University, Darling Harbour, Manly

This past week I experienced a second highly gratifying moment (after the rucola) which was the University of Sydney library! It is hard to imagine something more exciting than being in a huge university library, especially when a) they give you your card right then and there on the spot; b) you can order books from other locations and they’ll whisk it over to you in less than 2 days; c) they have this most wonderful search function called ‘Summon’, which will search all of their electronic databases and their catalog for whatever it is you’re looking for; d) they have databases chock full of just about any journal article you can imagine; and e) the stacks are easy to browse and if the catalog says it’s on the shelf, so far it hasn’t lied. I’ve already checked out several books, and they’re on the desk of the office I’m using in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy. There I am using a Mac for the first time in my life. Now, the screen is big, bigger than anything I’ve ever worked on, which is really useful for sitting back and getting a perspective (and I am having issues with perspective on the book, which, yes, I am still struggling to finish!). But other than the screen, which is not inherently a Mac thing, I have not yet figured out why people say once you’ve tried a Mac it’s hard to go back to a PC. Maybe it’s my learning curve, but there were things I couldn’t do on the Mac that I can on my little laptop. Ah, except the Mac is a lot faster. I’ve been told it’s Windows Vista on this laptop that makes it sometimes go so slow that I unleash a string of expletives at it. So, I am happy with the library, the office and the use of a computer with a screen that I could easily get used to. University of Sydney campus is ideal in many ways: a large campus, right in the city, which is easy to walk around – the building where the office is and the library are quite close to each other. The rather impressive Quadrangle is as well, and I enjoy walking through it on my way to and from the bus (a better photographer would make it look as impressive as it is!). When I emerged from the library at 5:45 pm on my first day on campus, feeling elated by having been surrounded by so many books, I heard the most delightful sound of bells ringing, which played for at least 10 minutes. Apparently, there are 54 bells, and they commemorate the 197 undergraduates, graduates and staff who died in World War I (their names are inscribed on the bells). I must find out when they play – it is quite moving to be standing in the Quadrangle listening to their beautiful sound.



Most of the week was spent at the University – bus there in the morning, and a walk home in the late afternoon/evening. It’s about a 50 minute walk, although I often take longer. If I walked straight along Parramatta Road all the way to Norton Street, it would be 50 minutes, but Parramatta Road is just not pretty at any point. So I try new routes, and discover new areas on the way, villages from the past, like Annandale, with quaint churches, tidy town centers, and old and new interesting houses.

This weekend has brought some outings…not during the day on Saturday. I’ve never seen so much rain! It rained and poured and rained. A good day for working, and then my friend Elena and her husband Richard picked me up at 6.30 and took me out to dinner. We went to Jordon’s, a seafood restaurant at Harbourside, which is at Darling Harbour. Harbourside used to be an industrial port, and the harbor district apparently housed some of the city’s poorest. It was revitalized some 20 years ago, and now has the Aquarium, the Imax Theater, and various museums - along with shops, restaurants, and bars. The weather on Saturday night meant the Harbourside didn’t have its usual bustling activity, especially on a Saturday night, but the restaurant was certainly full and lively, and the food was delicious! I had the garlic prawns, which were light and very tasty, as was the rice flavored with ginger that accompanied them. Then I had grilled barramundi, a white fish - it was cooked to a delicious, delicate perfection. You can see my dessert…Mille Fieulle, or macerated fig grapefruit sauterne: figs topped with mint and doused with grapefruit wine, accompanied by whipped cream (yum).






















Then, Elena and Richard gave me a night tour of Sydney by car, including the Circular Quay, a glimpse of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and a jaunt through King’s Cross, which my guidebook suggests is “a hotbed of sex and decadence”. Now what I saw was lots of young people, bars and somewhat tacky-looking nightclubs – young women in high heels that I didn’t know you could actually walk in (one was positively striding, so I guess I was wrong about that), young men in their trainers, all looking decidedly bent on having a fun night out. I had a very fun night out with Elena and Richard, and was glad not to have to join in on the fun in King's Cross!

Sunday I took the train out to Manly, to another friend’s house for a lovely Sunday lunch. Given that Manly is on a peninsula, the setting of her apartment would be hard to beat…you look out one window and see the Pacific Ocean, and out the other you see the harbor. The peninsula itself is also quite beautiful – hilly, very green, with rock-faced cliffs. I was quite proud of myself for taking a bus, a train and a bus and making it there all on my own. I was also startled to discover at one point that the train I was on was actually taking me right onto and over Harbour Bridge! I got a closer look at the people who were climbing up, doing the Harbour Bridge walk. I definitely think I will give it a try! I was also intrigued to see that the bus towards Manly, which I took after I got off the train, would pick up young barefoot men, with their surfboards tucked under their arms, off to the end of the bus line and the ocean, for an afternoon of surfing. Now that I probably won’t be trying!