If Perth
had a heart, then that heart is the port town of Fremantle. From the moment my
Dad started working at Fremantle Hospital in 1977, Fremantle, or ‘Freo’ as the
locals call it became a backdrop for my formative years.
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| Fremantle Port |
My first
memories of Fremantle are eating fish and chips on the Esplanade; a park
nestled along the Freo foreshore. Cicerellos was the place to go for freshly
battered cod and chips. My parents would
order at the counter whilst I peered into the vast tropical aquarium that was
always my highlight during a trip to Cicerellos. Clutching our newspaper
bundles, we would cross the rail overpass down into Esplanade Park. Sitting on
the grass amongst the Norfolk Pines, I remember the crunchy saltiness and fresh
white flakes in my mouth, with the sea breeze cooling us on a sunny Perth day.
Being a
port city, Fremantle has always had an outward looking mien. Immigrants from
Italy and Portugal settled in the town and contributed significantly in creating
the character of Fremantle; essentially a working class immigrant community for
whom family was important. These roots of Fremantle’s heritage is still very
much visible today. The main road, known as the Cappuccino strip is well known
for its proliferation of cafes and restaurants where you can sip and dine alfresco.
Gino’s coffee shop reigns supreme on the
strip having outlasted other stalwarts such as Old Papa’s and Interfoods. Across
the road is Pizza Bella Roma where nightly queues form as people await the
opportunity to dine on delicious oven baked pizza and pasta.
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| Gino's Cafe - still standing |
When I
visit nowadays, I find the Cappuccino Strip greatly changed. The street that once held an Italian deli, a butchers, a burial home, a fishmongers and one of the
best bookshops in Perth is now dotted with too many ice cream parlours, tacky pubs and tourist shops. Rents are so high that many local businesses have left. Still, the reputation of the strip precedes its
reality and every weekend, the tourists still come and spend their money on ice
cream, coffee and trinkets.
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| The Cappuccino Strip |
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