Whilst in Melbourne J and I visited Queen Victoria Markets. The difference between these markets and most others that one would visit is that Vic Markets have so much history about them that it is fascinating to walk around and sample the wears.

The Queen Victoria Market was officially opened on 20 March 1878 One of the most intriguing stages in Queen Victoria Market's history was during the 1960s, when the Market was associated with the infamous "Honoured Society". in 1963, a stallholder was shot.

This was the first of 5 shootings associated with the Market. These shootings, it is claimed, were carried out by the "Honoured Society", some of whose members had entered Australia through an illegal immigration racket and were using extortion to cheat immigrant Italian growers out of thousands of dollars .

Between the years of 1837 and 1854, much of the land on which the Queen Victoria Market now stands was the site of Melbourne's first official cemetery, which housed the remains of an estimated 10,000 early settlers Numerous bodies remain buried beneath the existing car park.

I loved walking around the market and I loved the stall fronts in the food section especially. At times we felt like we were walking back in time.

There was a wonderful chocolate maker. He made each of his wonderful delights by hand and the intricate decorations on them were amazing.

There were several wonderful delicatessens with homemade dips and fettas.

And the pasta maker was enthralling with the vegetable and raw produce that they used' spinach