The Sydney Festival 2

Hyde Park has been taken over by,... wait for it... a life sized, blow up Stonehenge. No joke. It is part of the Sydney Festival. If there was not a line up a mile long, I would have been jumping all over it. It is worth heading down to Hyde Park, if nothing else just to admire it.

 

The second picture is great because it looks like the real thing! The plants are hiding the inflatable bottom.

The Sydney Festival

In January of each year the City of Sydney celebrates with the Sydney Festival. A month long celebration of the arts. I usually avoid it but have made an effort this year. Kicking off the festival was the annual free concert in The Domain. Chaka Khan was the head line act. She was pretty good, but what made the night really nice was being able to sit on the grass, take your shoes off and relax to a cool concert on a nice  summer night. Chaka has been around for a while, and it was fun to see some of the hits - I'm Every Woman, Tell Me Something Good & Ain't Nobody. I sat there thinking, 'yeah, this is pretty special.'  How often can you celebrate in the middle of the city a free show from an international artist and take your shoes off???

The opening act needs a mention. He was a DJ and promised to play a song from each year from the 50's to today, all mixed it. The music was great and everyone was up off the floor and dancing around. Loved the Whitney song, which everyone sang along to (I Wanna Dance), thinking how it has become a nostalgic 80's hit.

Looking forward to next year's concert.

The Pocket Bar

I have been past this small bar a number of times with the best intentions of going in. From the outside it does not look like much but go inside and you feel right at home. I enjoyed a great cocktail here and the de-constructed duck pancake! Very impressive for both. The music was just right, loud enough to be heard, but not too loud that the conversation was drowned out.

There were two great things in this place. The furniture is eclectic. The pineapple lamp reminded me of Hawaii and put me right into a relaxed mood.

The iron gates were great too. Adding light into a dark space and a nice cool breeze. I would definitely go here again for an afternoon of relaxing drinks.

You need to get there early to secure a table - possibly the only negative.

The staff were pleasant and regularly checking up on us. Great stuff!

Bar website = http://www.pocketsydney.com.au/

Welcome 2014

This is my first Blog - the idea is for me to post all the cool things I find in and around Sydney. Many years ago I fell in love with London. Since coming home I realised it is time to make peace with this city and start to love my own surroundings, so let the journey begin