February 15 – Melbourne Arcades and Lanes

Today it is cool and drippy.  Not quite rainy but definitely damp. We had lunch (inside) at another restaurant in Hardware Lane and then headed out to do a bit of exploring.  Melbourne has a number of lanes dating from the early founding of the city.

We first wandered through the Royal Arcade.  We had seen it from the outside but this time we wandered in.  Very beautiful with ornate ceilings and fancy shops. 

Amber Necklace with huge pieces of Amber.

From there it was just across the road to Block Arcade.

We almost didn’t go into St. Collins Lane as it look from the outside just like a modern shopping arcade.  Fortunately, we did go in where we found green glass tubes installed from all of the central ceilings…sort of magical. 

We stopped at the Flinders Street train station.  It is also mid-1800’s but we couldn’t really get in as you needed a train ticket to get through the turnstiles. 

Passed an invisible man trying to earn a living at the station.

It continued to drip so after a quick look at the Yarra River we headed back to the hotel.