Melbourne Laneways And Arcades Coffee, Market And Magic

Our schedule today is to explore the iconic Melbourne laneways and arcades. We started the morning at Federation Square, right in the city centre. There was a bistro at Fed Square called Time Out. While my friends were having their breakfast there, I went to explore around because the Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) was going on. I had no idea what kind of festival it was, but I had hoped to meet writers, have casual discussions with them, and introduce myself as one of them.

A Day of Exploring Melbourne Laneways and Arcades

Young and Jackson

We crossed Flinders Street and saw Young and Jackson, the iconic hotel and bar, standing still for almost two decades. The hotel bar is famous for the naked painting of Chloé, the underaged Parisian model who decided to kill herself two years later. In addition, the hotel holds a history of many young soldiers who, during wartime, wrote letters, thousands a week, to Chloe in the painting in the absence of a lover. A sad history of a fascinating painting.

The Young and Jackson bar is one of Melbourne’s best-rated bars for its best price and service. They also have a rooftop cider bar, but the weather was too cold for a cider, and it wasn’t even 10 AM, so we decided to pass.

Cup of Truth

Walking past Young and Jackson, from one of Melbourne laneways, we went down to the subway station. There was a coffee stall here, Cup Of Truth, where I bought my first flat white of the day. What’s interesting about it is that there is no fixed price for the coffee; you can pay whatever you think. I felt the pressure because coffee costs less than 1 AUD from where I came from. So I gave 4 AUD instead, cheaper than Starbucks’, around 4 cups of coffee from where I came; after all, it’s Australia.

Grab your coffee here and enjoy some questionable street art. There was a closed store that triggered my interest. From the look of it, you could pay them to publish your booklet here, too bad it was closed so I couldn’t check more about it.

Degraves Street is One Of The Most Iconic Melbourne Laneways

Walking up from the subway station underground, we reached Degraves Street. The most famous Melbourne laneways. Many little shops sold cutesy stuff. One that I particularly liked was called Clementine’s. This place sold handcrafted goods, including knitted soft toys, porcelain accessories like phone earrings and hot air balloon pins.

My favourite item in the store happened to be the local honey.

The store manager lets us try all the four types of honey sold there. They were delicious. I loved how she talked with so much passion for their local honey. She explained what’s called rooftop honey. Rooftop honey is harvested from individual hives and is named according to their suburb. The hives are located in many areas, including Lt Collins St, Rankins Lane, St Kilda, Carlton, etc. All displayed vastly different flavours peculiar to their suburbs and were sold in sample tubes.

If you are interested in having your rooftop honey, you can buy the seeds and start your beehives for two bucks.

We then went to the shop opposite the store and had cupcakes before exploring the city.

At some point, we got lost, and on the way back, we saw Bar Americano. It’s one of the most miniature bars in the world. We contemplated stopping by, but we were more hungry than thirsty, so we decided to come here later at night.

RMB

RMB is a casual Italian dining restaurant located on the same lane as the little shops above.

It was a busy afternoon at the restaurant. I ordered the smoked salmon, and it came in perfection. Oh, so very yummy! I polished it off within minutes with a glass of white wine. We sat inside, the outside seating was full, and it was not that comfortable, but I would say it was worth it.

Koko Black

We stopped at Koko Black, the Haute Couverture, and Royal Arcade. I have read about Koko Black in a travel memoir, and it has been on my to-do list ever since. Koko Black looked posh and busy with too much deliciousness on display.

It was hard to choose; I chose a creamy hot drink called Baby Chocolate. It’s heavenly! My cousin decided on something with ice cream called Coffee Affogato. I saw a fashionable lady sitting by herself, enjoying her cocoa. When she saw us, she smiled and raised her cup, then continued enjoying her hot chocolate and people watching from the window.

I want to be here decades from now, to enjoy my cocoa and be friendly to annoying tourists.

When you visit Melbourne, do stop by at Koko Black. Sit on the brown sofa by the window and enjoy your high chocolate moment.

Spellbox

This fantastic store has every magic: love, work, happy house, etc. Who doesn’t need a little magic in their life, even if it comes from a spell or a box?

Another store displayed unique Russia Matryoshka dolls, including The Simpsons and Michael Jackson ones.

Flea Market Store

I have never been to a flea market or a vintage store before. So retro star was my first. It’s located on Swanston Street but a bit hard to find, but my oh my, it’s enormous, with thousands of clothing items. Everyone could see an additional piece in their closet. I wanted to get something as well! But my friends were appalled by the concept of second-hand. It was not normal for us from third-world countries.

They displayed Mickey Mouse watches. These authentic pieces were sold for hundred Aussie bucks. Oh, I was so tempted.

The lady there advised us to check out Suitcase Rummage Melbourne Pop-up market, which is held in Federation Square some Sundays.

We then went back to the hotel for a much-needed leg rest after a day of exploring Melbourne laneways.

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