This is a very pretty place, this Melbourne! This morning I took the tram a bit farther than the State Library to see what was happening at the National Gallery of Victoria International across the river (the long grey block at left in the picture above). A fantastic futuristic participatory Lego cityscape was my destination, but the NGV International is closed Tuesdays. No worries, I got the time for a free screening of "Salaam Namaste," a Bollywood film shot here in Melbourne, and had an excuse to walk back across the Yarra in the clear autumn light, and up through Fed Square, which I've now decided I don't just really like but love. How the light plays on the undulating pink cobblestones, and dances along the glass surfaces of the buildings!In the atrium I found an exhibit of photos of the city taken from a hot air balloon by a Cecilia Mugica and available also on her website. The pic above is one of hers, taken in the early morning a bit farther along in autumn, but nicely shows how you'd make your way from the NGV International past the futuristic Arts Center and across the river into the CBD (Central Business District = downtown). Fed Square, atop the railroad tracks, is the first thing on the right.
