As I headed to the Art Gallery of NSW this morning, it was already bloody warm outside.
An hour or two in the gallery provided some welcome relief to an otherwise almost unexpectedly warm day.
I was at the gallery for a work-related activity. But in between keeping an eye on things, it was great just to have time to wander around the gallery for a while.
In the current exhibitions, unfortunately, there was nothing which really grabbed me. I did, however, enjoy having a look around some of the classic works of Dobel, Roberts etc.
Sculpture at Art Gallery of NSW
Coming outside I felt the warmth again as I walked through The Domain. A bite or two followed in Chinatown, and then I came home.
I’m pretty sure we hit at least thirty-degrees and it felt like it.
But it wasn’t too hot to have an afternoon nap, and for a walk around the park.
When I arrived home, I even considered putting on the air conditioner.
“I’m not your first customer, am I?”, I said to one of the bar staff at the pub in Lismore. It was 11.45am, and even by my standards that was a little early. But I figured after five weeks lockdown in Lismore, I was doing my bit for the local economy by popping in for a ginger beer. “Oh no”, she said, “We’ve had plenty of customers, already”.
Though the lockdown here hasn’t been anywhere near as severe as in other parts of Australia, and in many parts of the world, there was still a sense of relief/elation as I walked around town this morning. You could feel it too, in the the general vibe of the place. The streets were reasonably busy, there was tai chi in The Quad, and there were also people in the pubs and restaurants.
On the radio this morning, ABC North Coast, Angela Catterns interviewed someone from a nail salon who declared she had taken her first customer at midnight, only minutes/seconds after the lockdown lifted. As I walked around town, I noticed most of the hairdressers were booked out. As you’ll see in the video, my beard is looking very scrappy, to say the least.
Though there’s part of me which feels the lockdown has been lifted too early, there’s also a feeling of elation.
“Hopefully we won’t have some idiot come up from Sydney and force us back into lockdown again”, Pat said to me earlier. “We’ve got plenty of our own idiots up here”, I said to her in reply.
Of course, walking would be even better! It was such a beautiful day. As I walked to work, I noticed we had that wonderful “dappled” cloud in the sky. Just fantastic. Aside from work, I met with my mates at the pub, as per the usual Wednesday night.
And in further Sydney public transport news, it’s been reported today we’ll soon have six free buses which will loop the city. Fantastic news, I thought, having had experience with the CAT buses in Perth which were excellent, I thought. In case you were unaware, in Perth, all public transport in the obviously-small CBD is free, encouraging people to hop on a bus instead of catching a cab or whatever.
Let’s hope the buses run regularly, and don’t end up in groups like many Sydney buses do. This is a problem on Cleveland Street, in particular, where the are often no buses for 20 minutes and then two versions of the same route turn up together, with one of them packed to the rafters, while the other is almost empty.
As they were re-setting the tables after last night’s “dinner session” a the Katoomba RSL, I noticed one of the blokes had a tape measure, and was measuring the distance between the tables. I overheard him tell a colleague about the “plain clothes inspectors” who were visiting local venues to ensure they were “Covid Safe”. As in the famous episode of “Fawlty Towers”, I wonder if he, falsely, thought I was a plain-clothed inspector!
Although everyone else had already left the room, I was still there, having arrived at a later time than most. Having enjoyed a fair bit of “steak and chips” lately, I went for the “butter chicken”. Since I lived near the corner of Crown and Cleveland Streets in Surry Hills (and am therefore spoiled when it comes to Indian food), I wasn’t expecting something anything terribly authentic. It was “average” at best.
Last night, “Katoomba RSL” was pretty popular. After dinner, I enjoyed a couple of drinks and watched a bit of footy on the TV, along with a room-full of others. It was a nice place to spend a couple of hours, and it was across the road from the motel where I was staying. I should emphasise the staff at the RSL did an awesome job checking everyone on entry and on leaving, and throughout to ensure everything was COVID-Safe.
I dined at Katoomba RSL because pretty much everywhere else in Katoomba was booked out.
From the look of things, they’re taking “COVID-19” pretty seriously, as you might expect for a town that’s highly reliant on the tourist industry. “Have you recently visited Victoria?”, was a question asked pretty much everywhere I visited, whether it be the hotel where I stayed to a cafe or a restaurant or a bar.
My visit to the Katoomba was one of those “spur of the moment” decisions. Four months of living and working from home, and I definitely needed some mountain air.
Overall, the town was pretty quiet, due to COVID-19, whereas winter would normally be pretty busy for them. Hopefully a few dollars from me will help the local economy.
At the suggestion of a few friends on social media I visited some bookstores and art galleries.
I also noticed there’s a terrific public art laneway, not far from Katoomba Street.
