Visit to Sydney - Day 2 and Signs (Art gallery, Botanic Gardens and birthday dinner)

Saturday, 2nd March - It was my birthday and after breakfast we caught the 207 bus into the city.
After alighting from the bus we walked to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. 
On the way there I spotted what looked like a tree hanging from a building. I went into the lane to investigate and found that it was a "fake tree" statue.  Strange 😕

Some statues, flower borders on pedestrian areas between buildings, and the ever present Ibis or bin chicken as it's also known.




At the gallery I joined a long queue to buy tickets for the  exhibition "Masters of modern art from the Hermitage" that was ending the following day.

Art Gallery of NSW - the building, entry and one of the galleries (bottom right)

With tickets purchased ($28 each) we joined the crowds of people in front of every piece of art. A lot of people would take selfies in front of every painting making it difficult to take pictures...

There were 65 artworks from French artists including Monet, Gaugin, Cézanne, Pissarro, Picasso, Matisse and Signac.

Cezanne (top 2), Monet and Gaugin (my favourites)

Portraits by : Andre Derain, Felix Valloton, Henri Matisse. Left right: Kees van Dongen ,Henri Matisse and Kandinsky (left)

Paul Signac - I quite liked this technique

Pablo Picasso (top and bottom right) and Henri Matisse (bottom left)

Top: Henri Mangun, Henri Matisse.  Bottom : Henri Matisse, Camille Pissaro

After this exhibition we walked around the rest of the Museum (free area) and it was almost closing time (5pm) when we left the gallery.
During my visit to the Art Gallery in June 2018, the statue of Captain Cook was in front of a massive window looking out at the bay. Now the statue was centre stage in another gallery.

Various works of art with Captain Cook at the centre of the gallery

Across the road at the Royal Botanic gardens, the "Plants that bite" exhibition at the Calyx had already closed at 4pm, and a wedding reception was being prepared. While the bride and groom posed for photos around the park, the guests mingled near the Calyx.

The bride and groom taking photos, the little boy in the suit had a dummy/pacifier, the Calyx and the tables being set for the wedding inside the Calyx exhibition room that could be seen through the sign on the side of the building

We walked around, found the koala topiary, visited the herb garden and sat down quietly while listening to the birds on the trees.

Herb garden & flowers

Before dark we walked to Circular Quay to take the train just one stop down to Green Square.

Panoramic photo of the Opera House, Bridge, cruise ship on Circular Quay and some of the surrounding buildings

A lot of the train commuters were dressed up to join the Mardi Gras parade in the city.
I would have loved to see this very popular parade, but there was no time for it, we just saw two of the floats.



From Green Square station we walked 20 min until we reached "The Grounds of Alexandria". I had found this quirky restaurant through a blog I read recently and I chose it for my birthday dinner.
It opened in 2012 on a former industrial area and consists of a restaurant, garden, bakery & patisserie, coffee roastery, animal farm, florist and markets.
The area didn't disappoint for sure and we explored some of the areas and then went to the "Potting Shed" restaurant for our dinner.

The various areas in the Ground of Alexandria

Chickens and a piglet in the animal shed, people were roasting marshmallows when we arrived (1 left after dinner)

Note the sign at the entrance of the Potting Shed

The food was tasty, presentation was fabulous, the desserts were exquisite, cocktails very expensive (but we had a glass of wine only)...

Our starter - Mussels with coconut cream, battered fish for me, Scotch fillet for Jose, mango parfait (yummy) and Ruby chocolate mousse

After dinner we caught a waiting taxi to the Green Square station, a train back to the city and then a bus home where we arrived well past 11pm.
It was a full day but very enjoyable and I got to do all I had wanted for my birthday 😍

And joining the "Signs" meme today I leave you with some of the signs seen at the New South Wales Art gallery.

For other signs follow this link: http://signs2.blogspot.com