Sydney Markets

If you know me, you know I *love* markets.

For some time now I have been meaning to visit the Sydney markets in Homebush and I finally got around to it last week.

The markets open at 6am (5am for flowers) and I wanted to be there then, so I woke up at the unreasonable hour of 5 on a Thursday morning, to hop on a train for the markets (flemington station, on the inner west line).

The first thing you will notice when you arrive, is that it is quite loud for how early it actually is. There are lots of trucks moving around and unloading produce, innumerable and loud-beeping-reckless forklifts everywhere. There are huge crates of fresh vegetables all around you and it looks a little something like this:

And that's just the parking lot.

My first stop was the Sydney flower market. There was so much variety and the prices were fantastic! Even better, you didn't have to buy a truck load of flowers to get that price, almost everything was sold in bunches.

And just like there were people specializing in flowers, others specialized in greenery, wild flowers, and succulents (all personal favorites).

And of course you couldn't miss the orchids.

I also visited the growers and produce markets, which consisted mainly of big hallways with big farm names on both sides selling fruits and veggies. Beautiful and plentiful fruits and veggies, like the ones you see here:

But unfortunately the market itself was less romantic and looked more like this:

Everything was neatly packed in stackable crates and boxes, which suggests that people don't come here to buy just one apple, they come here to buy several kilos of apples, so mainly restaurants and retailers I guess. There were also no prices anywhere to be seen, so perhaps the prices change throughout the day and/or vary according to quantity?

I was a happy girl among so many flowers and veggies, not so much around the vicious forklifts and noises, but it was an interesting visit overall.

And on the way out, I ran into this:

...

(and then I went home and took a nap)

My first Opera: The Barber of Seville

I forgot to tell you guys! We went to our first Opera EVER last Thursday at the Opera Theater in Sydney's famous Opera House.

We weren't sure if we were classy enough for the Opera, but it was a smash hit! We loved it! We went to see The Barber of Seville, and purchased two of the cheap box tickets at $65 per person.

The set was beautiful, the props were clever, the costumes colorful, it provided English surtitles and this particular production of The Barber of Seville was actually VERY funny.

If you live in Sydney and have yet to go see an opera, do give it a chance, it might surprise you!

Here is a good review of the show.

Our first week in Sydney

Sydney is still rocking my socks off.

We found a great place to live, actually M found it, and he has been complaining about me not giving him enough credit ever since I tweeted "I found an apartment". Next week we will be moving to a lovely little house in the heart of a trendy, hip, artsy neighborhood in Sydney. We will have 2 bedrooms (well, a bedroom and a office/guest room), a gas kitchen and gas water heater, one bathroom, living room and a backyard big enough for barbecuing and maybe a tiny patio table.

Ever since we found the perfect place I have been spending time scavenging for the perfect furniture. The truth is, I rather find crappy old stuff and try to renovate it myself, than to buy brand new everything. So I have been scavenging for places that sell this stuff and will try to write a blog post on my research later on.

The neighborhood itself is quite fabulous, there are SO many restaurants. Even if we ate out every night, it would take us a solid year to check out every restaurant. There are not one, but two yoga studios on our street (let's see where that gets us). The bus stop and train station are a 5 minutes walk, and the grocery store is about 6 minutes. Basically, it's perfect.

... Except for one thing: rental properties don't have appliances :( So we will need to either buy or rent our own fridge, washer, dryer and/or dishwasher (in order of importance).

Yesterday we went to a bike sale sponsored by the City of Sydney and benefiting Erskineville Public School. Volunteers took the time to fix and clean old donated bikes, and sold them for profit for the school. I bought myself an old road bike, a bit dirty but in good shape and with working gears. M has higher standards and he wishes people donated brand new bikes, so I think he is holding out for the perfect thing to come his way.

After the bike sale we headed back to the harbour (or harbor?) and went on a ride on the Thunder Jet. We received a gift certificate for this ride from our friends in Zurich. It was a LOT of fun, I would describe it as a roller coaster on water. Here is a photo of M before we sailed off:

M is coming down with a cold today, so we are staying put and enjoying a movie/internet marathon in the hotel. This week will be a lot mellower... I will need ideas to keep busy.