The last time I was in Melbourne was in 1998. At the time I thought it had more of a ‘British’ influence than the other big cities in Australia. My impression now is it is a lot more, say, cosmopolitan. It is still an ‘arty’ city, there is just that kind of awareness.
Downtown Melbourne has more than its share of restaurants. Most are tucked in an alley or on a quieter street and all have outdoor seating. Like in Europe, hosts stand where the pedestrians pass and try to lure you into their establishment. The majority of these eating establishments have a good number of folks in their seats so are at least making ends meet.
Considering its size, the traffic in Melbourne is not too bad. It seems to move and we have seen no traffic jams. For the most part the drivers obey the red lights and are polite to pedestrians. Pedestrians are in turn polite to the drivers. Generally, the people only cross at intersections and wait patiently at the curb until the little green man walk light appears. On the smaller streets, the ‘lanes’, it is OK to jay walk but on those streets the traffic is extremely light.
The days we were in the city, there were quite a few tourists. I think the fact that it was a school holiday in Victoria was the reason for the Australian tourists. There also were a good number of Asians wandering about in large groups following a guide with an obvious sign on a tall stick. A tip for those who might visit Melbourne; don’t bother with the free on/off downtown tourist tram. It is free which is enticing, but the time we got on it was so crowded we were crammed in like a Japanese train and because we were standing we could not see anything out the windows. We rode it for 2 stops and got off. We didn’t try again.
I thought it was just the Gold Coast but after walking around Melbourne I think all of Australia must be booming. There is so much construction. High rise cranes are part of the city’s fabric and visible no matter where you turn your gaze. There are workers dressed in the standard work uniform of a bight yellow jacket on every street we walk down.
Have a cursory look at the landscape and you would think Melbourne is a flat city. Although the elevation gain is not much, Debbie and I walk up and down hills most of the day. The only real flat walk is along the south shore river walk.
I’m not sure where Australians store their garbage when they are out and about, but Melbourne is a very clean city. There is no accumulation of garbage anywhere, not even in vacant lots. The odd thing is there are not many garbage cans around. I would carry an empty Coke bottle for at least 2 blocks before I could get rid of it. Recycle bins are even more rare. Sometimes the garbage buckets were paired with recycle bins but not often.
The din in the city is quite loud. It may be because of the reverb in the canyons created by all the tall buildings. Debbie and I had to use our very load outdoor voices to communicate. The loudest of all the places we encountered was the covered train platforms at the Southern Cross Station. The volume knob was turned so high instead of using the tables provided we went outside and sat on a public stairway to eat our lunch.
As mentioned before Melbourne respects its history and has kept a good number of its old buildings. This philosophy is also practiced when it comes to the network of streets established as the city grew. The old lanes and alleyways have been turned into boutique type retail and restaurant areas. Again, referencing our city of Edmonton those old buildings are torn down, the alleys are obliterated and the entire block is filled in with high density office and residential buildings that frankly have no character what so ever. The populating of the Melbourne alleys is not only funky but it makes those areas safe to traverse and totally fun to explore.
Melbourne has a network of bike lanes similar to Edmonton’s with dedicated lanes along the side of busy streets and some areas bikes and peds only. This is a city with rideable weather 365 days of the year and still there are not enough riders to justify the amount of city space and money spent given to those bike specific areas. I saw more bikes than at home but, sorry, neither city will become a Copenhagen or Amsterdam.
I don’t wander the downtown streets at home much so it is a little hard to make a proper comparison but there are a lot of smokers in Melbourne. It was not too surprising to see older people standing in the alleys puffing away but what was a little disturbing was the number of young ladies that were headed here or there vaping. I thought the anti smoking campaigns of the last couple of decades were effective, but I guess not.
Melbourne is a big city with all the big city characters. It sure makes for good people watching. A few times each day, Debbie and I sit on one of the street side benches and watch the world go by. Most people are within the realm of ‘normal’. But every 50th person is a bit ‘eccentric’. Some clothing is really out there. Each of the eccentric people have their own style and it is exemplified in the clothing they wear.
I don’t know how far and wide the idea spreads but at least in the South Pacific the measurement of a pizza is different than in North America. Twice on this trip we have asked a server “How big is the pizza?.” This was in two different countries. Both times the answer was 6 pieces. When I use my hands to indicate what is the diameter of the pizza they looked baffled.
Another unusual practice we encountered at the hotel is a $20 food and beverage credit just for leaving the ‘Do not make up the room’ sign on the door. We don’t find the make up of the room every day a necessity and in fact we rarely use the service. It was a nice surprise to find we would receive a rebate.
I like Melbourne. It has a good vibe. I don’t know what would be the cause of the good feeling but it is there. My spidey sense didn’t tingle once and in fact I felt comfortable where we were. It is a safe and welcoming place, definitely a place to visit when in Australia.