Saturday 7 April 2012

This must be the place

Today I played tourist. It's a funny thing being a tourist. It's funny being a tourist in a city you are calling home. And it's funny being a tourist on your own. Or perhaps it is funny having experiences on your own that would perhaps take on a different hue if they were shared. If I had been with someone else at on the 88th floor of the Eureka Building, I might have said, isn't this high? or Isn't Melbourne massive, look at it sprawling all the way out in all directions or there are the Dandenongs, I must go there one day. And then later, some years from now, we could say, remember that day we went up the Eureka Tower. But none of that dialogue did or will happen. 

The solo experience feels a lot more cinematic. Especially if you have an overactive imagination and heightened sense of observation. The Eureka tower is ranked up alongside the world's impressive buildings. I have been in another of the listed impressive buildings, the Eiffel Tower, and I have to say, The Eureka is no Eiffel. But then it was never going to be. The Eureka Tower is 297.3 metres tall. It was the tallest residential building in the world when it was completed in 2006 and it is now the sixth tallest. The lifts travel at 9m per second, which means that it takes 38 seconds to get to the top, with some ear-popping on the way. It is named for the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian goldrush of 1854. The design of the building reflects this historical event with the gold representing the goldrush, the red stripe is for the blood spilled during the revolt, the blue glass cladding is for the blue background of the stockade's flag.
 

 




Listen:
This must be the place

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