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Published: June 14th 2017
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Geo: -33.8649, 151.207
I think that the advantages of daylight saving (having more time in the evening to enjoy each other) is somewhat lessened when you sleep in past 8am every morning 😉 But that is what holidays are for! After a slow start, we grabbed breakfast downstairs at Australia Square (loved the statue of a man reading the paper, though we thought it was real last night until a little girl ran up and stuck her fingers down the ears of the man!)
We then walked up to the Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the amazing sunshine and the stunning views from Farm Cove to the Opera House and Bridge. Apparently kids can't climb trees in the botanical gardens, but we'd had our fun by then! We walked out to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, and then headed down Macquarie Street.
We started at the State Library. I've walked past often, but never gone in - now, I'm totally in love with the Reading Room (how do we for one in our house?). There was an exhibition of Lynley Dodd's artwork (she wrote and illustrated Hairy Macleary of Donaldson's Dairy). We also looked at a small eclectic exhibition including Matthew Flinder's hat, socks sent to
a soldier in WWI and the note from the little boy who knitted the socks, and the traveling medicine kit of the Macquarie family. After the heat of the day in the Botanical Gardens, the freezing airconditioning was a hit too!
Then we walked into the NSW State Parliament (originally part of the Rum Hospital, so-called because the architect and builder were given a monopoly on rum sales to finance its construction). It was lovely - but so small! Then past the Hospital, where one wing's design was approved by Florence Nightingale. We stopped to rub the nose of Il Porcolino (a copy of the statue of a pig that is in the Mercato Nuovo in Florence, which we also rubbed noses with (or rubbed its nose!) in 2010).
We quickly ducked into the Mint, before arriving at the Hyde Park Barracks. This was an absolutely highlight, and the "convict Sydney" that the kids had asked to see. In June 1819 the Hyde Park Barracks opened to house convict men and boys working in government gangs, and over the next three decades as many as 50,000 convicts passed through its gates. With the end of transportation, the building was converted
to a hostel for orphan girls escaping the Irish famine, female immigration depot and later asylum for aged and destitute women. Today, as a museum about itself, the barracks tells stories of convict Sydney, and of those since then who have had the misfortune to spend time there. The Hyde Park Barracks is one of 11 Australian convict sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We spent a couple of hours there, and could have spent more, except for our hunger!
We walked down to St James Church, designed by Francis Greenway and constructed between 1819 and 1824. It is the oldest church building in the City of Sydney and has been in continuous use from its consecration on 11 February 1824 to the present.
Then to the DJs food hall - there was some concern and cynicism when I told them all we were going to the best food hall for lunch, but they were quickly convinced! "If you lived in Sydney, you'd eat here every day!"
A quick detour to the QVB to buy a risotto pot, then a quiet afternoon watching cricket, reading and resting our tired feet. The jackhammers (in the building? Roadworks?) didn't even annoy us too much.
Dinner with cousins Davide Isola and Anthony Rubbo - at Fratelli, the same restaurant that we'd found 2 days earlier. Davide's stories as a covert cop acting for the Commissioner made the kids eyes open wide. A great night with wonderful company.
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