'Sydney, why would anyone want to go to Sydney?' quipped the elderly Australian, who was our taxi driver to the airport in Melbourne. 'Er, well, to see the place', I replied, rather taken aback at this rather unexpected rejoinder. 'To see the place? Whats there to see in Sydney?' the elder continued. 'You land there, take a taxi, and in maybe half an hour, you've seen the whole of Sydney. Melbourne is the place to be!'. 'Very well', I said diplomatically. I HAVE heard about the friendly rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney'. 'Its not rivalry, its true!' said the elderly gent, seemingly aghast that I was not convinced. 'I've been in this business for forty years now, and never once have I had someone who willingly travels to Sydney! Mel is where all the action is. We have the expatriate population, the history, the culture, the music, this is the most happening place. Sydney, pah! Sydney is not the place one travels to!'

'And you are flying Qantas? Your first time on Qantas? No wonder. No Australian will ever fly Qantas. Virgin Blue is the airline to be on'. And he went on and on ranting on and on about all this pro Mel and anti Sydney talk. We had just finished a week in Melbourne, and were en-route to Sydney, where my Australian friend John Lacey lived. 'Your friend lives in Sydney?' the elderly taxi driver asked. 'Maybe you should ask him to come to Mel, so the he can see what things are really like'. 'Oh my friend, he is an Australian', I quipped. That floored the elder completely. 'He's and Australian, and he still wants to stay in Sydney? Hmmmm. Surprising!' That sort of changed the topic for the moment, thank goodness.

Incidentally, you can see our Melbourne photos here:

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/23356/index.html

We reached Sydney some two hours later. Qantas service had indeed been rather unsmiling, and not exactly a glowing example of charm!

Here in Sydney, it was a different story whatsoever. 'What, no history in Sydney? Whoever told you that?' gasped my friend in Sydney, aghast. Maybe its all in one place in Mel, but I can assure you, there is a lot more history here in Syd. You only have to look for it! That elderly guy was just having a big joke on you, thats all. Did you know that it was the Sydney opera team who had to go over to Melbourne to perform there?'. Incidentally, my friend is a history teacher and research scholar, in a school in Sydney.

And so started our unique stay in Sydney, with my friend going out of the way to point out heritage buildings and historic references in Sydney, of which there are quite a few.

At first glance however, Sydney does seem to have all the markings of a big bad city: faceless tall skyscrapers fighting for space with pleasant old and historic structures, snarling traffic, folks always in a hurry, harried commuters rushing off to catch buses, ferries and trains, an overall commercial approach, a fast pace of life and what have you. Melbourne was relatively more relaxed and laid back, still retained much of its old world charm, and had cluster upon cluster of heritage buildings, and lots and lots and lots of green. And this kind of no love lost relationship between the two neighbors adds to the fascination of visiting both Melbourne and Sydney.

Yet, both towns are beautiful in their own right. You do tend to get disoriented and lost more easily in Sydney than in Melbourne, due to Sydney's spread out nature, concrete jungle and scenes of commuters appearing in droves out of train stations and the ferry wharves. Yet, Sydney is every bit as interesting as Melbourne, in a different sort of way. As a matter of fact, Sydney seems more lively and full of life as compared to laid back and relaxed Melbourne!

You have seen our Melbourne photos (like above in this text). Now check out our photos of Sydney.

Comments are always welcome.

To see my pics from the rest of the world, go here:

http://www.worldisround.com/home/shankie/index.html

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