The Twinkling of Glasses Mark's Melbourne's Prosperity

Melbourne has the prosperous feel of a city on the up and up. I got this sense right after we got off the plane and stood in a line waiting for customs. As a cute blond Labrador was walked through the line, sniffing every passenger's feet and luggage, posters up on the wall described the multi-billion dollar upgrade going on at the airport, with new terminals, parking and jetways that will accommodate the biggest plane ever built, Airbus' A380.

Last night I walked home from dinner at Taxi, an upscale Australian/Japanese restaurant where glasses of wine were priced at $12-17 each, with no shortage of takers. Entrees, (that's what they call appetizers here) were priced at about $20-25 and 'Mains' scaled up to about $45 or $55. I picked a wild Barramundi filet, which was crispy and buttery inside. This fish is farmed in Massachusetts, but the wild variety was more flavorful. I sat at the bar and tried to get the waiter to explain the rules of Australian football. But he said that you either know art or football around here, and he fits the first category.

The walk through the busy and bustling streets showed a city full of people with money to spend on those $15 glasses of Chardonnay. That's always a good sign, full bars, people laughing and talking, sitting outside on terraces heated with gas heaters in the chill of fall here down under. There are cranes dotting the skyline, a new convention center being built and even the cabbie sounded proud of the way this city is shaping up and expanding.