Getaway to Sydney

Last week Angie and I took a holiday from studio work to visit Sydney. We left on Tuesday morning and arrived early in the afternoon. When we got to Sydney we were starving so we stopped off at a pub that caught our eye for an early dinner. We had a local Aussie beer called Dr. Schwartz (a porter) and ate a chicken avacado sandwhich and a burger which were delicious. The next day we got up early and went down to Darlinghurst St. for breakfast. We ate at a charming little cafe called Le Petite Creme, a French cafe that had great food and yummy coffees. During our breakfast a guitarist came into the shop and played acoustic French music, its was an amazing start to the day. After breakfast, Angie and I went all around Sydney. We saw beautiful architecture, pretty parks and gardens, as well as a man blowing bubbles in the park, very neat!

Rainy, grey day in Sydney!

A rainy walk around Hyde Park brings out all of the beautiful greens of the plants.

Coffee, one of our favorite things!

In one little hole-in-the-wall shop selling authentic aboriginal art, boomerangs and didgeridoos, we spoke with the owner, who taught us all about Australian aboriginal history and customs. She began telling us about how aboriginies bury their dead. It's their custom to create burial totems. They bury their deceased loved one, then dig their bones back up after a certain amount of time. They then grind up the bones and pour them into the totem. The totem is then given to the living members of that person's family. If there are no longer any living members of the family, the totem is buried with 1/3 of it sticking out of the ground like a head stone, or, it may be sold. Lucky for us, she went to the back of her shop and brought out a totem that her father had bought from a tribe years ago! Beautiful. 

The burial totem...with bones in it!

Close up of the artwork...it's over 200 years old!

Hyde Park on the second day.

Angie found this tree in the park that someone had drawn hearts on.

Beautiful St. Mary's Cathedral.

Bubbles in Hyde Park.

After our little history lesson, we went to the New South Wales Museum of Art and saw some amazing works of art. Everything from Peter Paul Reben and Picasso paintings, to Anish Kapoor prints. There were also some beautiful aboriginal works of art, and even some of the totems that we had learned about earlier in the day! Unfotunately, you were not allowed to take photos of any of these pieces. Fantastic museum.



Some crazy tall flowers!



The New South Wales art gallery.



This artist cuts two parts (the leaves and the trunk/branches) of tiny, intricate trees out of paper shopping bags and folds them down to combine them to create these beautiful trees!



In front of a large aboriginal piece!

  

After the art museum and walking around Sydney a bit, at a Greek cafe called Vivo. After a mocha and a wine, it was time to head to the Opera House for the concert we had tickets for. Before the start of the show we walked around the Opera House taking photos and taking in the view of the harbor. When we got into the Opera House, Angie and I enjoy a yummy glass of wine while we waited for the show to start. The show was a colaboration of a young aboriginal didgeridoo player and the Sydney Orchestra. The show opened up with William Barton (the didgeridoo player) signing in his native aboriginal tongue which was so beautiful and moving that I almost came to tears. The orchestra played beautifully and incorporated Eucaliptus leaves which was really awesome.



For lunch, Angie had her mocha (yummy!) and I had my wine :)

Beautiful day for the Opera House!

Walking around before the concert. We were hoping to see some Humpback Whales since there have been so many sightings lately, but no such luck.

View from the Opera House of Circular Quay.

Angie was excited to be able to touch the tiles on the Opera House :)

The GORGEOUS concert hall in the Opera House! Unbelievable.

The stage, before the concert started.

After the concert, we decided to go out for some sushi. We came across an area of Sydney that is nothing but Asian restaurants...it felt like we were in Asia, we were definitely the minority! The food all smelled so good, and there was so much to take in. We finally found a little Japanese restaurant for dinner.

Sake and sushi after the concert...yum!

Inside Capital Square, where all of the Asian restaurants are.

Angie's drink of choice.

The following day, we had to catch the bus back to Canberra at noon, so that gave us just enough time for one more stop at Le Petite Creme, a little walk around Sydney, and a chance to look in a few more little shops.

An interesting house we passed. Built into the rocky side of the hill.

Sydney has many different architectural styles. Sometimes it looks like you're in New Orleans, France or Asia. Other times it looks like a smaller NYC.

One last breakfast at Le Petite Creme before heading back to Canberra!

The monorail through the city.

We're hoping to get one more Sydney visit in before we head back to the states so that we can hit up Bondi Beach, the Rocks marketplace and the Contemporary Art Museum. For now, it's back to work at Strathnairn! Cheers!