So this weekend we revisited beautiful Bath.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the gorgeous Royal Crescent, that row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent.
We’ll have to look harder next time we visit.
So, this weekend, we followed a City of Sydney Irish walk which took as through some of the significant places where events concerning Irish immigrants in the young colony of Sydney occurred.
We learnt that
Drinking Fountain
Irish Famine Memorial at Hyde Park Barracks
Irish Famine Memorial at Hyde Park Barracks
State Library
The windows are inspired by the Book of Kells
St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Cathedral
We went for a walk with the pup around Callan Park, 60ha site in Lilyfield near the Iron Cove Bridge.
It became famous as a psychiatric hospital (Callan Park Hospital for the Insane) which was in use until 1994.
Thne buildings are now occupied by the Sydney College of the Arts.
The Bay Run runs through the park along the foreshore of Iron Cove.
Lots of off leash dog area to roam. Some beautiful old buildings in what was a very sad place for so many people. You’d like to think we are a bit better these days at caring for those struggling with mental health.
Our new pup Indie’s first proper walk. We forgot to take a pic of her first cafe outing!
A wander down this lovely strip this afternoon, following this guide from North Sydney Council.
We’ve walked down this street before and never noticed the former Presbyterian School Hall
1976! 1976! This chimney standing beside the fence at 126 Blues Point Rd belonged to a small cottage built in the 1860s. It was the last in the municipality to have electricity connected in 1976.
This weekend we followed a tour from https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au called Skirting Sydney.
It focused on The Rocks and around Martin Place. This tour pinpoints key sites where girls and women lived and worked, where they were educated and entertained, and where pioneering activist women held meetings, published journals and sometimes in the process expanded the possibilities for all women’s lives.
Good stuff.
Elder son, Matt. (Whoops, already done Matthew St in Crows Nest! #favouritechild?? LOL)
Such a range of houses around St Ives. Rundown bungalows strewn with rubbish, huge houses with manicured gardens, even old houses with horses in the adjoining paddock (2 horses on a block, probably about $1million per horse!)
The Dudley at Paddington is a busy local between Paddington and Rushcutters Bay.
BUSY on Christmas Eve, but each year we always go a park at Rushcutters Bay right next to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia where we picnic and wander among the boats before they start the Sydney to Hobart.
An internet search suggests The Royal is a Paddington favourite. It’s a heritage pub situated at Five Ways, a fascinating and we imagine a $$$ area of Paddington, just up the hill from Rushcutters Bay.
A great area to go for a walk.
It’s a neighbourhood local where you can grab a drink and a seat in one of the different rooms, balcony or rooftop with views of the harbour.
Shared plates, pub classics and contemporary dishes.
Somewhere to return!
Back to Balmain… again! The Royal Oak is less than 200m from last week”s Sir William Wallace and a pub from much earlier in the year, The Dry Dock, emphasising just how many pubs there are in Balmain! And to think 90% of them are closed from the heady 1800s and early 1900s.
The Royal Oak has been done very nicely. Modern but with a real old world charm about it.
Go there.
The Grand National Hotel at Paddington is in a fascinating residential area among the backstreets of Paddington where there’s a surprising number of bars and pubs. One of these is the iconic Grand National Hotel, which has been kicking around Paddo for ages.
“The Nash” sits outside the Sydney CBD lockout zone so is a pretty busy pub of a weekend evening
The venue is interesting. The walls are painted with faded pastels, and there’s are booths like an old milk bar.
Best of all, your dog is more than welcome. Before we’d even ordered a drink, the bar staff brought over a water bowl for our dog. No pups in the bistro, but that’s understandable.
Paddo’s a great place for a wander… narrow streets, interesting architecture and a few examples of real community like the honesty box for the home made jams and the hoses that have gone waaay over the top with their Christmas decorations!
