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We have rented a one bedroom apartment
in St. Kilda in Melbourne - a very small cramped space,
but a room with a view. And what a view! The living room
window opens out to sweeping views of the sea. The
bayside of St. Kilda is a very popular hang out. Even
in the cold wintery days we've had so far, St. Kilda
is bubbling with people; I can only imagine how it will
be during summer. We have not really visited too many
places around Melbourne, and since we have a whole year
for it, we are taking it easy.
My twopenny about Melbourne:
Melbourne is a very chic city, with Parisian similarities.
The city is 150 years old and is very well planned
in a grid with wide roads - two lanes for trams and
four lanes for cars - an amazing foresight of the city
planner eons ago. There are innumerable cafes in the
city with easy access to 'hangout' places. Unfortunately,
it is also very expensive when compared to the sales
and rebates of US. But in many respects, it has more
in common with India than Atlanta - probably because
of the common British influence. I can still biscuits
not cookies, I must stand in a 'Q' and not the 'line',
I must take the lift, not the elevator and much more.
Also to my delight, I discovered many things that I'd
read in Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie. There are
vegetable and houseware markets like those in India.
The freshness of the vegetables is unbelievable. There
are also local bakers in every street where I
love buying fresh bread or buying yummy breakfast every
morning - a huge difference from the packed and wrapped
muffin boxes in US. My pet peeve about Melbourne? -
Its car drivers. They are the rudest bunch I have ever
met. After driving in US, I would take normal road
courtesy like letting a car change lanes for granted.
No such thing here - people will honk for the slightest
reason (strangely, after our one day of driving around
in Sydney, we felt Sydney was slightly better).
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