On your mark. . . .

Brunswick Architectural detail

Well. We only have two days left in this part of the world; specifically the Brunswick neighborhood of Melbourne, and I've been wanting to document the 'hood for quite some time. Now or never, I say. Unfortunately, with my twisted ankle, I couldn't walk as far as I had originally wanted to, which limited my documentation. I don't time or space to post all of my photos as it is, though so it's all good.

When I first saw Melbourne, twenty some years ago, I was struck by how much it reminded me, architecturally, of New Orleans. Now that I've been here for a while, I realize that that impression was really just due to all of the wrought iron work on the row houses here. It really is it's "own thing", for lack of a better term. This little roof ornament is a good example. A kookaburra, of course.

Brunswick Row Houses Estherville and Elizaville

The Brunswick neighborhood row houses aren't unique. We see this style of house throughout other neighborhoods as well. They are often much embellished, and given names. Sometimes it's just a woman's name, Elizabeth, for example; but sometimes added to, like the houses on the right. Estherville. Elizaville. These names are literally carved in stone so if you buy them, you buy the name too.

Corner scroll detail

Iron railings

The wrought iron work varies quite a bit, and I wonder what it must take to maintain it. There are other embellishments too. . .what look like stone or concrete castings. Scrolls, lion's heads, womens' heads.



A house I ride by every day has my very favorite embellishment: Sentries. I can't tell you how much I love these guys. One day I biked by, calling out "hello" to them as always, and I saw that someone had vandalized them with ugly sprays of black spray paint over their eyes. It was all I could do to not stop, knock on the door, and apologize to the owner for all of humankind.

The happy ending, though is that the very next day when I rode by, they were all cleaned up. I have never seen the owner in the yard, but I am so glad that he/she cared about those dogs as much as I do. More, I expect.

Dog One

Dog Two

 I love the fact that they're different from one another. It makes me wonder if they were modeled on real dogs. . .

It is true that there are many lovely things on which to focus in Melbourne. However, I would be remiss if I didn't also say that it is a large and gritty city. The Royal Park has a look of a park well worn. The bike paths, many of which are protected from cars, but not from other (sometimes crazy) bicyclists, are often gritty asphalt surrounded by brick walls and rail tracks. These are not bad things, of course. The city goes to great lengths to serve their citizens, as I've mentioned before.

But Folks, this isn't Boise. It may be the Boise of the future, given our present rate of growth, but it is much more Philadelphia, or Chicago than Boise. It's been a great opportunity for us to contemplate what we value in our every day life, and what we would just as soon avoid.

Brunswick Library

I'll close with a couple of images of town buildings. I know the one to the rights says "Town Hall", but it's actually the Brunswick Library. I'm glad they kept the letters, though because that Art Deco font is one of my favorites.

The Brunswick Natatorium complex

And then, to the left, are the Public Bath's. This is a beautifully renovated building, with outdoor and indoor pools as well as saunas and hot tubs. John and I meant to go swimming there, just for the experience, but somehow we never got around to it.