Melbourne: Library and Bourke Street Malls

I have a confession. I have never been to the National Library of the Philippines. But I went to the State Library of Victoria because it’s smack dab in the middle of the CBD in Melbourne.

Here are some school kids sitting outside the library. I love the matching blue socks.

There was a small museum in the library!

State Library of Victoria -006 — State Library of Victoria

Anyone can use their computers for research or for just browsing the internet.

Isn’t it impressive?

I can just imagine ~~sleeping~~ studying here. (Reminds me of my days in the library in Ateneo)

Another way to use the library.

I was surprised they did the street cleaning during the day.

Can you guess what this building is?

It’s Melbourne’s GPO or General Post Office.

It used to be a post office from 1859 to 2001. In 2004 they opened their doors to the shopping public.

I love the architectural details which they preserved. Look at how they built the shelves around the column.

This is Bourke Street one of the main shopping areas in the city. No cars are allowed in the pedestrian mall but there’s a tram line that goes through the street.

The next mall was Royal Arcade which also kept it’s Victorian heritage.

While my friends were busy shopping I bought an orange chocolate macaron from A La Folie. I normally don’t buy macarons but I couldn’t resist the flavor since this was the first time I ever saw my favorite orange chocolate combination in a macaron. It was surprisingly good.

Just off Bourke Street Mall we saw incredible street art at Union Lane. Melbourne is one of the world’s greatest street art capitals. They have approved locations for an individual’s expression of art . The government even has an application form to get a permit which can be found here.