If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time you’ll know that I’m in love with Australia and Sydney is one of my places in the world that I used to visit in summer. This time I’ll take you for a walk through a more wintry Sydney, do you think?
I’ll start with one of my routines, something I love to do there, going to watch the sunrise at Circular Quay, where all the boats leave for the points of the bay. I stand almost under the bridge because that way I have a privileged view of the Opera House, which is beautiful when the sun appears from behind. For me it is a magical moment, especially if the local seal swims by to say hello.
I don’t know if it happens to you but when I go to a city that I have visited many times I like to enjoy it, “play local” and of course, here it was not going to be any different. On one occasion I planned a cultural visit to see an exhibition, it was Icons by the famous photographer Steve McCurry, does he sound familiar? I’m sure that if you visualize the photo of the Afghan girl with those amazing blue eyes, you’ll know who I’m talking about. It was wonderful, and I loved learning more about this artist.
Let me tell you about the place where this exhibition was held, there’re some old wharfs in Dawes Point, they are behind the Rocks (the “old” part) passed the bridge. They have been converted into cultural centers and I think it’s a fantastic idea. This one has a very industrial feel, they have placed a Chester couch in front of a window overlooking the bridge, it is all thought out.
I continue walking around the area, there are cafes and restaurants, the sea of course, and suddenly I arrive at Marrinawi Cove, a natural pool, made of large blocks of stone, with a net (big creature proof, I imagine) and that overlooks the bay. There’s a pregnant girl who just got out of the water and I tell her, you’re very brave, it’s freezing.
That day I had to meet my friend Helene in Newtown, which I already told you about on one occasion, but we decided to change our plans and meet at her house, I was glad because that meant that I could stay by this pool, reading and watching the sunset. It was a magical moment. Then I crossed to the bridge and we went for dinner in the main street of Kirribilli, where there is a Hindu, two Thai, a bowl, so many choices we like.
On one occasion I arrived for my birthday and went to celebrate it at the Queen Victoria Building Tea Rooms. There I had High Tea and I was happy.
I passed by The Strand Arcade, a nice shopping passage with very cute shops and cafes in the center.
And on the way to the hotel, Angel Place Birdcages deserved a stop as it is one of the cutest corners, you enter from Martin Place. You’ll remember it from another post.
The next day, to continue with the celebrations, I met Helene, and we went to a café I had discovered in her neighborhood, the Lost & Found Cafe in North Sydney. It is beautiful, industrial, full of plants, with a fountain inside, pet friendly, part of it is an antique shop and breakfast is yummy.
Another sunny morning we went to the Cremorne Reserve, an excursion along this peninsula to the lighthouse of Robertsons Point, so green and by the sea, a wonder. We pass by a garden called Elephant’s Ear, a plant that a local found, planted and grew the beautiful garden. You can also find the Rock Pool built by Fred Lane an Olimpic champion and resident of the area.
We decide to continue walking and arrive at Balmoral beach, we eat something, enjoy seeing the sea and return by bus.
One morning I went to visit the library to read. It has a small shop and I found one of the books by the children’s writer May Gibbs, about which I wrote a post. They have exhibitions and a children’s area, so it is ideal to spend a few hours there.
The firefighters here are very nice, if you visit them they give you a tour of the whole house, in the trucks they bring gifts for children and stop to greet them in the middle of the street. The little ones love it, of course.
Visiting the great Sydney Botanic Gardens is always a good idea, it is just behind the Opera House, one area is a park and the other is the beautiful gardens. Walking to the tip of the small peninsula is Mrs. MacQuarie’s Chair from where I enjoy from time to time a sunset that blends the Opera House and Sydney Bridge in the same picture.
Leaving the park, where concerts and musicals are held in summer, I head to the Museum of Modern Art, which has a giant spider in front of it, you can’t miss it. The visit is very interesting and ideal for a rainy day.
Chinatown and Paddy’s Market, where you can find gifts and souvenirs still well priced, Darling Harbour and the Chinese Garden of Friendship are also part of my winter walks.
There are two very cute places in the Rocks to go for a chocolate, La Renaissance French pastry shop with good coffee (they tell me) and The Tea Cosy, a very cute tea shop, its name refers to the teapot covers made of crochet.
The book that accompanies me is by one of my favorite writers, Stefan Zweig, and his novella “Journey into the Past“. In 1914 a poor young chemical engineer and his boss’s spouse fall in love. The elderly husband insists that he go live with them as his right-hand man. At the moment when they intend to consummate their love she tells him “not now” at that moment he is sent to Mexico for two years, she assures him that when she returns she will give herself to him, the years pass between letters. Zweig with his usual mastery takes us down a path of unfulfilled promises, waiting and unresolved issues between them.
