A howling good time in Chicago

In "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Donald and Daffy challenge
each other to a piano duel.  Image credit here.

At the western end of 42nd Street in New York, just before you get your feet wet in the Hudson River, there's a little place called Tobacco Road.  It won Best Dive Bar in 2011, and deserved the accolade for sure.  A former bikini bar, Tobacco Road would never win prizes for its decor but it was here that I discovered Shake, Rattle and Roll - New York's fun and silly Dueling Pianos show.  They've since taken their act on the road, moving the pianos down to the cool Tribeca neighbourhood, but that's just geography really. Shake, Rattle and Roll is still the good-time evening out, where you're entertained by super-talented musicians who enjoy sharing good laughs, music, and drinks with a likeminded audience.

I didn't just randomly wander into Tobacco Road that night though.  My interest in the musical craziness that is Duelling Pianos actually began years before, in Chicago.  So just recently, when I was back there with my parents, I took them to where my rowdy, beer-fueled musical education began - Howl At The Moon, on West Hubbard Street, just off Michigan Avenue.

I have never seen a Dueling Pianos show in Australia (maybe we don't have it) so I had to give Mum and Dad the heads up on what to expect.  In Dueling Pianos, there are two pianos up on stage, facing each other.  The pianists take it in turns to play songs that the audience has requested (you do this by writing down your song request on a small piece of paper, and leaving it on the top of one of the pianos).  Adding a few dollars on top of each request helps ensure that your song works its way to the top of the playlist.  If one pianist starts playing a song you don't particularly like, or if you'd just rather hear a different song altogether, you can put some more money on the opposite piano and the other pianist may well start playing your song, basically cutting off the first song.  The duel is on, and it's like musical warfare!  Things can get pretty feisty, and dollar bills and song requests fly back and forth, but the crowd really gets into the spirit and the sing-a-longs alone are worth it.

We showed up at Howl At The Moon on a really frosty Sunday evening and there wasn't much of a crowd at all.  Cover charge wouldn't kick in until later, so we got in for free and we settled down to the business of beer-drinking and brainstorming our song list.  Before long, the small but enthusiastic collection of music fans in the room had started to warm up and we had pulled together a fairly impressive list of diverse requests.

Obviously this wasn't the first time my parents had been exposed to the depths of musical talent in Chicago. After all, we'd hit up Buddy Guy's Legends Bar on Friday night, and The Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues that Sunday morning (where I had been years ago).  As a result of all this, my parents had come to expect big things from Chicago musicians.  But I don't think any of us really anticipated just how talented the Howl At The Moon artists were going to be that night.  Just when you start admiring how well they play the piano, they switched around to accompany each other on drums, or even the guitar, and they were equally brilliant at everything they touched.  From Michael Jackson to AC/DC, and Sir Mix-A-Lot to Van Morrison, the artists managed everything we threw at them, and all without sheet music!  How?  Incredible.

Whether you get to Howl At The Moon in Chicago, or you visit Shake, Rattle, and Roll in New York, you're bound to enjoy Dueling Pianos.  Amazing musicians play the songs you want to hear, while you sing and dance along with a noisy crowd of fun people.  What's not to like about that?!

Turning deep dish pizza upside down

We've discussed once before the unique nature of the Chicago hot dog, but I would have to say that deep dish pizza is the fast food for which Chicago is the most famous.  And rightly so - it's cheesy, it's gooey and it's SO filling.

Our time in Chicago was pretty short this time, and we were so busy during the days that I made the potentially controversial decision not to feed my parents deep-dish pizza while we were in town.  Instead, I took them to a place where pizza is theatre, a place where the concept of ooey-gooey pizza is literally turned upside-down.

The Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company is located in a converted townhouse in the leafy suburb of Lincoln Park, and the cash-only business is worth every good review it gets.  They don't take reservations though so if you're hungry, I'd recommend you show up either just as they open, or right before they close.

