.after pampering ourselves silly for the last 5 months in marvelous melbs, it was time to emerge from the warehouse of love in cremorne and get nasty.
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.we thought we'd slum it out for a few days in australia's metropolitan equivalent of an antichrist (or a cheap tart): sydney.
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.the occasion? the 2008 biennale: a massive, free, public art show that took place at multiple locations throughout the city.
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.i have to say that as a location, sydney is gorgeous, and seeing the bridge and opera house together is like an iconic slap in the face. whilst the locals were nasty, they can't detract (much) from the amazing city they live in. definitely in my top 10 australian cities.
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at circular quay there was a massive inflated telstra dome-ball where we went in pretending to be french tourists with little english, wrote some hero-mail to stephanie rice and sat in big eggs watching the olympics. it was great - but doesn't change the fact that telstra are fucking australia up the arse by maintaining their stranglehold on broadband!.
incidentally, there seemed to be a frenchwoman on every boat, beach and street corner, which made the act of loudly abusing people tricky.
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everyone talks about melbourne as if it's some sort of restaurant haven. i am a self-confessed melbo-centric bastard, but it just seemed that every restaurant or cafe we walked into in sydney was an absolute winner: from burgers to thai to korean bbq, G + i were packing it in until we were bursting at the seams.
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in fact, on our final night we visited an all-you-can-eat vegan restaurant where i lost all impulse control and developed what i can only imagine was vegetable-induced blunt trauma to my stomach - from the inside. i just pushed in one too many fried cauliflowers! i've loved the restaurant on previous visits because it has an associated cinema with beds in it - the perfect place to cuddle and spoon while watching the action on the big screen.
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a good deal of the artwork at the biennale was concentrated on cockatoo island - an old shipyard island in the harbour which had its barracks, warehouses and docks converted into spaces for art display. what an awesome idea. even the free ferry out there and back was a treat. as far as visiting a city goes, having something like an art show as a base to from which to work each day was really good. no more savage wandering of streets with nothing to do.
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one of the highlights for me was cirque du soleil, which i've been wanting to see for a long time. we realised it was in town, jumped on the net to buy tickets, and a few hours later were in the heated tent watching what was probably the best two hours of entertainment i think i've had in my life - incredible. i was so amazed at what was going on on stage that i actually started crying on a number of occasions, in addition to gasping, howling, clapping and shouting. the cirque is coming to melbourne next year, and i'd recommend it to everyone. compulsory viewing.
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the biggest highlight was of course the g-man. basking together in the sunshine (on the grass in the middle of winter!), walking about the nearby beaches or through the city or even drinking cocktails on the 35th floor of a harbourside hotel (thanks for the tip-off, n), g+o has been, and continues to be, a pretty magical combination.
.
.
.everyone talks about melbourne as if it's some sort of restaurant haven. i am a self-confessed melbo-centric bastard, but it just seemed that every restaurant or cafe we walked into in sydney was an absolute winner: from burgers to thai to korean bbq, G + i were packing it in until we were bursting at the seams.
.
.in fact, on our final night we visited an all-you-can-eat vegan restaurant where i lost all impulse control and developed what i can only imagine was vegetable-induced blunt trauma to my stomach - from the inside. i just pushed in one too many fried cauliflowers! i've loved the restaurant on previous visits because it has an associated cinema with beds in it - the perfect place to cuddle and spoon while watching the action on the big screen.
.
.a good deal of the artwork at the biennale was concentrated on cockatoo island - an old shipyard island in the harbour which had its barracks, warehouses and docks converted into spaces for art display. what an awesome idea. even the free ferry out there and back was a treat. as far as visiting a city goes, having something like an art show as a base to from which to work each day was really good. no more savage wandering of streets with nothing to do.
.
.one of the highlights for me was cirque du soleil, which i've been wanting to see for a long time. we realised it was in town, jumped on the net to buy tickets, and a few hours later were in the heated tent watching what was probably the best two hours of entertainment i think i've had in my life - incredible. i was so amazed at what was going on on stage that i actually started crying on a number of occasions, in addition to gasping, howling, clapping and shouting. the cirque is coming to melbourne next year, and i'd recommend it to everyone. compulsory viewing.
.
.the biggest highlight was of course the g-man. basking together in the sunshine (on the grass in the middle of winter!), walking about the nearby beaches or through the city or even drinking cocktails on the 35th floor of a harbourside hotel (thanks for the tip-off, n), g+o has been, and continues to be, a pretty magical combination.
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