A lot of things, but mainly books
This weekend was a bank holiday. We had been considering travelling up to Byron Bay for a weekend backgammon tournament. Byron Bay is almost on the edge of Queensland and takes 9 hours to drive to. Sean couldn't get Friday off work and we were booked in to see a play Friday evening so the only option was to fly. As we were booking at the last minute, the flights were quite expensive so we hummed and haahed and they sold out. Still we did some much more exciting things.
On Friday we went to see I am my own wife in the Opera House. I tried to book the Opera house restaurant but it was full so we went to a nearby Chinese that was in the SMH food guide. The food was really nice - we had lobster with ginger and spring onion, salt and chilli squid and king prawns in black bean sauce. All the seafood was fresh and really high quality.
Also on Friday, the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra was playing in the Opera house. There was a free screening of it outside so people were streaming past us in a queue as we ate. There were still quite a few hanging around after they closed the doors because it was full.
The queue to see the Vienna Philharmonic
The crowd outside the Opera House waiting for the performance to begin
The play was fascinating. It was a performed by a single gentleman, who did very well. However I have come to realise that although bad actors can stuff up a play, good actors can't rescue a bad one so although the acting was impeccable I feel that the real credit is due to the playwright.
The play was about an East German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and the Russian occupation, while collecting 19th century furniture in a museum. The play was based around interviews that the writer had with Charlotte von Marlsdorf and there is a photo of her in the programme. One of the key aspects of the story was that while she was being feted as a heroine after the wall came down, the Stasi files were released and showed that she was not as resistant as claimed and in fact collaborated with the Stasi, even giving them information that led to the arrest of her friend and fellow furniture collector.
If you want to read more, Charlotte's autobiography is available under the title I am my own woman (I think this is the same quote with different translation of the German word Frau) or some notes on the play are available here.
As we had a whole weekend, as couldn't get flights for anywhere we wanted to visit, we decided to drive to the Southern Highlands on the outskirts of Sydney. We stayed in the Fitzroy Inn, a hotel with a restaurant in the the Food Guide.
A view from a lookout in the Southern Highlands
The Southern Highlands is an area consisting of several small villages. Mittagong, where the hotel was, was not very impressive but we went to Bowral a few times and Berrima, the oldest village, is quite cute in an extremely touristy way.
It's tulip season at the moment in the Southern Highlands so we went to one garden in Bowral. The queue was pretty long and the place was packed. The tulips were nice but we declined the offer to be bussed to more gardens to see more tulips.
Tulips
We visited three bookshops in Bowral and even better, a book barn on the outskirts of Berrima. We bought far too many books, including some Peter Ackroyd first editions. We'll be reading for a little while...
A typical antique shop in Bowral
We only stayed one night in the Fitzroy Inn, but the food was superb and we would definitely go back. We shared gnocci in burnt butter and sage and then Sean had lamb and I had a roast spatchcock chicken. We also shared a fantastic cheese platter.
We've spent today recovering from going away....
This weekend was a bank holiday. We had been considering travelling up to Byron Bay for a weekend backgammon tournament. Byron Bay is almost on the edge of Queensland and takes 9 hours to drive to. Sean couldn't get Friday off work and we were booked in to see a play Friday evening so the only option was to fly. As we were booking at the last minute, the flights were quite expensive so we hummed and haahed and they sold out. Still we did some much more exciting things.
On Friday we went to see I am my own wife in the Opera House. I tried to book the Opera house restaurant but it was full so we went to a nearby Chinese that was in the SMH food guide. The food was really nice - we had lobster with ginger and spring onion, salt and chilli squid and king prawns in black bean sauce. All the seafood was fresh and really high quality.
Also on Friday, the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra was playing in the Opera house. There was a free screening of it outside so people were streaming past us in a queue as we ate. There were still quite a few hanging around after they closed the doors because it was full.
The queue to see the Vienna Philharmonic
The crowd outside the Opera House waiting for the performance to begin
The play was fascinating. It was a performed by a single gentleman, who did very well. However I have come to realise that although bad actors can stuff up a play, good actors can't rescue a bad one so although the acting was impeccable I feel that the real credit is due to the playwright.
The play was about an East German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and the Russian occupation, while collecting 19th century furniture in a museum. The play was based around interviews that the writer had with Charlotte von Marlsdorf and there is a photo of her in the programme. One of the key aspects of the story was that while she was being feted as a heroine after the wall came down, the Stasi files were released and showed that she was not as resistant as claimed and in fact collaborated with the Stasi, even giving them information that led to the arrest of her friend and fellow furniture collector.
If you want to read more, Charlotte's autobiography is available under the title I am my own woman (I think this is the same quote with different translation of the German word Frau) or some notes on the play are available here.
As we had a whole weekend, as couldn't get flights for anywhere we wanted to visit, we decided to drive to the Southern Highlands on the outskirts of Sydney. We stayed in the Fitzroy Inn, a hotel with a restaurant in the the Food Guide.
A view from a lookout in the Southern Highlands
The Southern Highlands is an area consisting of several small villages. Mittagong, where the hotel was, was not very impressive but we went to Bowral a few times and Berrima, the oldest village, is quite cute in an extremely touristy way.
It's tulip season at the moment in the Southern Highlands so we went to one garden in Bowral. The queue was pretty long and the place was packed. The tulips were nice but we declined the offer to be bussed to more gardens to see more tulips.
Tulips
We visited three bookshops in Bowral and even better, a book barn on the outskirts of Berrima. We bought far too many books, including some Peter Ackroyd first editions. We'll be reading for a little while...
A typical antique shop in Bowral
We only stayed one night in the Fitzroy Inn, but the food was superb and we would definitely go back. We shared gnocci in burnt butter and sage and then Sean had lamb and I had a roast spatchcock chicken. We also shared a fantastic cheese platter.
We've spent today recovering from going away....
posted by Zoe at 6:12 PM
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