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Donna Wheeler reveals the city's subtle charms

Melbourne is a city you need to get to know. It won’t take your breath away with overtly seductive geography on first sight. Its many charms aren't always immediately apparent on first meeting. But there’s no doubt this city will get under your skin.

Few cities grew as fast and furiously as this one, and it launched itself onto the world stage with an arriviste swagger and a gold-tinted twinkle in its eye. With its Victorian streetscapes and genteel demeanour, Melbourne was considered the most British of Australian cities. These days, it possesses both an adopted European grace and a nonstop energy more akin to the urban hubs of Asia. Melbourne’s citizens look as diverse as they are. It’s a city of immigrants whose backgrounds usually span multiple ethnicities. They’re good-looking too, though that can often be down to culture as much as nature. They’d rather appear effortlessly interesting than ‘done’. Its mood could be considered serious, but that’s softened by sensuality uncommon in Australian cities. People aren’t afraid to look each other in the eye, to appreciate details. Street life here has a sexy, celebratory edge. Melbournians are passionate about enjoying life: food, fashion, sport and socialising are cherished. Its many bars, cafés and restaurants draw on the best from Europe, Asia and the Middle East, while retaining an easy-going quintessentially Australian feel. Melbourne, like its city laneways, is many-layered and full of surprises. It’s industrious, imaginative and creative; prolific in architecture, performance, live music and the visual arts but also endlessly self-deprecating. It’s one of the world’s youngest cities yet also one of the longest inhabited places on earth. It’s resolutely urbane and irrevocably suburban. Life buzzes in its often beautifully designed interior spaces, though it’s also outdoorsy, with a wealth of parks and close proximity to beaches and the bush. It’s car-centric but totally devoted to its trams. It can be complicated, cliquey and cultish, then warm, welcoming and generous.
 
Melbourne is a city worth exploring: let it win you over.
 


Lonely Planet Melbourne Encounter
1st Edition
Donna Wheeler
Published September 2008
ISBN 978 1 74059 465 3
AUD $19.95