Sunday, March 3, 2024

Sunday Selections

I will be joined by River and others for Sunday Selections. 

A sculpture in front of the former St Kilda Road Police Station, now an office building with a cafe at its base.


Near Southern Cross Station you can see this life sized upended tram sculpture.


This looks a bit scary.


The West End of town. A high rise building incorporating the old. If you want more pretention, there is an Upper West Side.



Delivery and night soil lanes have become a thing in Melbourne.



An English black cab servicing Melbourne.


Perfect horizontal and vertical lines. 


Then there is curved building that spoils the perfect lines. The glass enclosed with wide opening large windows at the front are balconies, pretentiously called Winter Gardens. 


I left this out when I showed a photo of Gordon House.


A nice enough small garden near Parliament Station. I can't remember if it Chinese or Japanese.


Mid winter photos of Berwick views from Mother's hospital.



I've come to like Federation Square as a public space. It seems other have too.


Somewhere in Carlton. I can't remember. That these tall slim chimneys have withstood rain, hail and tempest for at least around 130 years is truly amazing. Well done to those brick layers.

28 comments:

  1. These are some wonderful photos. And I agree that those old chimneys are amazing; what an achievement. Be well!

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    1. Darla, I do wonder why the chimneys are so tall, taller than usual.

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    2. Built tall so the upper winds could blow away the smoke and cinders? They didn't have the filters that we have today to keep the air cleaner.

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  2. Some interesting scenes of a very varied city landscape. Your photo of the old and new buildings reminded me of the hotel we stayed in on our visit back in 2001. I think it was the Rialto on Collins Street. Lovely architecture but terrible service.

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    1. JayCee, the original, old Rialto, is quite stunning. I think the new building was the tallest in Melbourne for a time. I also think we went up to a paid viewing area up top. That's rather disappointing to learn that the service wasn't good. It is not like it is a cheap place to stay.

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  3. Federation Square is looking much better... excellent!
    I miss working in the City.

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    Replies
    1. Hels, you should make the effort to visit often.

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  4. Carlton is rated as the 3rd highest crime rate suburb in melb

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    1. Roentare, that is disappointing to read but it does have a lot of low socio-economic residents, so not really so surprising.

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  5. We used to have a coffee in Federation square before we went off sight seeing and many an ice cream there too.. so many very pleasant memories of Melbourne, thanks for the amazing photos.

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    1. Chris, how terrific that you liked Fed Square and Melbourne. I can do special requests if you want photos of something.

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  6. Interesting buildings Andrew. Those alley ways would be dark in the night I expect.
    Love the cab, it's nice and shiny.

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    1. Margaret, they do have lighting but given we don't roam around at night now, I don't really know. The English black cabs are great vehicles to use as taxis.

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  7. Well done indeed to those long ago brick layers. Today's builders could learn a thing or two from them. I suppose the price differences bewteen now and then make a lot of difference to construction of any kind. I like the perfect horizontal and vertical lines picture.

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    1. River, for a start the mortar used today for bricklaying would be inferior to what was used back then. It now dries quickly whereas the old mortar would take days to dry but be strong.
      I don't know why I took the photo looking down the street and the straight lines only occurred to me when I looked at the photo yesterday. Clearly it was taken in the winter of 2023.

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  8. I never heard tell about the tram. Do you remember whereabouts it was exactly - might go and see if we can find it sometime

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    1. Ah Cathy. Compass points. I am thinking the north western corner of Flinders and Spencer Street. But truly, you don't see much more than what is in my photo. It is strangely unremarkable.

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  9. Old school brick layers built it to last

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  10. Is the upended tram sculpture a warning or an omen? It's very clever.

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    1. A good question JB. I don't even know what inspired it. I think because of its dull colours, people walk past it and never really notice it.

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  11. I would enjoy exploring those lanes. In the daylight of course.

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    1. Pat, many of the lanes have bars, sometimes just a doorway without a name. Whether that makes them safer or not, I don't know, but it does mean there are people about.

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  12. Re the winter garden, have a look at To Discover Ice blog. Despite their tropical origin, parakeets seem cable of coping with the cold British winters. REAL winters, not our woosy attempt!

    https://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/2023/03/londons-green-parakeets.html

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    1. Oh, believe me, I know those birds. They're all over the place here. (Including in our back garden!)

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    2. Hels, yes Steve with his comment above remarks on parakeets often enough. Thanks for the informative link.

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  13. I kind of like the idea of a "winter garden." We need more sunny indoor space for our avocado!

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    Replies
    1. Steve, I suppose a high rise version of a conservatory.

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