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Melbourne, where there is retail therapy and choice of food relief after hours, especially on the much appreciated week night. Melbourne, named after a formal lordship, but where the streets are so easy to navigate. A city that has unassuming charm and delights in hidden corners. A place where you can dress up, or dress down. A conurbation where anyone can have a choice of gig, performing stage, bar or simple evening. Where rowers, runners, cyclists and walkers all seem to have been inspired by a thought or two - health and fun. Or adventure. Even simple city public perambulation and commuting offers a day long ticket, and then a further choice of tram, bus, train, river boats, bike or just strolling through enclaves, each with distinctive characteristics, which but when combined, make up the city as what it is.
Fine dining - with opportunities like Jacques Reymond in Prahran, Ezard along Flinders Lane and Vue De Monde along Little Collins Street - shines like gems in a hidden forest. Even ready to eat outlets for the office crowds and back packers stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of what Australian capital cities can offer. Or you can go to the markets, delis or specialised groceries to plan, dream, gather, create and serve up at home.
Melbourne, where Euro inspiration meets the South Pacific and indigenous Australia. A city with once a Lord Mayor who owns a Chinese restaurant chain - the Dragon Boat - and where old school ties still thrive.
The city has several bridges across its iconic river and one could at times think it could may be Amsterdam or Paris. The sandstone-like Australian Immigration Museum stands unabashedly proud despite its neighbour down the road, the all-over-the-place design of Federation Square. Performing arts mingle with the routine of life. Maybe the sky scrapers do not quite touch the sky, except for the Rialto - but who cares, the city grabs your heart deep in the soul, with the layers of things that can be done and the stylish way in which you can do it. When you cross a street, at times it seems like crossing three roadways all at once. When you enter a shop, it is elegance personified, as best as the operator can do it. The negativities of wind chill are reversed with wardrobe possibilities and fun; the searing summer heat means time to get a viable tan.
A confluence of people from all over Australia and the world. All the taxi cabs I got into on a recent visit seem to have one common cultural background. Oh yes, the Yarra can look murky if you stare down its waters, and the nearest beach is, ahem, rather far away. But then the tram beckons, with its distinctive cring of a bell and thud of a stop-and-start sound. Clusters of unique exclusivity - be they be called Toorak, Chapel Street or Lygon Road - beckon visitors past through solid architectural passages and buildings. The sloping wide avenues attract rather than distract, despite all the underlying currents of underbelly gangs, ethnic deals and student groupies. The sun may take its time to wake up for three of its climate seasons, but once it gets going, the lights of evening have a special glow. And when certain evenings come, it's time for Aussie Rules footy - and you get ingrained into , indoctrinated by and understand the nuances of tribal membership, often decided by your parents, some times by choice, often just by the sheer passion for the sport and the one you truly love.
The meanderings of the river are the veins through which inspiration, sophistication and purpose imbue the city's residents. Walking along the Yarra means better understanding what makes the city tick, from work places and fashionable hang-outs to cultural outbursts . Clear cut highways, with clever automated vehicular control at ramp exits and striking unexplained design structures, take one out of and in to the central business district.
The suburbs lead to unique experiences like Bells Beach, the Mornington Peninsular, Ballarat and Bendigo towns and the Great Ocean Road, but those places are left for another day, another time.
