Why I miss Melbourne #46

This article in today's Sydney Morning Herald reminds me of one of the (many) reasons why I miss Melbourne.

From the article:

MELBOURNE - a land of skivvy-wearing, chardonnay-drinking book readers - is fundamentally different from Sydney in its drinking culture.

So says the NSW president of the Australian Hotels Association, John Thorpe, who has come out swinging against a plan by the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, to encourage more Melbourne-style boutique bars in Sydney.

"Melbourne is Melbourne. Sydney has a different outlook," said Mr Thorpe, a fierce critic of the City of Sydney's plans to make it easier for hole-in-the-wall bars to gain permission for extended trading. "We aren't barbarians, but we don't want to sit in a hole and drink chardonnay and read a book."

...

Cr Moore has said she wants to encourage a more cosmopolitan Melbourne-feel for the city, but Mr Thorpe, a gruff, straight-talking publican of old, views these Melbourne types with deep suspicion.

"People can sit down, talk about history, chew the fat and gaze into each others eyes and all this sort of baloney but it's pie in the sky stuff," he said. "That's not what Sydney wants."

You think it bad, sir, but it makes me glad.