Sunday 4 September 2011

A Tale of Two Cities...

It's official. Melbourne, my home town, is the world's most livable city.
The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2011 Livability Ranking has placed Australia's Melbourne city as the most livable city in the world, with a score of 97.5. Austria's Vienna and Canada's Vancouver were ranked on the second and third places respectively among 140 cities. Source: www.economist.com
For those of you who haven't been to Melbourne and are wondering why it won, here are a few snaps from my trip last Christmas.

Melbourne City View from South Bank (January 2011)
Eureka Tower at South Bank - a new addition since my last visit
The Palais at St Kilda - and that's Luna Park in the background
Mentone Beach - lying on a beach towel (it was 26C and deserted, far too cold for the locals!)
There were also a few fond memories that the locals are likely to appreciate a little more than your average tourist:
Hamer Hall? The Greatest Show On Earth?  What a tribute!
Love is in the Air - The Myer Melbourne Christmas Windows featured The Nutcracker Suite last year
The best chips on the planet (yes chips, not crisps..bloody Poms!) - Burger Rings and Twisties!
But those of you who read my meanderings regularly, or know me well, know how much I love London:
Harrods from the top deck of the number 14 bus, a regular drive-by after a night out on the town
Tower of London - it was just there for the taking
View of the Thames from Putney Bridge (from another bus)
Richmond Park - splendor in the grass and right next door
Another delicate sunset - from the front window of my flat
The ice and snow last December - from my (then) office building
Footprints in the snow - where I've been
So in the livability stakes, it's a tale of two cities for me.

The first is the one left behind laced with nostalgic and happy rememberings. 

And the second is the one where I am quietly proud of the new life I have built for myself. The one where, despite it's lower ranking, I feel like I've come home.

6 comments:

Vegemite Wife said...

God, now I want some Twisties. Or Burger Rings. And maybe a ticket back home!

Charlie Wade said...

Five pictures of london and no rain - do you work for the tourist board?

I've always fancied visiting Australia, even though you call crisps chips, but I can't do long flights.

Linda A. said...

Isn't it wonderful that you now have two fabulous places to call slightly different versions of 'home'? Lucky, lucky you!
(Love the photos, especially the snow at night time)

Unknown said...

Thanks Linda - yes it is.

Would you believe that the 'snow at night' one was taken at about 7am walking to the bus stop to go to work last December?

Unknown said...

Charlie, I'm just a glass half full kinda gal. Melbourne has plenty of rubbish weather too but it didn't seem right to focus on the bad things.

Unknown said...

VW, a work colleague tried to convince me that Twisties were just like Nik Nax.

I begged to differ!