Melbourne

Date: 30 November 2005 01:40:12

While I'm waiting for the photos from the retreat to be placed on our church website (I didn't take any photos there...I had no batteries for the camera! :bangs head:), I'll talk about the beautiful city of Melbourne.

Yes: a Sydney-sider said Melbourne was beautiful. I'm not sure if interstate rivalry is a universal thing, but Sydney and Melbourne have a rivalry, with the denizens of one city criticising the other in humourous ways. Canberra, our capital, was built as it could not be decided if Melbourne or Sydney should be the capital city (Melbourne was the seat of Federal Parliament until the Parliament House in Canberra was opened in 1927). Rivalry in fact exists between our six states and territories also: states and territories that border each other often have quite a good rivalry going. So my praising Melbourne may get me deported.

You can look at some photos I took by clicking here.

Sunday night I met with some people from Ship of Fools which was great fun. We went to funkfish at Federation Square. Fantastic food, even better conversation and plenty of laughs. As one of our number arrived a bit late and the kitchen was closed, we then went to a pub and then a café. Monday lunch I caught up with two people from the Ship for some more wonderful food. Huge sandwiches, though: I couldn't finish mine. And it was rounded off with a nice cup of coffee.

Monday morning my fellow Orthodoxen went to worship at the Temple of Mammon at Chapel Street ;-), a very fashionable shopping area of Melbourne, while I went off exploring various churches. I attended the 8:00 Mass at the beautiful and prayerful St Francis' Roman Catholic church (the Ladye Chapel is a wonderful prayer space: you can view it via the parish's web page) -- the first Catholic church in Melbourne; I then bought up big at the Catholic Bookstore next door (a Western Hymns CD; a Christmas Carol CD; Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's (now Pope Benedict XVI) The Spirit of the Liturgy; John Moschos' The Spiritual Meadow; and The Navarre Bible -- St Mark). I'll add those to the 10 or so books I already have unread on my bedside table.

	From the sacred to the silly, and rather sensational (in terms of views). I went to the 35th floor of the Sofitel Hotel which has a restaurant, and toilets with huge windows overlooking the city. You can see the proximity of the urinals to the windows in the photo to the left. Melbourne is a great city to walk around. The traffic is not as bad as Sydney, and there are wide footpaths and it is surprisingly easy to wander around, lost in it all.
I then visited some more churches, including St John's Lutheran and St Paul's Anglican Cathedral. Later in the day I visited the massive St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral and the Anglican Parish of St Peter's Eastern Hill. Unfortunately the Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church was not open. Around the city, a number of churches have outdoor Stations of the Cross such as the one to the right. Anglican and Catholic parishes and cathedrals had them, as did the Presbyterian church and a few others I wouldn't have expected. I was told each Good Friday they have an outdoor Stations of the Cross procession and meditation: I would love to get down there one day for this.
	I also visited the wonderful Immigration Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria -- International. The Immigration Museum is a fantastic place where you can read the stories, joyful and heartbreakingly painful alike, about those from all over the world who have made their home in Victoria. In addition, there was an exhibition of Greek Treasures from the Benaki Musuem in Athens -- beautiful pottery and jewellery and garments from 6,000 BC to the 19th Century AD. And the religious art and sacred vessels: absolutely exquisite. At the Gallery I had a quick look at the religious art: some beautiful altar pieces and some wonderful paintings by a variety of artists. I do love religious art -- even if I know nothing about it, or art in general. I bought a book on the works of Carravagio (an exhibit of whose work I saw in Sydney early this year or late last year) and a book on the works of Hans Holbein the Younger whose works, and his father's works, I saw when I visited Germany in 2003. Getting around was mainly done on the free City Circle tram, though I did catch a train simply for the experience. It was a joy to simply wander the streets and see the variety of architecture and places.

I then, about 5:15pm, met up with my Orthodox friends and a few Orthodoxen from Melbourne. On the way to the airport, we stopped by one of the Antiochian parishes, St George's, which they bought off the Anglicans. A beautiful church with beautiful icons and a wonderful and large iconostasis, lamps and huge chandeliers.

All in all, a very pleasant Sunday evening and Monday.