Monday, March 1, 2010

Sydney Retrospective

March 1, 2010 (Aboard QF575 Sydney-Perth)

The shoes!

  • So here they are! Next to mine (inset). You decide the sillier, mine aren't exactly brogans. Where do his toes end? Mind you, these aren't truly broken in. They're just beginning to develop the 'curl' crease. You need to use your imagination. See them older and scuffed with that nice, permanent upward curl of the toe box. Maybe some could be green? Red? The guys who wear them are too big to be real elves, but there could be a secret society. I could ask the Symphony's concert master….

The kids!

  • I've written only a bit about the youth in Sydney. It's a very grown up city, but certainly a magnet for youth. Potts Point is a magnet for a lot of youthful world travelers with its hostels and backpacker hotels. The kids in medium to large congregations seemingly got alone famously with each other and pretty much stuck together.
  • I wish I'd taken a couple of pictures last Saturday night in King's Cross. On my way to dinner I followed an attractive backside (4" stilettos, glittery and form fitting short dress and long hair swinging with each step) for a block. She pulled out her cell phone and the first thing she said when someone answered was, "Are you drunk yet?" Sort of summed up Saturday night's agenda according to the locals. Kate and Sunny drove me home after dinner and there was a girl passed out in the bushes by their apartment. When we got to King's Cross the area swarmed with young people. Think Kenmore Square after the World Series. By Sunday morning things were cleared and cleaned up and presumably all those bodies were sleeping in.

Outdoors

  • The weather was wonderful, and the city lends itself to being outdoors and in it. Whether it's walking or doing things on the water, people simply are simply drawn outside.

Taxis

  • Clean, professional and polite. I was advised that as a single male I was expected to sit up front with the driver. Single women sit in the back. Fares were reasonable and cabs were plentiful. Air conditioning wasn't turned on…there wasn't a real need for it, but it would've been in the States.

Cleanliness

  • There was litter, but mostly in certain heavily trafficked places. Rubbish pickup on Sunday even.

The Botanical Gardens, green space and urban living.

  • There's no question for me that the amount of urban green space contributes to the great sense of livability in Sydney. Lots of parks, big, medium and small give great relief to what otherwise would be much too much asphalt and concrete.

Public toilets

  • People here (and in other places I've travelled) seem to understand that if you want people to be out and about enjoying the environment and spending money those same people need facilities. They were clean, well lighted places all. No graffiti and well maintained.




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