Day 45 - More rain - NSW Art Gallery & Looking up at buildings!

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Today I slept in . It was a late night last night. I woke up naturally at 9:30. I noticed a message from Bernard; he actually got up for the 6:30 Vicious cycle class!! WOW! It’s his day off, he had a late night…. And he still went! That’s dedication. I can’t remember being that dedicated to anything! Ha ha. Maybe it’s an age thing!

I just relaxed around the apartment, I chatted on with Gavin for a while whilst I had a cup of tea. Then Bernard came home. (The arrival of Chez Bernard!)

Last night, we had discussed going for bagels for brekky, but due to the endless pouring rain, Bernard had picked up some shopping on the way home from vicious. He set up his pots and pans, whilst I did an excellent imitation of Lady Aggleshite!!!! And relaxed on the sofa….Ha ha

It wasn’t long until Bernard announced that brekky was ready. It was so nice, and inviting that I dug straight in… I even forgot to take a photo! We had egg, beans, tomato, mushrooms, kangaroo sausage, baby spinach, and toast. My plate was clean! …. And…. I also had extra toast.

After brekky , I reassumed my position on the sofa! Bernard wanted to use his own shower today. He even asked my permission… bless him. So that was a great excuse for me to lay on the sofa, for longer!

When he was done, it was my turn to get sorted. I have to dig out my clothes that I left the UK in, when I travelled to Sri Lanka. Shorts, vests and flip flops are simply no good in this weather! The elastic in the bottom of the leg of my parachute pants had snapped, so I had to get my little sewing kit out to mend them before I could get dressed.

Whilst I was doing that job, Bernard made coffee for us. FYI Kate, he has a Nesptesso! … I know… I was as chuffed for me, as you are, when reading this information!!!! (If you know, you know!)

Whilst drinking our coffee, we discussed today’s plan. The rain alters everything. It’s rains so constantly hard, and fast, but it’s not cold! So, today we are going, ‘cultural’. The plan is to visit art galleries. Bernard had already taken coffee stops into account during the planning stage!

Trouser mending completed, we set off with brollies, I also have my emergency tourist poncho, just in case. We arrived at the train stop, it’s about a 3 -5 minute walk away. When we got there, honestly, I was like a stupid old lady….I’m not used to wearing full shoes, I kept on hitting the back of my heel of my baseball boots on the steps… constantly nearly falling over. Then, my phone, that I need to ‘tap on’ to the train with was in my back pack bag. As I took the bag off my shoulder, my brolly was dripping all over, and my bag strap was getting more twisted round my arm. Simultaneously, my hand was so wet, that when I did finally wrestle the phone out of my bag, I couldn’t open it, which I needed to do to, tap on’ to get on the, due any minute now, train!!! Honestly, I was in a pickle with myself… ha ha

Phew, I started laughing, Bernard looked at me, completely blank, he had no idea what was happening in that couple on minutes! I started laughing, and said, I’ve got a right dance going on with myself this morning!! He replied, come on Aunty Lesley, it’s 1:30 in the afternoon, pull yourself together…. It maybe doesn’t read as funny as it was at the time though…ha ha. The train came, I finally sorted myself out in time to actually get on the it.

We got off at St James station. This station is not like all the other station stops. It has an old fashioned beauty of its own, that I found myself really drawn to. It looks timeless.

We are heading for the NSW Art Gallery as our first stop. We were welcomed by a permanent piece of art outside the building. It is called, Maman 1999 by Louise Bourgeois. It stands more than 9 metres high, and 10 metres wide. It is made of bronze, steel and marble. It is an enormous sculpture to be the first introduction to the gallery!

The rain is relentless, but we’re committed. We entered, put our day bags in the cloakroom on arrival, and then we were off.

Surprisingly, I was far more knowledgeable than I knew, and certainly more than Bernard could have imagined. I kept coming out with my interpretation for random paintings, then when we read the literature at the side, I kept hitting it, right on the nose! Shocker! I was well impressed. We had various ideas on what does deserve to be in the gallery, and what doesn’t! Because, obviously…. We know!!! Ha ha We bantered back and forth like that as we went around each area of the gallery.

We took a coffee, and cake stop after we had covered two floors. The caramel macadamias on the top of that cake were insanely good! We actually sat there for much longer than we had anticipated, just chatting, but the time seems to constantly fly by!

We covered both the the South, and the North Building. Then we went across to the Sydney Modern Project next door. Unfortunately, we had spent so long in the other area, when we went to put our bags and brollies in the cloakroom, she informed that they were closing in 10 minutes!

The look of shock on our faces must have been funny. We looked at each other in sheer shock. In reality, our day out started at about 1:30, so the fact that is now nearly 5pm, shouldn’t really be a shock to us! We e actually had a very busy three and a half hours!! We decided that it was worth our while to run around and have a quick look, just because we are already here. It was a really quick look. Within a couple of minutes, the security staff were already guiding everyone out!

We got outside, the rain is still pouring hard! We’re going over to the shopping g area for me to get a sandwich that I can take home for my tea tonight. Chez Bernard is closed tonight, but that’s for one night only!

Bernard is going on a group night out, so I will be at home tonight. I’m more than happy with that. He has been so attentive with me, he’s definitely earned a night off to let off steam without the old Aunty following behind. But if I’m being really honest, I will enjoy a quiet, easy night in tonight. It’s been such a long time for me since I had that. I will spend my time catching up on the YouTube channels that I watch. I am following channels about the renovation of French chateaux. I follow about 20 of them, so it’s time for a good catch up!

We cut through the grounds of Sydney Eye Hospital. It looked like no hospital that I have ever seen! It was, again, such an ornate, beautiful building that had an amazing fountain in the inner square area.

We then passed by No 1, Martin Place. Here we another amazingly beautiful building. I know I’m repeating myself, but I can’t help it. I don’t have more words!!! This building is also attached to the lovely clock tower. This clock tower was disassembled in 1942 to reduce the visibility of the GPO in case of an air attack on Sydney. It was then rebuilt in 1964. It’s crazy!

On our way, we did pass a Nespresso store. I couldn’t resist having a look at any new stuff they may have. At home I have a Nespresso cube storage container, they seem to have replaced it with a, ‘dip your hand in’ one, but I don’t like it as much as the one I already have!

We came to The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) WOW, what a beautiful building this is! Its breathtaking! It is a five level shopping centre located in the heart of Sydney's CBD. Opened in 1898, the QVB is an historic and iconic  building. It was built as a memorial to Queen Victoria. It has elaborate Romanesque architectural features including glorious stained glass windows, magnificent atriums, and the mighty centre dome…. Honestly, the most amazing floor tiles, ranging from really fancy patterns to more plain areas. I loved it from the minute I saw it!

It was in here I managed to get a sandwich and a bun for my tea tonight! I’m certainly taking a dip in what I am becoming accustomed to… ha ha. Once I was sorted out, Bernard went on his way to meet with his friends, whilst I made my way to the train station, to go back to the apartment for tonight. As I said earlier, I’m ready for a night in!

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