Category: Culture
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The State I’m in!
Or how I love old cinemas, eccentric architecture and overwrought decor. Shame on you 1960s through to 1980s in Sydney. Just tore down old buildings willynilly to ‘modernise’ the city. And as the bricks tumbled, down came more than 20 old-style, elegant cinemas in Sydney including the Roma, Lido, Lyceum, Regent, Palace and sadly on…
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Bali: then and now
NEWS . . .NEWS . . .NEWS . . .Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach becomes the first 5-star rated Hotel Indigo in the world. The five star rating is from LSU Pariwisata Bali Mandiri, a tourism association in Bali responsible for all Indonesian property ratings, which is part of the National Accreditation Committee in Indonesia.…
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ART – seeking silos
Silo, so high, so far Outdoor art is the art of the 21st century. Graffiti has graduated! The Silo Art Trail that snakes through the wheat belt of Victoria is an inspired outdoor gallery. A couple of hours outside Ballarat and you are on your way. The concept of having the towering (up to 27m),…
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Sydney: gets its glamp on!
Time to get back into the great outdoors in Sydney, and maybe make an early booking for the best view of the New Year’s Eve firewaorks display over Sydney Harbour Mmmm, damn traffic first thing in the morning. It’s only 7am. I open my eyes, crawl out of bed and check what is outside my…
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Six fab things to do in Seville . . . or is there a barber in the house?
Discovering a city that oozes personality. Arriving in Seville on a sun-drenched early autumn day will set you up for your senses to be tickled and your spirit to be enriched. This Andalucian metropolis has personality to spare and the sevillanos are out and about in force on a saucy Saturday. Layers of history here…
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How to explore Catalina
Oh Catalina! A respite from the glitz and noise of the mainland, this little island is a joyful discovery. “Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a waitin’ for me, Santa Catalina, the island of romance” . . . and so starts the old song that turned a holiday island, off the coast of Long…
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Art Deco capital of New Zealand (and possibly the planet)
Not often you get to thank a natural disaster and community tragedy for a splendid architectural creation. In February 1931 a bastard of an earthquake rocked Napier, a town on Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of the north island of New Zealand. The ‘quake measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and rocked the Hawke’s…
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How to make cheese, the easy whey!
A couple of years ago I was in New Zealand’s North Island, hanging out with an old friend who had matured like fine wine – and good cheese. We were once young gals, way back, tearing the town up in a village in Greece – there’s more to that story. Following is how she taught…
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How to tea-tease and please
I reckon I’ve had more than a 1000 afternoon teas. Call them Cream Teas, Afternoon Tea, Devonshire Tea, Afternoonsies, or a mid-arvo cuppa and cake – I’ve had them. This wasn’t a genteel affectation I grew up with. As a kid it was a biscuit and a glass of cordial and as a teenager, “there’s…
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Travel to Spain: Make mine a Michelin
Hola! I’m revisiting this post as Spain is the hot spot top visit in 2020. The restaurant is till flourishing and waitig for your attendance. Travelling across the arid plains of the autonomous region handsomely called Extremadura, in Spain, there are sleepy, medieval towns that have not been pillaged by 21st century tourists. The classic…
Travelgal on the move 