Melbourne

 

It doesn't matter what time of the year I visit this lovely city there is always so much to do and see and whilst often in the numerous exhibitions photographs are prohibited the enjoyment is in no way diminished.
 
Monet's Garden at the Melbourne Art Gallery is a must see for anyone at all interested in the Renaissance period.  It is stunning and an absolute delight to see covering this amazing artist's life, both high and lows as well as demonstrating his genius in capturing mood, light and colour.

From one art form to another, the Hollywood Costumes exhibition is a very different but nevertheless a tremendous exhibition especially if one is a movie fan.  I never thought I would see the bright red shoes and gingham dress worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz, neither did I think I would view Superman's or Harry Potter's actual cloaks, not to mention Marilyn Munro's famous yellow dress, or Austin Powers garish costume. It was certainly worth the couple of hours spent viewing the many memorable costumes worn by so many favourite movie characters.

So ok both these exhibitions had entry fees, but another one I thoroughly enjoyed, also on at ACMI. the venue of  the Hollywood extravaganza, was FREE and great for the kids.  From book to film follows the steps that author / director Shaun Tan took to complete his little masterpiece, "The Lost Thing".

The amount of plays, musicals, exhibitions, art displays not to mention outdoor activities is enough to keep a visitor going for quite a few weeks.  Melbourne is after all the cultural centre of Australia, though I'm sure Sydney-siders would argue the point.