Melbourne, Australia is very excited that it scored 97.5 out of 100 in the Economist's annual most liveable cites survey knocking Vancouver out of top place.

The Economist designs the rankings for  employers to use when assigning hardship allowances as part of job relocation but they have developed a life of their own with the rankings capturing the attention of people in the street and politicians.

The indexes also ignore other issues like the cost of living in those cities, sustainability, and equity and other factors. For example housing costs in Melbourne are now some of the highest in the world when then Australian dollar's strength is accounted for.

Having said that I agree with the Economist's ranking of Melbourne. It is for me the most livable city in the world taking into account its Cultural aspects, Safety, Public Transport and aesthetically pleasing street layout, buildings, parks, river and bay. I have listed my top ten cities below.

The Economist 2011 list:

1.  Melbourne 97.5 
2.  Vienna 97.4 
3. Vancouver 97.3
4. Toronto 97.2  
5. Calgary 96.6
6.  Sydney 96.1
7. Helsinki 96
8. Perth 95.9 
9. Adelaide 95.9 
10. Auckland 95.7

My Top Ten Liveable Cities:

Wellington

1. Melbourne, Vic, Australia - see above
2. Adelaide, SA, Australia - a city where you are ten minutes from anything: shops, beaches, forests. A good arts scene with amazing food. The Economist said 9th place, I say second.
3. Portland, OR, USA-  ticks all the boxes of big city facilities with small city fee; 
4. San Francisco, CA, USA -one of the most stunning and interesting cities on the planet
5. Reykjavik, Iceland - an unusual contendor- cool, fun and safe!
6. Seattle, WA, USA- Scenery, culture, jobs and transport all combine to create this delight
7. Washington, DC, USA  an amazing city apart from its astonishing crime rate
8. Paris, France- many Parisians would disagree but there is a lot to attract one to living in the capital of France. 
9. Wellington, New Zealand- I prefer New Zealand's capital over the Economist's choice (Auckland). A more compact and navigable city straddling stunning harbour and  hillsides with a great cultural scene
10. New Orleans, Louisana- seriously. Like nowhere else in the world, I could easily live here- tomorrow!

Where would you most think would be a great city to live in? 

Thursda
My No Fly July  has meant I have not been inside a plane for over a month and have sampled a lot of Australian rail travel.

My latest trip was from Sydney to Melbourne in a sleeping carriage on the XPT (EXpress Passenger Train). It was such a delightful experience, I would do it again.

The train leaves from Platform Number One of the grand Central Station in Sydney, Central never quite looks right. It always seems a bit down at heel and always seems to be under construction. Currently the clock tower is being renovated. AAll sorts of alterations have been made which don't quite work. There are ugly barriers cutting off platforms 4 to 13,  the food court covers a magnificent floor mural illustrating all of Australia's railways.

There is now a youth hostel located in some old carriages permanently parked next to Platform One at Central Station.

I found the cabin to which I had been allocated. I had been reserved bed 9.There are two bunks and three seats in each cabin. The seats are only used in the day time. Each cabin shares a shower and a mini toilet. The toilets in the next carriage are much nicer.

My cabin mate arrived five minutes before the train departed. Bummer! I had thought I might have had the cabin to myself. Soon after our carriage attendant (for the first 400 km anyway to Albury arrived). After confirming we were not travelling together, she escorted him to his own cabin! There were only 15 passengers travelling in sleepers that night.

My order for the complimentary breakfast was taken (raisin toast, cereal and juice) and I was given a demonstration of bunk lowering, attendant call button, toilet and shower.

The train departed at 840pm. I folded the bed down soon after departure, changed into my (Qantas) pyjamas and hopped into bed for a read.

I soon fell asleep but was woken by a huge jolt which made me think we had left the tracks. I stayed awake for a while before falling back to sleep until just before breakfast in bed arrived.

A nice invigorating shower before dressing came next. The disquieting thing was that the shower ran cold water for ages and my heart sank. After a while it dawned on me that if I turned the tap on full, hot water might flow-which it did.

The cost of my sleeper was $216.00. Its interesting to compare the cost to flights the same night or next morning. Plenty of cheap flights were available for the price range of $99 to $149. Getting to Sydney airport would cost between $12 and $30 depending on whether I took bus, train or taxi where as I walked to Central Station. Getting from Melbourne  airport would cost me $15 to $50 depending on bus or taxi. So total airfare would cost between $126 and $229. If I had stayed in a hotel that night.......

For me, the price was so worth it! It was such a relaxing way to travel.

I am attempting to not fly for a month!
This has meant several long distance train trips:

• Melbourne- Adelaide (twice) 
• Adelaide-Melbourne  
• and coming up Adelaide-Sydney!

