By Lisa Lubin.
“After having lived in Melbourne (pronounced ‘Mel-bun’ by the locals) for a month and a half, I felt as if I’d just about moved there. I had become quite familiar with this lovely city on the Yarra river and some of its finer offerings. In so many ways Melbourne has been competing with its older brother, Sydney, since the 19th century. Just as in the U.S., Chicago will always be second banana to New York City, hence its oft-used nickname: “The Second City.” It seems Melbourne could be called the same thing.
Currently, Melbourne has about 3.7 million inhabitants, but was once Australia’s largest city thanks to a gold rush in the mid 1800s. Sydney was first claimed for the British by Captain James Cook in 1770 (of course the Aborigines were here first—for, oh about 50,000 years) and, it’s no rumor, many of its first inhabitants were British convicts. This Island nation was first seen as a harsh and horrible place — and in many ways it still is very tough for folks to live here — case in point — the horrible drought they’ve been suffering for several years now. Unlike the U.S., Australia has NO water running through the middle of it. More than 168,000 convicts had been ‘shipped’ to Australia by the time the practice was abolished in the mid 1800s. Sydney now has a little over 4 million, mostly law-abiding people who get to admire the Opera House and stunning Harbour on a regular basis.
Melbourne hosted the first Olympic Games in the Southern Hemisphere in 1956 and became the country’s sporting capital. Of course, Sydney ‘one-upped’ Melbourne with the 2000 Games. Since the Australian people are very proud of their hometowns, you can imagine the on-going debate over which is a better city. Just through personal experience alone, I happen to prefer Melbourne. I am the first to admit this is all based on simple personal experiences and if I’d gotten a job in Sydney and had met more people there, I may feel the reverse.
It was summertime in Melbourne and the city came alive with moonlight movies in the park , outdoor concerts put on by the symphony, cricket matches, the Australian Open, and Melbournians just getting outdoors for the sake of getting outdoors. . . . . . . . .”
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