Sunday, Sydney

I attended the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening in St. Mary's Cathedral, which is fairly close to my hotel. As one would expect, it was well done and there was a good congregation. Sydney is a very diverse city and that was evident at Mass as well.

Sunday morning dawned bright and chilly again. I actually managed to sleep until almost 9:00, so I was feeling pretty good. I only had two things I knew I wanted to do today: one was to visit the Art Gallery, and the other was to acquire an Opal Card, the card for the city's transportation system.

The Cadet Band

I left the hotel to head to the gallery a little after 10:00. My route took me through Hyde Park, Sydney's oldest and most famous public park. As I approached, I could see a lot of activity and wondered what was going on. As I got even closer, I could see that it involved people in military uniforms, flags and bands. I had stumbled upon the Australia Reserve Forces Commemoration Celebration. I always enjoy seeing these kind of events in another country, so I picked out a good spot along the parade route. The park is the site of the Anzac war memorial and that's where the dignitaries were seated. There were a few presentations and then the parade began.s

The parade was lead by the Cadet Band, a group of youngsters that I reckoned to be between 12 and 15 years old. I felt sorry for the pressure that they were under, but they stepped off smartly and sounded pretty good,too. They were followed by marchers in period uniforms and a pipe and drum band playing "Waltzing Matilda". What followed then was line after line of veterans who were clearly proud of the service they had rendered to their homeland. My thoughts turned to my own father as I watched his allies parade past. It was time to go, now.

The Art Gallery

The Art Gallery of New South Wales sits in a broad green expanse known as "the Domain". Its Neo-Classical facade is typical of so many museums that were build in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The builders clearly wanted the public to know that they were building a temple to and for art. The permanent collection of this museum is free to the public, you do have to pay, however, for the special exhibits. The current exhibit showcased the winners of two national competitions - one in portraiture, the other in landscape. I thought that could be interesting, so I bought a ticket. Clearly the interest was shared, because the exhibit was packed! I found the portraits more revealing than the landscapes. I spent about an hour in the permanent collection as well. As you might imagine, the collection focuses on Australian artists. I was fascinated by the labels for each work which gave the artists name, birthplace; and, if the artist had't been born in Australia, the date of his or her arrival in the country, and, of course, the date and place of death. I enjoyed my visit immensely.

All that artwork made me a little peckish, so I set off in search of lunch. I decided against going back the way I came and went off in a new direction. A long set of stairs led down to an area along the water that seemed promising. When I reached the bottom, I realized that I was in the Wooloomooloo district. I had looked at a few hotels in this area, but in the end decided to stay more centrally. There's a long promenade flanking the docks on both sides and it was filled with people out enjoying the sunny Sunday afternoon.

The Wooloomooloo promenade

All along the promenade are restaurants with outdoor seating, most were hopping. A couple of Italian places, a few seafood, a Chinese place that must be very good, because I don't thin I could have gotten a seat here. In the end, I opted for the lone Indian restaurant, mostly because it wasn't very busy and it was time to get out of my comfort zone. It was a good decision. I'm not very familiar with Indian food, but my very nice waitress helped me out. Always good to let a native help you choose, if you are not sure. I thought that the food was excellent. When I went inside, I saw that the place was filled with Indian families. Always a good sign.

I walked back to my hotel, stuffed and satisfied. That evening, I met up with my colleague, Dan, to take a guided tour of "The Rocks", the area around Sydney harbor that was settled by the convicts brought here by the English. I must say, Sydney had a very colorful start! I now want to know more about it. The tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours and was excellent. The best part about it was that it was free - well, kind of. You don't buy a ticket, but at the end you give what, as the tour guide said, "you think the tour was worth." I'd say it was definitely worth it.