Melbourne is a big city. With 5 million inhabitants, it’s still a force that rivals Sydney, both in economic and cultural outreach. It used to be the capital and biggest city on the Australian continent, and it’s also where the states that compose today Australia federated, to give birth to the modern state we know today. Melbourne in some ways simply reflects the huge size of Australia. There is ample space to spread out, allowing people to mingle and collaborate to produce some wonderful works of art, cuisines and the best city to live in, by some standards (though it was dethroned by Vienna, apparently. I beg to differ).
There are plenty of videos, blogs, vlogs and articles about Australia, and a myriad more on Melbourne. There’s its quintessential buzz, the art, the music, the food, the cultural clash of people from literally everywhere on earth, and all in a city at the edge of the world. Yet, how central and inclusive it feels. There so much to mention, from the free-to-use tram of downtown, to the pubs and restaurants by the Yarra river, and again from the many bustling narrow lanes dotted with pubs, coffee shops, and tea rooms, to the calmer and more serene Saint Kilda neighbourhood to the south, open onto Port Phillip Bay and its cold breeze. I don’t want to reiterate what others have written or said, I only wish to stress some of the places that came to represent Melbourne, and that make it stand out. Here are three things that are noteworthy: its food, its works of art, and its people.
Food is everywhere in Melbourne. Starting out in the nineteenth century as a small settlement for mining gold, it quickly attracted people from all corners of the world, especially from eastern Asia. It was easy to make money, provided you knew how to mine gold and sell it. People kept flocking in and with them came their food culture, their spices, their aromas and tastes. What’s left today is boulevards filled with all kinds of food. Sushi, noodles, ramen, kebaps, ethiopian, arabic, thai, burgers, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, pies, greek, etc. The list is endless. Seriously, it is probably the best place to eat and you’ll never be disappointed. It is good and pretty cheap! Coffee is a big cultural trademark as well, with their own brands, roasts and makes. It’s unbelievable how much there is going on in the city; whether in the central downtown area, or in the other smaller centres around the metropolis where you can find the same pattern repeating itself over and over. It truly is a marvellous place, and a wonderful city filled with joy, busy people and a great lifestyle. Once on the pavement, you can only walk, never stay still, as you’ll be swept away by the flowing movement of the masses towards an unknown direction. You need to figure out where you’re going and how to get there before stepping outside, because otherwise it’s frantic and chaotic, and you’ll probably end up stranded in a great area for food, but with no idea on how to get back.
Art all over the city depicts local artists, celebrities or maybe just some random graffiti; a simple touch of colour, symptomatic of the colourful melting pot of cultures. These artworks – for they very much are works of art – take centre stage in a city that already is filled with meaning and culture. There’s a sense of belonging that resonates with the whole city, regardless of cultural upbringing. It shapes an identity for people living in Melbourne, and it drives the pavements to remain the roaring engine of the city. Street dancers and musicians line up the streets as well, accompanying the graffiti with their unique styles. Both of these remind the passer-by of the cyclical nature of how art recycles itself. These works of art – graffiti, music, dance – reflect the diverse backdrop that ultimately resonate with its golden and revolutionary history. During the Eureka Rebellion, these culturally different settlers set about to protect their common rights as gold-miners, regardless of lifestyles and beliefs. A place where working the mines was the common cause. With time, cultures clashed, collaborated, cuisines mixed and people learnt foreign tongues. It became a place of thriving cultures, and a wealthy city. In turn, their cultures collided to produce different sorts of sounds and smells. As an icon of the multicultural society of Melbourne, individuals are thus reminded through these artworks of their unique city, and might feel incentivized to keep on contributing to the vibrant lifestyle. Furthermore, as any big metropolis, Melbourne holds many layers of cultures and sub-cultures, allowing individuals to freely identify and choose the lifestyle best suited for them.
It is the people, in the end, that make up this magnificent city, as in so many cases around the world. So multicultural and diverse, so busy, day and night, that it’s hard to settle down for a minute, and breath in all that the city holds. The people living here today are descendants of pioneers over a century ago, who arrived on a small settlement, and started digging for precious gold, alongside strangers from other lands with foreign tongues. How wonderful to think that, even through hate and bigotry – which no doubt had its place in Melbourne throughout its history – the city that stands here today, with its mighty colourful and extravagant skyscrapers, is a marvellous metropolis, with people living a quiet, yet bustling life, selling their unique cuisine and skills. A city built on merit, on work and respect. It is hard to not see that the descendants of immigrants in this city are the ones that fill the restaurants, the shops and the pubs. They’re an inherent part of Melbourne, if not the core of the city and its identity, as they have moulded it and shaped it to become a beaming light of the southern continent.
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