Visit Melbourne - City Laneways lyrics

There's always an exhilarating thrill to be had when entering Melbourne's hive of bustling, creative laneways with their covert boutiques, famed restaurants, hole-in-the-wall cafes and astonishing bars. Bar finds Make a break from the mainstream, down alleys covered in stencil work, lightboxes and sculptures that seem to exist only to provide the address for quirky bars. Check out Bar Americano in Presgrave Place, Section 8 in Tattersalls Lane, Croft Institute in Croft Alley and Cherry Bar in ACDC Lane. Find other una**uming addresses that reveal themselves to be velvety jazz clubs and flashy wine bars, or bare-bone student hangouts and dimly-lit hideaways. Old favourites Never forget those tried and true laneways, favoured for their reliability. Meyer's Place still hosts the eponymous bar plus no-fuss Italian amico Waiters Restaurant, while the Pellegrini's welcome to Crossley Street is an institution. Hardware Lane, Degraves Street and Centre Place are vying to feed you and ensure you look the part. Visual arts On the off chance that a tiny laneway isn't hiding a boozy dens or caffeine lairs, you're likely to find colourful street art as part of the annual Laneway Commissions. See anything from neon animals in co*ker Alley to video installations in Manchester Lane and paste-ups in Westwood Place. More secret art can be uncovered in the galleries that line Guildford Lane. Duck into the old red-brick furniture warehouses and printing suppliers and find lofts showcasing temporary exhibitions, video art at Screen Space, as well as independent art and exceptional opening parties at Utopian Slumps. Somerset preening Menfolk who give a hoot about the cut of their jib should make their way to Somerset Place and neighbouring Rankins Lane to Comeback Kid and Captains of Industry for streetwear, bespoke footwear, made-to-measure attire, and good grooming. Ride away with a takeaway coffee and custom wheels from The Little Mule Cycle Company & Cafe. How to get there By tram: Any tram along Swanston or Elizabeth streets. Free Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle: Hop on and off at any of the 13 stops along the route. The complete trip takes approximately an hour and a half. The bus runs every 30 minutes between 9.30am and 4.30pm daily (excluding Christmas Day) and includes an on-board commentary. ◦ Centre Place & Degraves Street Idle the afternoon away by the bluestone cobbles at a Degraves Street or Centre Place cafe and become part of a Melbourne postcard scene. Colourful times in Centre Place Centre Place might supply the stereotypical images of Melbourne's laneways, but even chockablock with happy snappers the laneway-of-all-laneways satisfies and surprises. Changing stencil art and graffiti provide a sensory overload best dealt with by squeezing into Jungle Juice for an international coffee. Soups, sushi and crepes will tempt, but you might want to save room for the delights on offer at Degraves Street, just across Flinders Lane. Dining on Degraves Take your friends from out-of-town to Degraves Espresso, a quintessentially Melbourne cafe experience. Despite the Parisian vibe cast by the café umbrellas in the shadow of the impressive Majorca House, the dining on Degraves veers towards the Italian, with Il Tempo and Andiamo feeding many. Savour the sugar at Little Cupcakes. Getting arty and smarty An air of creativity blows up from the Degraves Street Subway and the Platform Artist Group's underground displays. Get your smarts with a short course at the Centre for Adult Education campus, stocking up on artisan notebooks at Il Papiro and nourishing the minds of junior readers at The Little Bookroom. Laneway shopping Traverse the cobblestones with new kicks from Sole Devotion on Degraves, and adorn the earlobes with quirky wares from Sine Qua Non. Back on Centre Place browse threads and accessories, local and imported, new and vintage at Fokus and Kinki Gerlinki. Finally, clamber up the narrow stairs to Hell's Kitchen and survey the frenzy below over an icy cold beer. ◦ Crossley Street There's great comfort to be had in knowing places like Crossley Steet still exist, with the venerable Pellegrini's standing guard over long-term tenants and rotating newcomers plying everything from bespoke shirts to vintage curios. Readying refreshments Orientate yourself over an espresso from Pellegrini's with a watermelon granita chaser. If you can see Paperback Books opposite, you're in the right place. You're probably ready for a gla** of top-shelf vino selected by an approachable sommelier. Squeeze into Von Haus, greet the neighbour whose knee you're almost perching on and choose something off the snacks menu. Self-contained shopping A rare treat for shoppers is that both s**es are catered for on Crossley Street. Fancy fellas can Collar Charles Edward, Master Shirtmaker or C. Maimone Tailor for some tailored threads, and get a no-nonsense short back n' sides from Windsor Hair Salon. Ladies can look the part with designer dresses from Blonde Venus. Drool over display j**els at Gallery Funaki. Dive into De Mille and lose yourself among Art Deco lamps, antique toys, sixties figurines, marcasite and bakelite. Dining decisions Now you'll need to decide if you're in the mood for hatted fine dining (Becco), ceremony-less plates of carbs (Pellegrini's) or Asian street food dripping with style (Gingerboy). ◦ Curtin House and Nicholas Building When you've exhausted the drinking dens, subterranean restaurants and witty street art of Melbourne's laneways, what else is there to do but go up? The city's Curtin House and Nicholas Building have been characterised as vertical laneways, boasting the requisite boutiques, bars and eateries, but both adding distinctly quirky stamps to the scene. The perfect fit of fine craftsmanship Nicholas Building is where you go for the perfect fit. The veteran lifts in the Nicholas Building will take you back in time, and deliver you to floor after floor of studios, galleries and curiosities. Find craftspeople making the finest made-to-measure shoes, couture, hats and j**ellery. Dig around for collectable bu*tons, and stumble upon breathtaking kimonos. Check out the surprises in store at Blindside artist-run gallery. You won't always have access to the busy studios within the Nicholas Building, but schedule in a visit during the regular Open Studio days and plant your peepers on all the tools of the trades. Raise the roof Tackle the stairs at Curtin House (often faster than queuing for the lift) and emerge into a scene reminiscent of 1970s New York, with city kids lounging on sultry rooftops. Brave the elements and stop by for a drink, and during summer it's a rite of pa**age to stick around to watch movies illuminated by Melbourne's skyscrapers. Working down Work your way down from the rooftop through the levels of what appears to be a hipster ant colony. Spy on the soldier ants training at the Wing Chun Bing Fa Kung Fu and the drinker ants who swarm Cookie and Toff in Town at any opportunity. Even ants need to look the part. Spend your hard-earned on threads from Someday and Bul and specialty books from Metropolis.