KatoombaKatoombaKatoomba
Naturally enough I visited a few tourist attractions, and have blogged about them elsewhere.
Of all the photographs I took, this is probably my favourite. Move over selfie-stick, this is how you capture your holiday snaps now. Spotted this family using a drone yesterday at The Three Sisters.
“Have you ever been to Nomad?”, a colleague asked me the other day. What followed was a passionate conversation, as we extolled the virtues of the restaurant in Surry Hills, which I’ve been to a few times, though not recently. This review, takes you back to when my friends Sandra and Robert were visiting, and I was looking for somewhere special to take them. The conversation last week was a lovely reminder for me to: a) go back to Nomad, and b) write more about the restaurants I often visit.
Alchemy – a restaurant/cafe serving Polish food on Crown Street, Surry Hills. “You need to like dumplings and schnitzels”, my friend told me, as we approached Alchemy earlier tonight. She was right, adding “This is good food in winter”. She comes from a Ukranian/Polish background, and told me the small friend dumplings we ate were the “comfort food” she grew up with. Tasty. Filling.
Ichibang – not far from Alchemy on Crown Street, lies a terrific Japanese restaurant. This is my “go to” restaurant on a weekday when I’m feeling hungry, and looking for a simple, healthy top up. Inevitably, I’ll choose a sushi/saschimi combination of some type, accompanied by a glass of wine. Generally about $25 in total, and I’m always greeted with a smile by the wait staff and the chef.
And in the heart of the city, on Bligh Street, French food in a restaurant/bar with a genuinely “New York Vibe”, is Restaurant Hubert. Finally, something in Sydney which is genuinely “New York”, and not just pretend. Very cool, very popular, because it’s very bloody good. Beautiful food. $80 between two of us. A lighter meal, but still very filling. $100 on the wine, but that says more about us than the restaurant.
On arriving in Barcelona a couple of days ago, one of the first things we did was pay a visit to Park Guell, designed by the renowned architect, Antoni Gaudi. Even though I thought it was very good, it was a little disappointing, since some parts of the park were closed off for renovation. Since then, we’ve seen evidence of Gaudi’s work around the city, though it wasn’t until yesterday that we threw ourselves in for a deep dive, visiting both Casa Milà and the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia.
Casa Milà is a remarkable building. Though largely a public space, museum and gallery these days, the original purpose for the building (apartments and business for the affluent middle class) continues. “I wonder how much it would cost to live here?”, Sue said at one point. “Not as much as Sydney”, I joked in return. The audio tour tells us it was always going to be a building for the “well to do”. As we walked around one of the “original” apartments, I smiled, recognising in the kitchen the same meat mincer I’d grown up with, and the same Singer sewing machine (with a foot pedal) my mum had continued to use until I was about ten years old, and on which she had taught me how to sew.
Casa Mila Rooftop
Though the apartment was interesting enough, the attic and rooftop held the most attraction for me. The attic, designed to house the laundry and other associated activities, has a Cathedral-like interior. But it was the rooftop that I really loved. The audio tour described Gaudi’s attitude towards rooftop design thus: when the rooftop is decorated with only a chimney or an air-vent, they’re “like a head with only a few hairs”. This attitude helps explain why he’s taken these ordinary, though important things, and given them the wildly interesting ornamentation he has. Some appear like turrets on a mosque, others as Picasso-like sculptures, and one is decorated with broken champagne bottles. In the distance you can see the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia, his other great work in the city, albeit, unfinished.
Harsh angle, but it’s me at The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família
Construction continues on Sagrada Familia, due for completion in 2026, with modern cranes competing for airspace with the ornate towers of the cathedral. In contrast, the inside of the cathedral is “relatively” simple. That’s not to say the inside lacks ornamentation. The stained glass windows are beautiful, though not as ornate as you might expect, and might otherwise find in cathedrals elsewhere. There were a few moments late in the afternoon when the sun shone through, projecting some beautiful shades of orange and red onto the floor. Magic. There’s also a “non-traditional” crucifix that hangs down above the altar which could probably be described, and I’m not meaning to be profane, as “Jesus In A Parachute”.
Jesus at The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família
Both places were wonderful to visit, and highlights of this holiday.
We’re definitely getting in to the Spanish lifestyle, with late lunches, siestas, and a mid-evening meal. Though tempted to head into the city for the much recommended, “Mercat Princesa”, last night, we went for a largely vegetarian cafe “Timeline” which we had identified earlier as “Local Option 2”.
Right now, we’re on the train, headed to San Sebastian.
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Ah summer… I am heading in the reverse direction here. So sad. Time for me to come to Oz again.
Ah summer… I am heading in the reverse direction here. So sad. Time for me to come to Oz again.
It’s 26 degrees at the moment, Sandra, and it’s 11pm.