Melbourne

I think you would like Melbourne.

There is still a healthy smattering of high Victorian grandeur mixed in with the shiny new. High rise buildings are generally individually designed, so they don’t look like every other high rise. There are wide swathes of green park, filled with trees for countless birds, and the Yarra river winds through the city. Gentrification has brought prosperity to little neighbourhoods, but here that manifests as one-off shops, ethnic cafes and restaurants, with graffiti and public art dotted around everywhere. I particularly liked Fitzroy and our little bistro. Sydney is bigger, with more neighbourhoods sprawled along its magnificent harbour’s arms, and Melbourne is more compact, with its neighbourhoods emanating out from the centre. Both have avoided high rise buildings crowding the shore and the lovely beaches, with Melbourne’s being that much closer to the city centre.

 You like museums don’t you? Here there are a seemingly endless array of grandiose edifices to art, design, cinema, the natural sciences, city and provincial displays, including the 1880 World’s Fair Exhibition Hall. Concert halls, theatres, and galleries abound. Sport is well covered too; Melbourne did host a very successful summer Olympic Games in 1956, the first in the southern hemisphere and still the most southerly one presented, and their legacy buildings have been expanded and increased.

Of course there are places to sit! Walls, benches, stairs, art pieces. This is a coffee café city extraordinaire, with Starbucks being squeezed out in favour of the independent local. The same thing happened when Borders the bookshop tried to establish itself in Australia. This is a country extremely loyal to its bookstores, and Borders was sent packing. A country that favours paying more for books and coffee in order to keep local businesses thriving is a country I can really get behind. What’s most fun is following along the little lanes that squeeze through the city and finding that perfect spot for a coffee or a pastry or a drink. The Yarra valley is a prominent wine producer, specialising in pinot noir and chardonnay due to its proximity to the sea, not unlike the Sonoma region we visited near San Francisco actually. There are more expansive spots for sitting, eating and drinking along the river, from whence one can watch rowers and other boaters meander along. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten how much you love to shop. You won’t be disappointed. High fashion and local art pieces. Buskers everywhere. Homeless beggars too, sadly, but they are generally polite and appreciative. Oddly enough lots of American chains serving food have been allowed to thrive: McDonalds, Subway, Nando’s, Krispy Kreme. My favourite though was local chain Lord Of The Fries. Potato, yam, sweet potato, etc.

Of course I don’t expect you don’t have to walk everywhere! Melbourne has an excellent public transit system, using a card like so many other cities. It was the well-named Opal card in Sydney. Here it’s the myki. It sounds like you are saying “my key”. Buses and trains and street rental bikes (and real train stations too: old Flinders Street (covered from view as it’s being refurbished) and new Southern Cross) but we have to ride the trams. The trams are awesome! They go everywhere and all day long. There is so much less traffic in the centre because of them. I wish we could have such a system but our roads are not wide enough. Melbourne has roads wide enough to provide car and bus traffic in each direction, tram traffic in each direction, and bus lanes in each direction. Near the port, where is gets residential, the tramlines are bordered with greenery and large trees, on the other side of which is a walk and bikeway. On the other side of that is a wide avenue of grass, with trees on the other side of that before the houses begin. Oh to be able to build a city from scratch and incorporate such space! They are a big part of the reason Melbourne constantly wins global livable city competitions.

 

I wish I had known earlier about the restaurant trams, though. They are the old, original wooden carriages, in their old, original livery (burgundy with gold lettering) but instead of seats and handrails, they have tables and chairs. And glassware and cutlery. And they are restaurants. Really truly! You can eat a meal while you are joggling along the rails of the city. What a fabulous idea!

 

If only Australia didn’t have quite so many things that could kill you. I could quite happily spend a few years getting to know Melbourne better.