The morning walk....

Today in Sydney it is GLORIOUS! The sun is shining, there isn't a cloud in the sky and its a warm 26 degrees C or 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun is streaming into the bay window of my living room picking up all the textures of my silk covered chair, it's velvet covered cushion, a borrowed mother-of-pearl inlaid Indian table, my books about fashion and my 'ancient' Chinese vase....
It's one of my favourite places just to sit and read or meditate - it always makes me feel wealthy and priviledged even on the days when I am feeling fat and/or broke!

Today I have breakfast with one of my best friends, Cameron at one of my favourite cafes - Eca Bar in Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst. The freshly squeezed orange juice is like the name says 'Freshly squeezed' and is absolutely delicious. While the scambled eggs and grilled bacon are both cooked to perfection with crispy Turkish bread toast finishing off the quartet of deliciousness! It's a great way to start the day - beautiful weather, bit of gossip, delicious food and usually lots of passing traffic that is both interesting and sometimes damn fine!

After breakfast I grab a take away (to go) Flat White coffee (latte-no foam)plug in my Ipod earphones and refill my water bottle and head off on the thing that really starts my day.

The morning walk.

This is my morning ritual. Here in Sydney I do my walk to the Opera House and back - about 65 mins. In London, I would run around Hyde Park; in New York or Provincetown, Mass. I go for a morning bike ride. I used to do because it was recommended if you wanted to stay fit, lose fat, not gain weight, blah, blah, blah! Now it's not a chore, it's a lifestyle choice....or at least that's the way I have decided to look at it now.

Exercise (usually before breakfast) is my morning engine starter. It gets my blood pumping, wakes me up and on days when I have a bit of a hangover - it flushes out the toxins from the night before.
Where it begins in Victoria St - a leafy sun-dappled street full of houses, apartments, five star restaurants, cheap dumpling joints, funky cafes, hotels and back packer lodges.

From it's houses on the left hand side of the street heading towards the water, you get some of Sydney's finest views of the city skyline.
In the evening its bars, restaurants and little cafes spill out onto the street where people eat, drink, hang out or promenade. It's vibe is relaxed yet cosmopolitan, local but with a multi-national voice... sometimes literally. German, Swedish, Japanese, French, Czech, Dutch, Norweigian, Spanish, Portugese are all heard on Victoria St at one time or another; and the looks are also totally international. It's a great place to sit and people watch.

As Victoria St ends and the canopy starts to open up you get the rush of light shining past the trees. The view, initially just a glimpse....


But then as you get to the stairs, it looms out before you, the triumphant city skyline laid out in a line.

And below you the stairs to Woolloomooloo Bay....easier on the way down but more fun and faster (to get them over and done with) on the way home.
Once I am down the stairs in quick succession it's the Naval Base...

Harry's Cafe De Wheels....


The 'Blue' Hotel....


And the Cowper St Wharf promenade, home of some of my favourite restaurants in Sydney - Otto, Nove, China Doll...


Then around to the Promenade of apartments and the marina that look back at Cowper Wharf..





A quick look back at where I have come from, back at Kings Cross and Darlinghurst...


And then on up to the paths to Mrs Macquarie's chair...


Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool which is a City Council owned and operated Pool that as cheap as it is to get into...


... is like a resort to hang out at....


... then onto to the Harbour fore shore looking out to Fort Denison that was built to protect Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour)and past Mr's Macquarie's actual chair (cut into the sandstone with its own protective portico) and under the trees that gently frame the view...


of the eventual 'Money Shot'! International Icons over the water....the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge!!

It's a view that is always inspiring and that I love.

The morning walk is not over yet. I walk all the way around the Opera House then back again and up Admiralty steps then home but that will have to be for another day.

This has been Today in Sydney.