"Love this city, gotta love this city..."
They say that home is where the heart is, and like a lot of the old adages, this is perfectly true. I realised this, sitting on a train platform, watching the sunset past the post-modern lines of Colonial Stadium. Because, for now at least, my heart belongs to Melbourne.
This is the city I came to as a raw eighteen-year-old, a shy country girl. It's where I learned to not be afraid of being myself, where I found people who accepted me for that self. It's where I first feel in love, and where I became an adult.
It's the place where my friends are, where I can discuss politics and story ideas in equal measure. Where I can disappear for a few hours when I need private time, and where I can hang out. It's where I can get CDs for under twenty dollars, and books for under ten.
If I get cravings for sushi, I know where to go. If I need a part for my bike, I know where to go. It's where the best falafel I've ever tasted is, and where there's a library where you can borrow "V For Vendetta". It's the Victoria Market and Collector's Corner and Spencer St Station with the mural I remember seeing when I was a little tacker and going to "The Big Smoke" on a train was an epic adventure of Indiana Jones proportions. If you crave steamed red bean dumplings after a show, there's s place on Russell St that sells them, and a friend who knows where it is. ;) It's meeting under the clocks at Flinders St, or in front of the worry turd outside the Arts Centre, or on the benches outside Melbourne Central watching skateboarders using art as a ramp. It's Critical Mass the last Friday of every month at 5pm.
One night you have the Italian soccer fans rioting because they lose, and the next the South Koreans celebrating a win. It's casual bigotry on the tram and public marching in support of refugees in the streets. It's really ugly architecture, and fountains you can play in when it's hot, and the eternal beauty of a sunset over a city skyline.
Melbourne's not perfect, but it'll do for me, for now. :)
(Note: This can be taken to mean I had a good weekend. More detail later when I'm not so tired!)
This is the city I came to as a raw eighteen-year-old, a shy country girl. It's where I learned to not be afraid of being myself, where I found people who accepted me for that self. It's where I first feel in love, and where I became an adult.
It's the place where my friends are, where I can discuss politics and story ideas in equal measure. Where I can disappear for a few hours when I need private time, and where I can hang out. It's where I can get CDs for under twenty dollars, and books for under ten.
If I get cravings for sushi, I know where to go. If I need a part for my bike, I know where to go. It's where the best falafel I've ever tasted is, and where there's a library where you can borrow "V For Vendetta". It's the Victoria Market and Collector's Corner and Spencer St Station with the mural I remember seeing when I was a little tacker and going to "The Big Smoke" on a train was an epic adventure of Indiana Jones proportions. If you crave steamed red bean dumplings after a show, there's s place on Russell St that sells them, and a friend who knows where it is. ;) It's meeting under the clocks at Flinders St, or in front of the worry turd outside the Arts Centre, or on the benches outside Melbourne Central watching skateboarders using art as a ramp. It's Critical Mass the last Friday of every month at 5pm.
One night you have the Italian soccer fans rioting because they lose, and the next the South Koreans celebrating a win. It's casual bigotry on the tram and public marching in support of refugees in the streets. It's really ugly architecture, and fountains you can play in when it's hot, and the eternal beauty of a sunset over a city skyline.
Melbourne's not perfect, but it'll do for me, for now. :)
(Note: This can be taken to mean I had a good weekend. More detail later when I'm not so tired!)