Not heeding my own advice, we arrived around 6.30pm on a Saturday night, amidst the hustle-bustle of the dinner rush.  I fought my way past the throngs of people to register ourselves with the maitre d'.  He didn't write anything down - not my name, not my phone number, nothing.  How he possibly remembered who was who is still beyond me.  We purchased a couple of drinks from the bar and waited in the warm, cosy vestibule for the maitre d' to come and find us.

An hour or so later, we were finally seated and confronted with the food menu.  I don't know why they bothered giving us a menu at all; I mean, we knew exactly what we were there to enjoy.

The half-pound pizza pot pie is the most inventive and delicious pizza I have had in a really long time.  It's an individual serving, and includes "triple-raised Sicilian bread-type dough; a homemade sauce consisting of olive oil, fresh garlic, onions, green peppers, whole plum tomatoes and a special blend of cheeses; sausage made from prime Boston butts; and doorknob-size, whole, fresh mushrooms".  I mean, come on.  How could you go wrong?!

But the thing that makes this pizza so special - and so theatrical - is that it is baked in a bowl, with the crust-side up.  So when your pizza pot pie is ready, the waiter brings it over and inverts it at your table.  The ooey-gooey cheese settles into place on the surface of your bowl-shaped pizza, and it is an utter delight to behold, and to gobble up.

 

With apologies to the deep dish purists but when it comes to pizza, THIS is the taste of Chicago for me.  I definitely recommend you visit The Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company.  Sure, the name is a mouthful, but so are the amazing pizzas!

A mile of magnificence, and then some

Daniel Burnham was a splendidly-mustachioed American architect and planner, charged with rebuilding the City of Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  To my mind, the best quote ever attributed to Burnham was "make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood" and I think it perfectly characterises Burnham's approach to the 'new' Chicago.

One of the prime ingredients in Burnham's 1909 restoration plan for Chicago was a new commercial centre for the City, that would create retail opportunities away from overcrowded State Street.  With the opening of the Michigan Avenue bridge in 1920, the city was ready to give full expression to Burnham's vision for this busy district.

Regrettably, Daniel Burnham died eight years before The Magnificent Mile sprang to life, but I am fairly confident he would love what it has become.

The Magnificent Mile is the 13-block stretch of Michigan Avenue that runs from the Chicago River in the south to Oak Street in the north.  In that area alone, residents and visitors alike are spoiled with "460 stores, 275 restaurants, 60 hotels and unique entertainments", which includes art galleries and museums.  You can download official maps here to see what I mean.

If you're only in Chicago for a short time, and shopping's not really your thing, you should still walk the Mag Mile to get a feel for exactly what this amazing city has to offer.  We did exactly that on our second morning in Chicago and it was fantastic.  My friend Bolts had flown in from NYC to join us for her maiden visit to Chitown and we were so pleased to have her along.  

After a restorative brunch at super-popular Yolk, we headed back to Michigan Avenue and walked up and down the wide, clean promenades past the shops.  More than once, we remarked how lovely it was to have plenty of space on Michigan Avenue.  Had this been New York, we would have been pushing and jostling with people already.  Such a lovely change of pace for us.

Before long, we were back at the Michigan Avenue bridge and the top of the Magnificent Mile.  We crossed over the frosty Chicago River, which the City would dye green for St Patrick's Day less than a month after our visit.  Hard to believe the ice would have melted in time, no?

As we have already seen, the Magnificent Mile part of Michigan Avenue is dominated by shops, hotels, and restaurants.  But walk across the Michigan Avenue bridge and continue walking south, and you're into The Loop (Chicago's central business district).  You'll quickly note that the architecture becomes decidedly different here.  To the west, you've got big office buildings the occasional high-rise apartment residences.  But to the east, you've got beautiful Lake Michigan and some of the most elegant parklands and cultural institutions you'll see anywhere.

Case in point, we headed into Grant Park, named for decorated Civil War veteran and 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant.  This park is actually a monster, covering 319 hectares of prime lakefront real estate.  Locally referred to as "Chicago's front yard", Grant Park is put to sensational use throughout the year for a range of public events, music concerts, food festivals, and sports.  

