After Bali and our adventures in the Outback, I was glad to be heading to a city. And not just any city- a world-class city like Sydney! Our Airbnb was in the trendy Darlinghurst neighborhood and conveniently located near everything. I felt like a real Sydneysider, if only for the 5 days we were there.
Sydney is so great because it’s totally cosmopolitan but it still retains the beach culture at its heart. The center of the city is only 30 minutes from the best beaches, which results in the image I have in my head of a Sydney businessman running to the beach wearing a suit and tie and carrying a surf board (I have no idea if anyone actually does this).
On the evening we arrived in Sydney, we decided to check out its bar scene. One thing that’s changed since I was there last (in 2007) was that a liquor law change made it easier for small bars to operate. Sydney has embraced bar culture just as you’d imagine Australians would.
First we headed to Pocket, located close to our apartment in Darlinghurst. It nailed the Brooklyn vibe perfectly, down to the Edison bulbs. We had really yummy dinner there- I had the tasty pumpkin gyro. (Sidenote one- Aussies LOVE pumpkin on everything. Why is this? It’s a mystery to me. A delicious mystery.)
Then we went to Shady Pines Saloon, which was a spectacular recreation of an American Wild West saloon. There were all kinds of taxidermied animals on the wall, including a hilarious bear. American country music was playing, there was an American flag, and behind the bar there was a string of lights where each light was a Budwiser can. I think it was a better interpretation of Americana than any actual American bar could pull off. I had a strawberry lemonade gin drink which came complete with a real fruit popsicle! Dan’s drink was house-made gin fizz that came pre-bottled in a glass soda bottle. (Sidenote two- this bar needs to exist in Brooklyn, the hipsters would flock to it.)
The only bummer about the evening was the cocktail prices. As we were starting to realize, while the USD and AUD were converting at close to a 1:1 ratio when we were there, the “Big Mac Index” was not in our favor. That is to say that equivalent things were much more expensive in Australia. As New Yorkers we don’t blink at a $14 cocktail, but we felt robbed by a $20 cocktail, which seemed to be the going rate.
We went to bed well fed and watered, ready to see more of the city!