For as long as I have been alive I have been taught that Melbourne is better than Sydney… and so I have become part of another generation who has been taught to dislike our rival city…  If you asked me why I hate Sydney, I probably couldn’t give you an answer other than that Melboure is just better… It’s something that because I live in Melbourne I never question… I just believe it to be true.

This weekend on our road trip I have been forced to consider this question once again… and even though I know I have been wired to hate Sydney… I have discovered it’s not that bad… In fact I think the reason there is a rivalry is that it’s actually hard to split them… Here is a little pros and cons list I came up with on our road trip

Transport
Well it doesn’t take a genius to notice that Melbourne has much better roads, clearer signs and more space… In fact when it comes to Sydney, well the roads are just a bit nuts… even my GPS was getting confused… they just go every where, but only one lane of 6 goes where you need… but the sign doesn’t tell you until… well it’s almost too late…  Melbourne wins this one hands down.

History
Sydney has some massive and very impressive historic icons – The Bridge, The Opera House and Bondi just to name a few, Melbourne just doesn’t have anything like this, we have some cool stuff, even some very beautiful stuff but as much as I hate to admit it…. its just not the same… Well played Sydney.

Shopping
This one is a tough choice… I love the way Melbourne is set out… it makes it easy to shop… but Sydney has some better shops… some shops that Melbourne doesn’t have… does that make it better…  I don’t know? Maybe it’s just different…

Wow Factor
I am also not sure on this one… I am not sure that Melbourne makes you go wow the way the view from circular quay does… but Sydney doesn’t have the cool little ally ways and hidden gems that Melbourne does…  maybe that’s Melbourne’s wow factor… maybe not… maybe in some small way Sydney does have a little more… although that hurts to admit.

So there you go… maybe you think differently, but I think the truth is they both have a lot to offer… I wouldn’t want to live in Sydney… but I don’t mind visiting it, and maybe it’s not as bad as I thought… there is nothing quite like the view from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge after climbing to the top and… after all, they still have Sizzler… how bad could it be?