Daughter and Grandson Head to Museum on a Cold Wet Day
I am not allowed to upload photos of my grandson until he is mature enough to give his informed consent. It is not being unduly pessimistic about my prospects for longevity if I say I doubt I’ll see the day. This is the closest I dare…
Melbourne is a city that is prepared to allow the old and the new to stand side by side. I like that; the late twentieth century building on the left is a museum, but you cannot make a living city into a museum.
The building to the right is the Exhibition Centre. It was put up in the late gold-rush era and the time of the great exhibitions of the late nineteenth century, two held here in 1880 and 1888 (which makes it “old” in Melbourne terms). In shape it was loosely modelled on the Crystal Palace, while the dome was designed with a nod to Brunelleschi's masterpiece in Florence. Although like most such buildings, it was not intended to last, I have read the claim that it is the most intact instance of these halls. I sat final school year and university exams in it half a century ago. Surviving such threats as being torn down on the grounds of being a "fire trap", it eventually become the first Australian building to attain World Heritage listing.
The eucalypt is more massive than it looks here, and may well be as old as the older building. The furthest building is separate, on the other side of the road beyond the trees.
Daughter and Grandson Head to Museum on a Cold Wet Day
I am not allowed to upload photos of my grandson until he is mature enough to give his informed consent. It is not being unduly pessimistic about my prospects for longevity if I say I doubt I’ll see the day. This is the closest I dare…
Melbourne is a city that is prepared to allow the old and the new to stand side by side. I like that; the late twentieth century building on the left is a museum, but you cannot make a living city into a museum.
The building to the right is the Exhibition Centre. It was put up in the late gold-rush era and the time of the great exhibitions of the late nineteenth century, two held here in 1880 and 1888 (which makes it “old” in Melbourne terms). In shape it was loosely modelled on the Crystal Palace, while the dome was designed with a nod to Brunelleschi's masterpiece in Florence. Although like most such buildings, it was not intended to last, I have read the claim that it is the most intact instance of these halls. I sat final school year and university exams in it half a century ago. Surviving such threats as being torn down on the grounds of being a "fire trap", it eventually become the first Australian building to attain World Heritage listing.
The eucalypt is more massive than it looks here, and may well be as old as the older building. The furthest building is separate, on the other side of the road beyond the trees.