The blustering winds and frosty weather prevented us from exploring Grant Park in its entirety, but we did stop to admire "The Bean", the world-famous sculpture in the Millennium Park section.  The sculpture's actual name is "Cloud Gate" and it was installed in 2006.  Created by Indian-born British artist, Anish Kapoor, The Bean stands 120-feet tall and is comprised of 168 shiny, stainless-steel plates welded together.  During installation, each plate underwent a 5-stage construction process and the end result is that they appear to have been fused together seamlessly.  Even on the cold day that we visited, you can see that the sun shines brilliantly off The Bean's mirrored surface.  Kapoor's vision was always that his sculpture would be publicly accessible but of course, that means The Bean gets pretty dirty.  Annual cleaning costs are estimated between $35,000 and $50,000 which are met through an annual endowment - no public tax dollars are used.

The Bean also overlooks the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink and we watched a bunch of ice skaters navigate their course, with varying degrees of success.  Anyone not brave or coordinated enough to skate should definitely call into the adjacent Park Grill Chicago, where the cocktails are unapologetically strong.

Our art and people appreciation in Grant Park wasn't quite done yet.  We walked past Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, which is one of the most fun places to people watch in summer.  Unfortunately, based on my photos below, Crown Fountain requires a bit more imagination in the winter.

As you can (hopefully) see, the fountains are huge free-standing structures, about 50 feet tall.  They use over 1 million LEDs to display the faces of Chicago residents that change expressions frequently. Between May and October, the faces pout and basically spit water out of their mouths.  The fountains are separated by a large granite slab (covered by the snow in my pictures).  Water spurts out of holes in the slab too, and many children play and splash in the water spouts during the warmer months.

Our final stop on the Grant Park whistle-stop tour was the gorgeous Art Institute of Chicago.  We didn't go inside this time (300,000 works of art being quite beyond us at this point), but I couldn't help but admire the majestic lions standing guard at the entrance.  Reminiscent of the New York Public Library, no?  Fans of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" will of course recognise this building as one of the destinations that Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane visit in the City when they play hooky from school.   And who knows, if you come inside the Art Institute, you might be just as mesmerised by George Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" as Cameron was.

Whether it's shopping, food, art or architecture that floats your boat, Chicago's Michigan Avenue has it all. On our recent visit in frosty February, we only scratched the surface of the Magnificent Mile and the gorgeous parklands - there is just so much more to see.

Where buddies and legends hang out

A steak lunch and two glasses of red wine should have put me straight to sleep but being back in Chicago had infused me with some strange kind of energy.  I wanted to soak it all up, and miss nothing.  Plus the fact it was Friday meant I was buzzed about heading to one of my favourite Chicago haunts, Buddy Guy's Legends Bar.

When I lived in Chicago from 2005 to 2009, I discovered a deep and unwavering love of the blues.  There was no pretension about it.  The musicians were young, old, black, white, but all very cool and in turn, I felt cool just listening to the blues - feeling it.

As a result, I never missed a chance to pony up to Buddy Guy's on the south side of Chicago on a Friday night, usually after a few sherbets at a nearby Irish pub, to appreciate live blues and beers with my buddies.  Now Chicago may be home to the fantastic Blues Brothers but for my money, fans of real blues music need look no further than Buddy Guy's to get their regular fix.

Blues legend and electric guitarist Buddy Guy opened his bar in June 1989 and for a long time it was an average, no-frills establishment that cared not for fancy decor or food items.  The real star of Buddy's' bar was the music - the bar became legendary because of the music legends that Buddy invited to grace his stage and delight his audiences.

My recollection of early visits to Buddy Guy's include plastic chairs, toilet doors that didn't lock, and dim lighting.  I also remember taking a blind date there once after our dinner, as I just wanted to be on familiar territory, and somewhere loud enough that I wouldn't have to talk to him.  Ah, memories!  I was even fortunate to hear Buddy play on a number of occasions; taking breaks between songs to drink shots that a steady procession of attractive women had bought for him.  Nothing was slowing that old guy down - and his wicked grin betrayed his every cheeky thought (about the music and the girls).

