The University of Melbourne - one of the oldest universities in Australia. It was founded in 1853 and its main campus is situated in the north of Melbourne's CBD - in a really lovely suburb called Parkville. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and features lots of beautiful sandstone buildings, courtyards and so on, as well as a number of more modern, yet elegant buildings.
The University of Melbourne - my alma mater. Where I did my undergraduate degree and concurrent music diploma. It's always good to be back for a visit! I didn't take many pics the last time I was there (in June 2012 when I last visited), so this time I made sure I took as many pics as I could!
Entered via one of the side entrances on Grattan Street.
And after walking up the stairs, I ended up at South Lawn - a massive grassy area where students often relax. South Lawn's often crowded during semester times - people would bring their packed lunches out and enjoy the warmth of the sun. And of course, many would end up catching up with friends......
I used to go to South Lawn often, but not as often as many others. This time, I was there mainly to take pics of the gorgeous sandstone buildings. It gets dark pretty fast in winter, and I happened to be there just before sunset - so the lighting was definitely in my favour!
From left to right - the Old Arts building, and the Old Quadrangle. More pics of the Old Quadrangle as we go along. The Old Quadrangle is another really wonderful part of the university, and many of us pass through there to get to various ends of uni.
The famous and iconic clock tower of the Old Arts building. The building may look really old, but inside it's actually really modern. I used to have some lectures in this building.
And here we go - this is the start of the Old Quadrangle (affectionately known as the Old Quad by us). This is basically something like a void deck, with really beautiful pillars and supports. This place is a very popular venue for graduation pictures, simply because of its signature design.
Entered one of the corridors of the Old Quad. As its name suggests, the Old Quad has got a rose garden right in the middle, surrounded by the signature sandstone buildings, and four main walkways. The walkways look pretty much similar, apart from the colour of the ceilings.
Walking through the Old Quad really brings back some good memories! Although it's kinda surprising that I don't have that many pictures of it when I was still studying in Melbourne!
The buildings surrounding the rose garden. Some roses were already in bloom.
Part of the Old Arts building from one end of the Old Quad. If I walked through this pathway, and through the Old Arts building corridor, I'd end up near the music school - where I mainly hung out. I used to go to a small cafe near the music school for my regular "doses" of hot chocolate, and that was where I met one of my buddies! We're still great buddies up till now!
The Old Quad also leads to this small courtyard here - a lovely little place surrounded by all the lovely buildings. Not many people were around when I was taking pics!
After exploring the Old Quad, I ended up at the Raymond Priestley Building, where I usually go to pay my fees! This building was located right next to a central student hub, the Union House, which has lots of eateries, shops and so on, and even a library! I used to go to Egg Bistro - a small Japanese bistro in the basement of Union House. There's even a pharmacy inside the building!
Just outside the food court (which is in Union House). People would often hang around here too, during lunchtime. And the food court gets very, very, very crowded and sometimes we won't even find a place to sit around here! So we often end up going to other parts of the campus, just to have lunch.
The Botany building - one of the more interesting buildings around. On one side, it looks really modern and sleek. And on the other side - the building's old (but beautiful), and it looks like a massive jungle out there! Well - it's the Botany building after all - it's natural to have a jungle at its doorstep.
And that sums up a half-day trip to the University of Melbourne.
On another day, I went to another part of the campus - but this was situated nearer to the city. Went to the Law School to meet up with a really good friend of mine.
As usual, took the train and tram to the city, and decided to stop by to admire some of the old houses. They've got lots of these around Parkville! Especially along Royal Parade where I used to stay. I lived in a residential hall though! How I wish I could live in one of them someday.
The tram stop which I got off at. And then out came the GPS to help me navigate!
Ended up at yet another small park just outside the Law School. According to my friend, this place was a very popular place for students around to relax. The Law School isn't the only building there - there were other buildings like the Sports Science faculty and the Commerce building nearby.
Took a couple of pictures of the main lobby while waiting for my friend to finish her classes. I was having holidays, but she was having intensive winter classes!
Had a really, really wonderful time chatting and catching up with each other. And then we went to tour the building. My friend brought me to various floors, and each time we had really good glimpses of the city skyline and its surroundings! We even had good views of the park I passed through...And we tried to identify various buildings from where we were standing.
The Law School is a really, really modern building - a far cry from the sandstone buildings I walked through in the earlier part of this post.
A window on every floor of the lift lobby - which served as a really awesome frame for me. :)
And that pretty much sums up my visit to the University of Melbourne! Straight after walking around the university (on both instances), I headed back to my old residential hall to visit Aggie the college cat. She's my favourite cuddly kitty! And since it was winter, she was really fluffy...and really beautiful.
Stay tuned for pictures of my Aggie! :)