Sydney.
A flying weekend visit for the wedding of one of Tash's old family friends. Just a few days, but we managed to pack a whole lot into a short time. We stayed first with Tash's brother Marcus at a gorgeous little property where Marcus lives with an allegedly 'petite' pig weighing in at about two hundred kilos, a dog, and a python, and then shifted into the heart of the CBD where we stayed with Pam, Peter and Vanessa (Tash's mum, dad and sister respectively) in a lushed out corner apartment on about the five hundredth floor with views of the harbour off the balconies on one side, and across Hyde Park and up Oxford St on the other.
There was a brief moment of panic when Tash, Ness and I realised that due to a police-imposed restriction (brought on by wild parties apparently. The youth of today. I dunno...) the balcony doors were locked on Friday and Saturday nights, which meant negotiating several security doors and an elevator requiring an IT degree to operate just to go outside for a fag. Luckily, there turned out to be a loophole. For some reason the cops only wanted the north facing balconies locked, and the balcony coming off the room Tash and I were in faced west. Another tragedy narrowly averted.
Anyway, to cut a short story even shorter, we managed to get to the beach, the zoo, the museum, the state gallery, Manly Blades (my fave online skateshop -- nice to finally see it IRL), the Blue Mountains and many lush restaraunts. I finally got to meet Edgar Penzig (raconteur, antique gun enthusiast and controversial historian), a Rowell family friend I'd heard a lot about, we caught up with my maternal grandparents in Leura, visited Norman Lindsay's old stomping grounds, frightened some penguins, trawled the second-hand bookshops, and got all Titanic on the prow of a night ferry.
Oh yeah, and there was a wedding in there somewhere too. I'm not that fussed on weddings, but it was nice to catch up with Alexis and Martin (the happy couple). I actually preferred the morning after activities at the bride's parents' house -- far more intimate and offering a lot more chance for actual conversation, especially for Tash, who was able to catch up with a lot of old family friends, some of whom she hadn't seen in a decade or more. And I liked the bit where Alexis announced she was with child -- very touching. I think her and Martin will make good parents.
What is it with weddings anyway?
People spend enough money to retire a significant percentage of third-world debt, just so everyone can sit around listening to a bunch of speeches from people thanking other people for playing such a vital role in helping organise this very special evening of sitting around thanking each other for organising the evening... You get the picture. I think I'd rather hold hands and jump over a fire (or sword) on a beach somewhere.
