Australian open: check. Melbourne: check.

I might have a new favourite city. I will have to give it a while to reflect and weigh the positives, but in this moment Melbourne Australia is my new number one. I did Sydney a few years ago. Wait. Holy crap that was almost ten years ago! Time flies… Sydney was cool, it has the oohs and ahhs of the Opera House and Harbour bridge that are both more famous than anything in Melbourne, but Melbourne has so much more culture and vibrancy, it was everything I had heard it would be. Ace weather didn’t hurt either.
On this trip my eldest daughter, Aurora, and I were taking on the Victorian capital together, our primary goal: to see some Canadian tennis players in action at the Aussie Open. Aurora had no idea she was going anywhere until about two hours before the flight, when I asked her what she wanted to do to today. She replied maybe swimming, or the park. I asked if she would prefer to go to Australia to watch the famous tennis tournament I had told her about recently.

“Today?”
“Yes today.”
“Can I bring Ernie?”
“Yeah of course.”
“So, we’re going to Australia? Today?”
“Yep”.

And then, in her reserved seven year old way, three fingers covering her mouth, eyes wide standing bolt upright apparently about to  explode, but also reservedly conscious that her little sister Brynn was staying home and might be jealous…

“Oh my goodness I am so excited!! And then matter of factly 7 going on 30 - "I had better pack some outfits.”

I am awesome. She had no idea. And, while I was realistically more excited about the tennis than she was, I dare say by the end of our trip she now understands and is way more into the sport that she herself has recently taken up.
We couch surfed with a fellow named Anders at his apartment in the Eureka building. I had never heard of it, but it had come up on the list of things to do when in Melbourne. Sweet, I thought, I can tick off a tourist attraction and it will double as my accommodation. The Eureka building as it turns out is the southern hemisphere’s tallest building, and we were to stay on the 47th floor of this building in Anders very swanky apartment. This was Couchsurfing luxury at its finest. Epic city views, and five star comfort all for the low low price of the bottle of wine we offered as a thank you gift. I do not want to even think what this place would have cost. 47 floors up in Australia’s most expensive market, right down town… Anders is sure living the dream as far as urban living goes, and it was nice to be able to share it for a few days.
Our first day we weren’t able to check in until 7, as Anders was out and about. So, we went to the tennis hoping one of the people we had come to see was playing. As it happened Eugenie Bouchard, the darling of Canadian tennis, happened to be playing on one of the show courts, two matches after Vasek Poposil, one of the two Canadian men on the tour (we had no hope of seeing  Raonic, or rather we couldn’t afford to see Raonic as he was at Rod Laver) We arrived in time to see the end of Poposil losing effort, and saw another match with Ukrainian Bodarenko, and then Bouchard put on a show in her first round victory. We were even privy to the Genie Army, an entourage of Genie-mad fans who drool over her and chant ridiculous slogans every match she plays. Aurora was a good sport for what ended up being about four hours of tennis in 37 degree heat, but did eventually resort to colouring. Her appreciation of tennis showed signs of growth when, out in Federation Square several days later, she asked if we could stay to watch tennis on the large jumbo-trons set up in the square, and later still, eagerly watched as Eugenie Bouchard lost her second round match on TV at Ander’s.  
Aside from tennis, Melbourne is a city full of culture, and there is always something on free, or cheap for families at the museums, galleries and other attractions. Street performers and musicians seem to have a permanent home on the streets here, and the free central city trams are amazing, We had a great time walking up and down the banks of the Yarra River soaking it all in. The river front, with its perfect combination of park, restaurant, café, and attraction dotting the full length on either side, is done better than Seine in Paris, and that is really saying something.
What sets Melbourne apart for me is the culture, and the vibrancy. Granted we were here during the Open, which is one of the city’s most active times, but I have a hard time believing that the pulse of the city dies much in its absence.  If you don’t like the craziness of the central city, get out to the beaches at St. Kilda, and take in the history of the pier, or relax on the endless miles of golden sand beaches.
Melbourne is accessible by foot, and transit and in four and a half days here, we did not run out of things to do, though we did run out of time. We planned to see the botanical gardens on three separate occasions, and it never happened. Melbourne has entertainment. Melbourne has beaches. Melbourne has night-life. Melbourne has major sporting attractions. Melbourne - has it all. It is expensive though. On par with Sydney, London, New York and Paris though, as far as the “great” cities of the world that I have been to go, but that does not make a $22 six pack of beer any easier to swallow. You can’t have it all ways though I suppose.