margo_oz

Yestravel

What was it that reminded you of the US? (but then I haven't been to LA)

Good report.

Bokhara2

I've only been to the airport in LA& I hope to god it wasn't that!

And, I did wonder, too.

I've been to NYC a few times & really like it, likewise the Hamotons & Washington DC, but I don't really see too many similarities . Although, I'd have to say nothing was jarringly different, either.

Always interesting to see ourselves through others' eyes.

tripplanner001

For me, the similarities between Sydney and L.A. are the largely warm climate, the compact commercial core with all its high rises and the large expanse of neighborhoods that spread out from there, the close proximity of the beaches, the surfing culture at the beaches, and the bit of glamour. It also helps that we speak a common language, have similar laws, similar business practices, etc. I don't mean the comparison to be negative. I feel at home in Australia.

yestravel

Well stated by tp. Definitely not like the LA airport and few cities are like NYC that's for sure. I think there is an overall familar feeling to the places we went. Many of the smaller towns were very reminiscent of various suburbs in the US.

This is going to sound off the wall, but Canberra had a similar look to DC. Something about the low buildings and the river. It was funny at dinner one night in Canberra our server said he had lived in DC and then said something to the effect that DC reminded him of Canberra as strange as that seemed. I even took a shot of a building as we crossed a bridge that looked like crossing the Potomac with the Kennedy center in it.

The GOR is similar to Calif Rte 1 -- not as high in many places. Landscapes in some areas were very similar to NCailfornia. Friends from CA commented on FB on our photos about the scenic resemblances.

I know that there were others, but I would have to think more about it.

Melnq8

In my report from our Perth-Exmouth road trip several years back I wrote the following:

"the landscape vaguely reminded me of New Mexico; the road was reminiscent of South Dakota, where you crest one asphalt hill just to see another..."

I seem to recall making a comparison between somewhere in OZ and WY too, but can't seem to unearth that one from the cobwebs of my brain.

CounterClifton

I get that comparison between DC and Canberra. Completely different scales and architecture, but the roads and opens spaces were both carefully laid out to centre around important monuments and landmarks.

Over the years, I do think Australia took about as many lessons from North America as it did from the UK. (of course, in DC's case, they in turn took their idea of a grand layout from Paris).

My impression of the two largest cities though come less from physical traits and more in how locals seem to live and present themselves. When I think of life in Sydney, I think of the outdoors, often a wide beach like Bondi or Manly, full of people. In Melbourne, it's cafe tables on every sidewalk and street buskers. Trams zipping around. Painfully trendy in an arguing over "deconstructed coffee" kind of way. People herding into the city for a game.

Melnq8

CC - I hope that deconstructed coffee was a joke

I prefer my flat white fully constructed.

Bokhara2

Canberra's architect, Walter Burley Griffin, was an American

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Burley_Griffin

And yes, I saw some similarities between Canberra & the bits of DC I saw, too.

I felt quite at home in NYC & DC - but then I felt very at home in Italy too, so maybe I'm just an easily settled displaced person from a former life or three!

CounterClifton

<i>I hope that deconstructed coffee was a joke</i>


Melnq, LOL. Oddly, not a joke.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/de...01-gp9jrh.html