This has been my office:

A recent flight  tipped me over into 2300 hours of flying since I was born. This is equivalent to over 95 days inside a metal tube.  Over 3 months of my life!


More Trivia (some of which can be found at my flightmemory page)

• 75 airlines (my favourites of course Emirates, Air New Zealand and Qantas)
• 48 types of plane (the 3 most common being B737, B747 and B767 and the most exotic a Zepplin airship)
• 180 airports (the 3 most common Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles)
• 36 countries on 5 continents flown to (out of the 47 countries I have visited to- 2 countries I went to by ship, 2 by bus and 7 by train)
• 43% of my flights have involved an Australian destination,  31% a US destination and 8% a New Zealand stop and 4% a UK stop.
• I have sat by the window 281 times, on the  Aisle   151 times and in the  Middle  21 times..I cant recall the rest...guessing same proportions. 

• 
  

Paris remains my Number One in the world. What I like overall about Paris is that it works. The infrastructure is a dream with world's best public transport , water, sewerage, and electricity systems. Add to that amazing culture, fantastic streetscapes and mind bogglingly wonderful food. I was shocked to find I can buy an apartment there for less than I can in my own city Melbourne, Australia.
Tourists: buy breakfast at a bakery not your hotel and get lunch supplies at the local marches (markets) for amazing quality and a sense of authenticity. Detracting from Paris is a sense of a rise in racism and a few distressed banlieues (suburbs).

#2 Berlin, despite the economic malaise gripping Germany (particularly in the East) contains an energy, a beauty and fascination that few other cities offer. Combine this with an excellent urban infrastructure (including an amazing public transit system), German efficiency and great art, culture and music. I still chuckle over taking a German friend of mine to a German restaurant and watching him get blown away by the quality of the food.

#3 San Francisco edged up to my number three. While some of the infrastructure is a little clunkier due to the high involvement of private companies to supply it, it generally works well. Culturally a vibrant arts and music scene exists. But tourists:  please never eat at Fisherman's Wharf

#4 Melbourne, Australia Overlooked by many international tourists, in favour of the more famous Sydney, the city surprises visitors. I had some very good American friends come to visit who were planning to dedicate two days to the city and asked me for my top ten recommendations. I produced a top 40 list in an hour ((email me for my top 40 Melbourne list)

#5 Stockholm, Sweden's capital is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with good infrastructure and vibe. It is not ranked higher because culturally I find it more subdued and of course its so damned expensive. Tourists: get a hotel that includes a smorgasbord breakfast in the price, and do a canal tour)

#6  Montreal: French chic, food and culture.  True it has one of the biggest collection of white elephants (an airport that was never really used, a leaking Olympic stadium and a metro system not paid for but its one town that knows how to have a damn good party and dresses for it. Apart from those bitter bitter winters, I could live here (Tourists: don't be put off by winter though; Montreal is one of the most well equipped cities for winter in the world with an amazing underground walking network)

#7 Barcelona: One of my most embarrassing moments in life is telling an architecture professor I met in Barcelona, how ugly I thought Barcelona was after I had been there for six minutes. I got a lecture about the amazing architecture styles that make up the city and my eyes were opened up to the streetscape that is Barcelona  (We ended up dating and we are still good friends so I cant have been too clumsy). Some glitches with infrastructure but a superb transport system and a food and nightlife scene easily puts Barcelona at number seven. Tourists: go everywhere but guard your wallets very carefully. I have never seen more pickpockets than Barcelona

#8 Wellington, New Zealand last year celebrated being awarded the best small capital in the world. Walking the waterfront on a  sunny day will lead you to fall in love with the harbour, hills and houses. Take the cable car up and walk down through the botanic gardens. Here you will be spoilt for choice with the range and quality of food. The rail+ bus system is the best in New Zealand (but has a long way to go to get to world standards). Tourists: go and see the quality local theatre Then sample the bar and nightlife scene! 

#9 Portland, Oregon, USA  I have an on going debate with an Oregonian resident  friend of mine who cannot believe that I rate Portland, Oregon so highly. One of the most livable cities in the USA, its not a visually stunning place but it has an incredible vibe fuelled by an edgey arts scene, great music scene,. Superb food and local wine. Tourists: buy a book at Powells,world's largest bookstore,  find the outdoor market, walk along the river and eat from a food van.  Make sure you do the underground tunnel tour..

#10 Toronto, Canada gets a second look in with Toronto. Many people prefer Vancouver (which I put in 20^th place) but for me Toronto works better. Not the prettiest city, it does have some visual gems. For life, however, give me Toronto, eh? Tourists: take a ferry to the islands and walk along them.

