I arrived in Melbourne on Thursday after a depressing evening at Chek Lap Kok and a restless night of getting elbowed. I wasn’t in the best mood when I landed, and an afternoon walking with Melissa through hipster neighbourhoods and their gorgeous patisseries was a nice injection of excitement.

We’re in a suburb (read: neighbourhood) called Fitzroy which is awash in great cafes and restaurants; small shops selling vintage clothes and furniture; larger shops selling overpriced plastic and metal things; and surprisingly large shops selling much smaller clothing. Thanks to sale prices, I’m now the owner of a piece of much smaller clothing; I’ve been assured that the loss of flexibility in my knees will get worked away.

Hipster streets can be expected to have excellent print design, but I’ve been surprised by the number of places around here with great Googie signage. There are also a surprising number of spectacular Art Deco buildings and Beaux-Arts arcades, as though the International school skipped the city entirely and left it primed for some top-notch PoMo.

There’s a lot of great city to experience here and I’ll try to keep updating with more of it!

Posted from Collingwood, Victoria, Australia.