Big City Countryside
Mr. Pickwicks, thankfully, was exactly as I remember it one year ago. It left a lasting impression, and I regret not buying the Swarovsky Dragon and Japanese glass painting that I saw there last time.
This shop has a massive second hand book collection, but that is not why I am there. If I was, it would be put in the Opto Mystic blog. No, I am here for the art.
And art I got. I found an old Chinese work, pre WW2, priced at roughly a quarter of what it was worth. With mother of pearl and painted oyster shells somehow still attached to it, it was definitely an original piece of art. As it was under $100, it fitted my budget to a tee. The featured piece was also there.
And then there's the cafes. Leura may spark a bit more curiosity in this aspect, but Katoomba has them slightly more city-style. My cuppa tea. And the choice! Suggestion: walk up and down Katoomba Rd afew times before deciding upon where to park the fresh-air-swilling buttocks.
And now, the drinks (sorry Mr. Designated Driver). Something so old school, something so classy, something so.... Carrington! And no I don't mean the pub with the Tooheys New sponsorship.
The Carrington Hotel is, in every sense of the word, classic. The lounging area of the cocktail bar, I wouldn't have it any other way. It had two of possibly the most expensive vases I have seen in my life, with a view of the mountainous countryside that has come to define the greener parts of country NSW. Smokers can sit on the Verandah with their drinks and observe the passing (mostly pedestrian) traffic from comfortable chairs with a comfortable view.
Where would Sydneysiders be without a place like the Blue Mountains to go to? Where would Melbournites be without a place like Gippsland? Where would Beijing be without the Great Wall residing next to it?
You can bet I'll be back next year.
Available @ Pickwick's
This shop has a massive second hand book collection, but that is not why I am there. If I was, it would be put in the Opto Mystic blog. No, I am here for the art.
And art I got. I found an old Chinese work, pre WW2, priced at roughly a quarter of what it was worth. With mother of pearl and painted oyster shells somehow still attached to it, it was definitely an original piece of art. As it was under $100, it fitted my budget to a tee. The featured piece was also there.
And then there's the cafes. Leura may spark a bit more curiosity in this aspect, but Katoomba has them slightly more city-style. My cuppa tea. And the choice! Suggestion: walk up and down Katoomba Rd afew times before deciding upon where to park the fresh-air-swilling buttocks.
And now, the drinks (sorry Mr. Designated Driver). Something so old school, something so classy, something so.... Carrington! And no I don't mean the pub with the Tooheys New sponsorship.
The Carrington Hotel is, in every sense of the word, classic. The lounging area of the cocktail bar, I wouldn't have it any other way. It had two of possibly the most expensive vases I have seen in my life, with a view of the mountainous countryside that has come to define the greener parts of country NSW. Smokers can sit on the Verandah with their drinks and observe the passing (mostly pedestrian) traffic from comfortable chairs with a comfortable view.
Where would Sydneysiders be without a place like the Blue Mountains to go to? Where would Melbournites be without a place like Gippsland? Where would Beijing be without the Great Wall residing next to it?
You can bet I'll be back next year.
