great films at night. Book a ticket, take your seat in a glorious deckchair on a floor of astroturf, & enjoy. (They also do really good burgers, & have a late liquor license.) Visit Outre, an art gallery with AMAZING work from people like Mark Ryden, Audrey Kawasaki, Sas Christian, Shag & Kozyndan. It’s on Elizabeth Street in the CBD, so there are no excuses, hop to it! You can also visit the Queen Victoria Markets (largest open-air markets in the Southern Hemisphere, selling produce, clothes, etc.), the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Arts Centre & the National Gallery of Victoria. Ooh ooh! From the 14th of April 2007 through to the 16th of July, Australia’s largest travelling ferris wheel will be operating in Birrarung Marr, next to Federation Square. I am so there!

Helpful things
Metlink Melbourne is probably going to get you from point a to b. The Melbourne tram system is pretty interesting! If you need somewhere to stay, The Hotel Windsor looks fantastic (they have afternoon tea & murder mysteries!) & the Adelphi Hotel has a glass-bottomed pool which stretches out across the street. If you have a bit of time to spend in Melbourne, you might want to buy a little pack of cards called “Shopping Secrets”. There is a range of them, each specialising in something different: restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. They’re $9.95 a set & have 52 cards inside, each one featuring a cool place to go. They re-issue them all the time so they’re current, & they’re fantastic. They’re also for sale all over the place, but bookshops are your best bet. Another thing to keep in mind is that Melbourne is almost always in the middle of some kind of festival, whether it’s film, comedy, fashion or cultural. Keep your eyes on That’s Melbourne for the latest events & hoopla.