Summer's just around the corner

Sydney's warming up for summer, and I'm warming up for how FAB this city becomes when the sun's out and the festival season begins. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be in January than Sydney! But first of all, a quick update on the last few weeks.

Since my trip to NZ with dad I've been suffering from post-holiday skintness, making my social life revolve around free (or very cheap) things, so nothing too extravagant. First up I was lucky enough to get invited to see Patti Smith at the Sydney Opera House.

The wonderful Patti

This woman is truly legendary, she's well into her sixties, and was rocking like she was back in the punk era. The whole of the concert hall was a-buzz with Patti adoration and the crowd was a generous and warm-hearted one. This was definitely up there in the top ten gigs of my life. She played all the classics and was a charismatic and talkative performer. Her son joined her on stage playing guitar, and he looked so square and stiff compared with the old rockers that surrounded him.

Some art deco

A couple of weeks ago the Historic Houses Trust (the equivalent of the National Trust in the UK) held Sydney Open, a day when architectural wonders across the city are open to the public (a little like Open House Weekend in London). Although the history of this city is relatively young the architecture has been splendidly preserved through the years. I saw some fantastic art deco buildings, the inside of the commonwealth bank vault, a masonic lodge and Australia's oldest synagogue.

As well as the older stuff I queued for an hour to see the new Lumiere building -- a block of apartments designed by Norman Foster Architects (the great minds behind several amazing buildings such as the Gherkin in London and the new airport in Hong Kong). The building is actually half apartments and half hotel, and I took a tour round both halves. I have to say it was quite possibly one of the most vile buildings I have ever seen, although there were some occasional nice touches. The foyer was black and imposing, blocky, severe and uninviting. The furnished apartments were garish, busy, and overbearing, with no thought to the realities of living in the city. The penthouse was a cool $8 million, although for $2 million less you could have a 'warm shell' (a blank canvass of an apartment with no decor, no fixtures or fittings, nothing). I would have much rather had the empty one and created my own space. Still, the swimming pool was pretty cool.

Lumiere post room

Looking down on the dining room

The cool pool

Anyway, apart from that, I've joined a gym, and am frantically cramming in as many pilates classes as possible before bikini season starts in earnest. And what about that skinny kid with the funny name that's just become the next US president? Aint that something?

Hope, as seen on Bondi Road

cx