Thursday, January 14, 2010

Neighborhood Watch: The Rocks & Milsons Point

Another great sunny weekend day, so we decided to walk up to the Rocks neighborhood of Sydney and check out the Rocks Weekend Market. Our first night in Sydeny we walked up to the Rocks neighborhood and had dinner. We were completely charmed by the Victorian inspired buildings, relaxed touristy area. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful late summer/early fall weather and take our time walking through Hyde Park up to Clarke Quay and into the Rocks neighborhood.We meandered through the downtown area, which was quiet on a Sunday afternoon, allowing us to enjoy the architecture and beachlike feel of Sydney.We arrived at the Rocks Weekend Market a little overwhelmed by the market and decided to have breakfast first and then attack the market. Situated along semi-permanent covers that looked like the Opera House roof, the Rocks Weekend Market was more of a local arts and crafts market much like the Portland Saturday Market back home. In fact the newly built permanent home of the Portland Saturday Market also looks similar to the covers at the Rocks Weekend Market.We did like the festive vibe of the Rocks Market with music and vendors spilling out into other open areas.The Paddington Weekend Market had much funkier offerings and we weren't very interested in the arts and crafts seen at the Rocks Market, so we decided to walk up the hill from the market to get a view from the Harbor Bridge.Next to the Sydney Opera House, the Harbor Bridge is major landmark in the city and we were excited to be able to walk across the bridge and see the area on the Milsons Point area on the other side of the harbor. We had done the same when we visited New York City and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.These bridges are gorgeous from a far and up close. Being able to walk across these historic landmarks made us appreciate our desire to connect and have accessibility to different areas of a city. Getting an unique, birds-eye-view of Sydney was also a major treat.
The view of Sydney Harbor wasn't so bad either.
From the bridge we got a glimpse of the spacious backyards of the row houses found in Sydney neighborhoods.Once we reached the other side of the bridge we were rewarded with additional magnificent views of Sydney's cityscape and a park area where people were picnicing and playing frisbee.We admired Milsons Point's beachy community on the north side of the Harbor Bridge. If you lived here and had this view wouldn't you be relaxed too?

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