Lisa's Super Crazy Fun Times Guide to Melbourne!

That title wasn't too over the top, right? I felt it was pretty accurate. Anyway, Melbourne was delicious. Literally, figuratively. And I was blessed to spend five days soaking up its goodness, in which I found a few delights worth remembering. If you live there then I'm sure none of this will be ground-breaking news but if you ever head there (and I really, really think you should) then keep an eye out for some of these...

Shops!

- Shag (top photo). Chapel St. There were a few vintage spots along Chapel St but this one stays in my mind because when I walked in the sakata song was playing. Too good.

- Olga de Polga (bottom photos). Chapel St. Totally adorable London-based designer with the odd bits of vintage. Plays 50s and 60s music. Is perfect. (Just look at all those trinkets in the window - irresistable, right?)

- Handworks. Chapel St. Basically one big stationery HEAVEN. I walked in and was like 'oh dear god...'

- Little Salon. Little Collins St. A gorgeous little boutique right in the city. Stocks a lot of Love... with a lot of love. (I'm lame, I know.)

Cafes/ restaurants!

- Orange (above photos). Chapel St. Just a lovely, warm, friendly cafe. Where they do those cool swirly things on your coffee.

- Il Gusto. Lygon St. A typical family-run Italian place, where the customers are loud and the owners are louder. I had this zesty chicken salad with some lambrusco, it was so good.

- Caffe e Torta. Little Collins St. A seriously way cool little cafe. Really friendly, and really good coffee.

I stumbled across this one laneway that was completely covered in graffiti; it seemed to be this giant collaborative street art project. And it was awesome.

The Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI is undoubtedly the coolest thing happening in Melbourne right now. It was fantastic. Burton is inspiring, I really admire him as an artist. I may or may not have walked around the dark gallery, particularly the black-light bit complete with Danny Elfman Nightmare Before Christmas music, pretending I was some quirky outsider-type first stepping into a weird and wonderful world of weirdness and wonder. Or something.

I couldn't resist adding a few football photos (and I really do mean 'a few'... I took roughly five million.) So here's the Thing You Might Not Know About Me of the day: I love football. Love it. Geelong (the ones hugging, above) is my team of choice and they are wonderful. And there's nothing like seeing a live game, particularly in the football hub that is Melbourne. The energy, the atmosphere - it's almost electric.

So I'm obviously biased, but I loved the town of Geelong as well. It was supposedly modelled off English seaside towns such as Brighton, and you can tell. Big white pier, jetties, carousel, old-fashioned baths, tree-lined main street. It was lovely.

The same goes for St Kilda. Another picturesque south-of-England type seaside spot. Complete with beautiful old theatre and olde timey Luna Park. Ah Luna Park! So fantastic. Wooden rollercoaster, those wacky mirrors, perfectly sculpted carousel. Delightful!

YUP, big post. But that was pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. It was tremendous, basically.

Lisa xx