Market Day

I read a blog recently where the author mused about how there's always a market going on somewhere and how happy the thought of that made her. I must agree. I love a good market. 

Our friends Dale and Aki told us about the Sydney Markets sometime shortly after I moved here and it's been on our list to make at least one trip while we live here. Dale and Aki have five kids, so they go pretty frequently to stock up on fruit. Early one wet Saturday morning, Dale was making just such a routine visit and invited us along. Since it's just me and Spencer and we have pretty limited fridge space, we had to keep ourselves to one or two of this or that compared to Dale's case or two of this or that. But our fridge was stuffed full of  some beautiful produce for a couple of weeks. We only wished we could have accommodated more.

I've never eaten so many mangoes in my whole life as I have in the year I've lived here. They are around all summer, they are cheap and they are so good.

The Aussies love their beetroot.

A quick lesson from the expert on picking the perfect mango.

My favorite sign of all. "Spinch," anyone?

Noodles of the Night

Every year, as part of the Sydney Food Festival (which, incidentally, was way back in October...that's how behind I am), they hold Night Noodle Markets for a week in Hyde Park. When we heard that this would be part of the month-long culinary celebration, we knew we must check it out and get our fill of dim sum and noodley deliciousness. Asian street food is definitely on our list of things we love to eat. (But then...that's a long list.)

When we could not eat even one more noodle, we walked around the city for a bit to take in the scenery.

St. James Station

The Sydney Tower

The Queen Victoria Building 

Built in 1898 to replace the Sydney markets on the same site, the QVB was later used for offices for the Sydney County Council. At one point it was in danger of being torn down, but was instead restored and returned to its original purpose as a shopping center--currently housing a very posh mall. It is one of our favorite buildings in the city. We love to walk around inside to admire the interior, although I can't say we make many (or any...) purchases. 

 

Sydney Town Hall

Split Personality

We live on a little neck of land between the Sydney Harbour and the Pacific Ocean, which means that when we come out of our apartment, we can go right one block and hit water or we can go left one block and hit water.  The harbour side has a sort of East Coast feel--with ferries making their regularly-scheduled journeys and quaint little lighthouses in the distance and sailboats rocking back and forth in the water. The ocean side feels more West Coast--with surfers and bikini-clad sun worshipers and everything that comes with a beach culture.

I love both sides equally for their different personalities.

After living in Dallas my whole life, I struck out to the West Coast to try Los Angeles on for size. And I loved it. After a few years there, I decided to finally head to the East Coast, where I'd always envisioned myself landing. So, it was off to Washington, DC. I loved it there, too. LA and DC are completely different from one another in pretty much every way, and I have a deep love for both cities for totally different reasons. Each one awakens different parts of my soul. When I moved to DC, I missed LA terribly. But I knew that if I ever moved back to LA, I'd miss DC just as much. What do you do when you want to be in two places at the same time? Or, rather, when you want two places to be...the same place...?

Living in Manly is a little bit like living on the West Coast and the East Coast all at once. At last, my multiple personalities are able to find simultaneous fulfillment. 

Still...this place could really use a Georgetown Cupcake. Just sayin'.