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Sydney
- University of Michigan Press
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Sydney ~ We stopped in Sydneybecause ofEliza. Seven years ago we visited, and I knew the city well. The prospect oflugging bags to and from a hotel sapped my enthusiasm. "But, Daddy," Eliza said, "I don't remember Sydney, and I really want to go there." Not only does Eliza usually get what she wants, but eventually I want what she wants. A shuttle bus carted us from the airport to the Russell, a hotel in the Rocks, a peninsula enclosing the western side of Sydney Cove. In 1788 the First Fleet anchored by the Rocks. Unlike downtown Sydney in which buildings loom over streets like bluffs, scale in the Rocks is human and walkable, most buildings, Victorian and three-story, old warehouses now hives ofrestaurants and stores. Day and night we roamed streets exploring alleys and cobblestone paths: Cumberland, Argyle, Kendall, Playfair, Suez Canal, Gloucester, and Nurses Walk. Life beneath skyscrapers is digital, and away from the Rocks, we walked fast, heels clicking like minutes. In the Rocks time circled; our pace was slow, and we meandered shops. Because schedule did not stamp hours, we browsed ourselves into purchases, forgetting the bloated condition ofour bags. At the corner of Globe and George Streets, the Russell was over a hundred years old, the building housing the entrance to the hotel having been built in 1887. Above the door a turret capped two stories . To the left stood a chimney looking like the handle of a spatula . Boulders Restaurant occupied the first floor of the hotel. 257 From the door a staircase climbed to a small lobby on the second story. Our room was on the third floor, two buildings to the right under a roof garden. The hotel lacked an elevator, so Vicki and I carried the bags to our room-up twenty-four stairs turning in a half-circle to the lobby then walking through a narrow hall to the right, walls papered gold, a blue carpet on the floor, boards creaking , warped into sudden rises and falls. At the end of the hall we went down six steps, turned left down a short hall then climbed ten steps to a landing. At the landing we reversed direction, climbed ten more steps, and walked along a hall to our room, the stairs numbering fifty. We stayed in the Suite, a double room through the windows of which we could see the Circular Quay. Eliza slept on a rollaway bed in the sitting room. The Suite cost $285 a night. Included in the price were continental breakfasts in Boulders. Instead of bundling out on the street to eat then returning to our room to brush teeth, we ambled stairs at our convenience , pausing in the sitting room on the first floor to glance at newspaper headlines. "A perfect location," Vicki said. We arrived in Sydney on a rainy night. Indeed rain fell throughout our stay. Cold did not bother me, and on streets I was often the only person wearing short pants and a short-sleeved shirt. When not walking, I talked to clerks, the chat warming days. The first night we ate in the Rocks Cafe. We sat at a table next to a bay window at the front ofthe cafe. During the meal a drunk suddenly staggered through the door. Shouting "I'm the one," he dropped his trousers and mooned customers, a thick seam of red hair dividing his bottom. Almost immediately the bartender opened the door with one hand, grabbed the man with the other, and kicked him into George Street. The kick was strong, and the man tumbled like fruit spilling from a cart. The bartender strode into the street and slapping the man with his open palm rolled him across the pavement. When the man's companion, also drunk, remonstrated and bent over to pick up his friend, the bartender kicked him in the head and knocked him over. "What a dinner," I said, "chicken Caesar salad, Hahn's beer, cappuccino, and mocha chocolate cheesecake." We ate well in Sydney although entertainSAM PICKERING [35.170.54.171] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:37 GMT) ment did not season subsequent meals. Twice we cooked steaks and drank red wine at Philip's Foot, just up George from the Russell . At Boulders we ate kangaroo before going to the opera. Another night we had pancakes at Pancakes Cafe. Eliza and I also had tea and cakes at Renaissance Patisserie on Argyle Street, Vicki choosing to absent...