The tale of two cities in the tale of the tape

Thought it would be a good time to reflect on the pros and cons of the two cities I (we) know the best.

What's hot

Melbourne

• Friends and family. The obvious one, but we miss this lot.
• Having a support system in place and knowing what to do with it. Doctors, dentists, resturants, optomoetrists, shoe repair men, hairdressers, bikini waxes (that's Mel, or course) ... We don't know who the hell to go to here. All of this is in place at home.
  
• We had car to take away on the weekends. Sure, a little cash will solve that (and it may yet), but we still miss it.
• Sporting events. AFL, GP, The Spring Carnival, I was going to say the Australian OPen, but we live 5 mins from Wimbledon ... but you get the idea. This stuff is great stuff.
  

London

• Commons - or parks to you and me. They are everywhere they are large and the locals use them
• Travel - The obvious one, but there is soomething to be said for getting to The Netherlands in 45 mins, France in an hour and The Mediterranean in two ours. Even better, going away for a weekend on an all inclusive costs about 150 quid
• The supermarkets here are the best. You can find stupendously large ones and they stock the lot. Most of the food is better and cheaper (take meat and caned fruit out of that equation). Suprised, aren't you?
• Clothes. They are cheap and they look pretty good. And for Men, there is a lot more of it around.
  

What's not

Melbourne

• Road rage. Are Australian drivers just idiotic? Why doo they get so angry, so often? Here, traffice is worse but the drivers are so much more understanding. Let a guy through and the odds of a thank you wave are better than I expected. People let you in and don't get angry if things go wrong. Melbournian drivers should grow up.
• Public transport. Where does the government get the cheek to propose a congestion charge when public transport in the 'burbs is so poor. In London, the transport system is not perfect, but there are always a couple of workable options.
  

London

• Reality TV. It is on all the time and the overwhealming majority is bad. I think Aust is starting to get over this fad, but the Poms are riding into the ground.
  
• The predominance of C grade celebrity. WIth Abbey Titmus (I am serios about the name) heading the list, the tabloids are full of no talent, little charm people who are just famous for being famous.
• The dodgy areas of town are really dodgy. And there is no way of tellimg where they will pop up: great areas can lay right beside dodgy ones.
• Free-to-air TV. Period. I never thought I would miss American TV so much. (Note: this is about to be partially corrected with the purchase of a digital setop box, which gives up 30 channels to choose from)