Entries by

Augustine Zycher

Masterpieces from the Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great

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Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia has had very bad press for over 300 years.

She was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning for 34 years until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. But ask the average Russian what he knows about her and he will smirk and say Catherine was debauched and is mostly known for having countless lovers, usually from the ranks of her young army officers.

So why has the NGV decided to mount an exhibition dedicated to her?

Tracey Spicer – My Top 5 Places in Australia

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When Tracey Spicer issued a call in October 2017 on Twitter for people to contact her if they had been subjected to workplace harassment and assault, she was astonished by the response.
More than 1,500 people contacted her with their #MeToo stories. Tracey then in 2018 spearheaded the establishment of Now Australia with the aim of raising funds to provide counselling and legal support to victims of workplace abuse.

ACCA – The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

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ACCA – the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art –  is Australia’s most significant contemporary art space and plays a pivotal role in developing contemporary art in Australia. It is the only major public gallery in Australia focused on commissioning rather than collecting, and has commissioned an unparalleled number of new works from emerging Australian contemporary […]

Wine, Vineyards and Kangaroos

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Yabby Lake Vineyard, the Mornington Peninsula. Rows of vines, draped in white netting, spread down the hill and across the valley. The sea shines in the distance. You sit on the deck overlooking the vineyard and enjoy an excellent meal. The wine you are drinking is produced from the vines below you, and it is some of the best wine in Australia. Suddenly six kangaroos come leaping past and hop between the vines down to the lake – Yabby Lake.

Bathing Boxes Brighton Beach Melbourne

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WomanGoingPlaces continues to receive such an enthusiastic response to our post on the Iconic Bathing Boxes of the Mornington Peninsula, that we are following up with another post on the bathing boxes  –  those on Brighton Beach. These 90 beach boxes are located in inner Melbourne, within sight of the central business district.      Price […]

Nellie Bly – Around the World in 80 Days

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It is the 125th Anniversary of the Race Around The World. Who was the first person to race around the world in 80 days? It was not Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg. It was in fact a young American woman called Nellie Bly. She made it in only 72 days. Four days later, a second […]

Our Woman In….Havana

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One of my favourite ways to prepare for travel to a country, particularly one that is off the beaten track, is to read the country’s literature and newspapers. So before heading to Cuba earlier this year, I downloaded Everyone leaves (Todos se van), by contemporary Cuban author, Wendy Guerra. The book was set between 1978 […]

100 Acres of Rhododendron Glory

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  One of the most glorious ways to spend a day in spring is to drive to the National Rhododendron Gardens in Olinda, just outside Melbourne. 15,000 rhododendrons bloom in brilliant colours across 100 acres of hillside. The vista is breathtaking, whichever direction you gaze. The paths meander up and down the hills and you are enveloped in […]

Marvellous Buildings of Melbourne

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We tend to forget that Melbourne is only 179 years old. Founded by colonial settlers on the traditional lands of the Kulin nation, the new city’s great good fortune came about not only  from the gold that fueled its growth, but also from the vision that drove its planners. They built Melbourne according to a […]