Other leading Contenders:

11 Boston, Massachusetts -

12 Chicago, Illinois

13 Newcastle upon Tyne – take a look at this place, you will be surprised

14 Koln (Cologne)

15 Singapore – if you go beyond the tourist haunts and meet some locals, you will find a city that functions brilliantly with thriving arts and amazing food

16 Adelaide – yes Adelaide, underrated by residents, non residents and tourists where else can you go to the beach, go for hike, eat an amazing meal and watch superb entertainment in a day with no stress.

16 Geneva- combines Swiss efficiency, French verve and an international edge

18 Reykjavik- go go go see Iceland's capital. Tourists: Stay at Room with a View!

19 Seattle, Washington- grunge music and stunning scenery

20 Vancouver, Canada- a superb place undermined by its becoming much pricier

21 Hobart, don't skip this gem. Grab some affordable seafood by the water, go for a hike

22 San Diego, California, fun

23 Portland, Maine- surprise! Check it out!

24 Brussels- I get rubbished for putting the Belgian capital here but again follow the locals and over a meal of mussel,  fites and beer you will te a glimpse of a fun side to this seemingly serious  city. 

25 Bilbao, Spain – most people have never heard of the city let alone visited it- think Guggenheim Museum

26 New York, New York- sacrilege that New York isn't in my top ten? Yes NY, NY has everything you could want but it is hard work to live in and navigate, its expensive and it is grotty hence my relegation of NYC to number 26!

27 Bern- another surprise?!

28 Christchurch, impacted but not daunted by an earthquake, New Zealand's second largest city

28 Washington, District of Columbia

30 Budapest

31 Taipei, Taiwan – blown away by this amazing city

31 Rennes, France – where? I think most French will be surprised by how highly I rate Rennes. A brief visit there is not enough. Here s a Chance to discover “real France”

33 Liverpool, England. Dunned a European city of culture a couple of years ago, the city sparkles

34 Prague, Czech Republic – yes there is nice beer -but there is much, much more

35 Sydney- go beyond Sydney's glistening harbour and you find an expensive city with appalling transportation issues, Sydney is sway better than several thousand cities across the world but it has a lot of work to get into my top 10

36 Krakow, Poland – everyone kept telling me how beautiful Krakow is-and they were right

37 Edinburgh, Scotland -cool place

38 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Savannah, Georgia – two very different cities and fun in different ways

40 Perth , Australia and Bristol, England

Of my top 41 cities (two cities are at Number 40)

Why no South American cities?: mea cupla. I have never been to South America! I will endeavour to fix this in 2011. :)

 Have to included Lagos,Nigeria and Harare, Zimbabwe. Scarily, I also include some US cities at the bottom of the list.

What about you? 

 Your best and worst city choices?

My favourite "app" (three years ago I would not have said this sentence) is TripIt. I absolutely love Tripit!  And so do others, it has won the Business Traveler Innovation Award winners.   Tripit works like this:Whenever I get an itinerary from an airline, rail company, hotel (pictured below) I forward the confirmation to  Tripit. Users can currently forward confirmation emails from over 1,000 different booking sites. 


Thirty seconds after Tripit has got my email, they send one back:





To me, its like magic!  Every now and then one doesn't work (Interislander ferries in NZ didnt work yesterday!). Tripit creates an itinerary from the confirmation. You can see my upcoming trips below on my Tripit homepage:


 Each of these Trips will include the Confirmations I send and it adds useful info like maps showing how to get from my hotel to the airport etc.
This means that by the time I fly out, I have an entire Master Itinerary for the whole trip with all my conformation numbers, airfares, times etc plus maps, directions, weather and more. For me that saves me hours per trip cutting, pasting, typing, printing and emailing. 


! I can look at that itinerary on-line and I now carry it on my iphone. I can print it for myself and others. I can email it to staff, family and clients. Aspects of it will pop up on my Facebook and on Linked In so friends and colleagues can see when they will be close to me and where I will be! It even links into my computer's calendar and Google calendar.


Tripit then texts me with reminders through my trip. For example, it tells me when I need to check in. It lets me know which gate I will be taking off from and landing at. As soon as a flight is delayed or cancelled, it texts me. It will even recommend alternate flights I can discuss with the ticketing agent. With other add on apps, my phone can automatically trigger emails and texts to friends, family and staff telling them that I have arrived OK!


Tripit even monitors my frequent flyer programs!


There are two versions. A freebie and a paid one. I m not being given any incentive to tell you about Tripit-simply doing the viral thing because it really does help simplify travel!! Let me know how you get on with Tripit or other tools you might be using!

Just booked myself on a Tiger Airways flight from Melbourne to Adelaide next week. I saved a mere $6 off Qantas but I want the experience as Tiger will be my 66th airline I have flown on!

Have you flown them yet?