So I was really pleased that Mum & Dad were keen to come to Buddy Guy's for a Friday night musical treat.  And I'll admit to being rather taken aback by the amazing renovations that had taken place since my last visit.  This wasn't just a coat of paint either; this was a total overhaul of the establishment - right down to the employment of one of friendliest toilet attendants you'll ever meet in your life (a significant plus for women, trust me).  If you didn't know any better, you'd say that Buddy Guy's version 2.0 was much like the Hard Rock Cafe - a blues museum of sorts.  Guitars displayed everywhere, plaques, awards, and historical photos galore.  And what's not to love about that?!

That particular Friday night of our visit, we had tickets to the 9pm show of the fantastically-named Biscuit Miller and the Mix.  Have you ever seen a band and realised that they are way cooler than you will ever be in your entire life?  Well, enter Biscuit Miller.  With his musical roots firmly planted in gospel and soul, this Chicago native raised the roof off Buddy Guy's and had us all clapping and dancing in our seats.  Mum and Dad were really loving it, and we totally got into the spirit of the music, appreciating the decades of obvious talent on stage before us.

Before we knew it, it was midnight but the crowd and the musicians showed no signs of slowing down.  The pace of the day had hit us though, and it was time to call it quits.  Even though Buddy Guy himself was a no-show, our $20 cover charge was so well spent and we would come back in a heartbeat.

Sweet home Chicago

I had to work during Mum and Dad's recent visit to New York, but I was fortunate to secure a couple of days of vacation so that we could disappear to my old sweet home Chicago. I spent a very happy 4 years there from 2005 to 2009 and while Mum visited me during that period, Dad had never been.  Given that Mum was hell-bent on seeing snow during her US visit, I was fairly confident that Chicago would deliver the goods.

Our American Airlines flight left around 9am one Friday morning, and while the sun was shining on our descent into Chicago, you can see for yourself the frigid conditions awaiting us below.  The ice on Lake Michigan stretched back as far as the eye could see, and snow covered most of the houses and city buildings we flew over.

Chicago O'Hare is the busiest airport in the United States, in terms of flight traffic, but whenever I disembark there I always feel like I'm home again.  I led Mum and Dad through the push and shove of passengers, cabin crew, and airport staff and we headed straight to the baggage claim.  Luggage safely in hand we headed down the escalators to the Blue Line train.

New York has the subway system, but Chicago has the "El" train.  Short for "elevated train", the El is a network of 8 elevated train lines serving over 140 stations.  Like the New York subway system, the El system is colour-coded and clearly marked, and features express and local trains.  The Blue Line runs from Forest Hills (the western terminus), through the City, and out to O'Hare and it is a fantastic way to get to and from the airport.  Not only is it an easy, fuss-free way to travel, but it's inexpensive too.  A one-way taxi fare from O'Hare to Chicago Downtown will cost you about $50 and takes about 30 minutes.  A one-way trip on the Blue Line will only cost you $3 and granted it will take you a little longer, but if you haven't got a heap of luggage, and you're not in a rush, the choice is pretty easy, no?

Another advantage of the Chicago Blue Line train is that it literally stops underneath the baggage claim terminal.  You don't even need to go outside the building to catch it - so handy.  When we got to the station downstairs, I discovered that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) had replaced its old travel cards with a new Ventra Card system that are like Mastercards (they're credit card sized, and they're rechargeable just like NYC's Metrocards).  In the end, we purchased 3-day Ventra cards from the vending machine to last us for our visit.  The cards can be used on the El trains, as well as on the city buses, so they are a fantastic and flexible way to travel.

Looking back on it, I suppose I was a bit mean making Mum and Dad travel downtown by train, because when we got to the Thompson Center station at Clark/Lake, we had a bit of a walk to get to our hotel.  In fine weather, this would not have been a problem, but winter in Chicago is something else.  You may be aware that Chicago is known as the Windy City.  This nickname actually originated to describe the puffed-up, wind-bag politicians of Chicago's early history, but over time it has also come to capture the heinously cold breezes that come off Lake Michigan, as well as the frozen Chicago River, which winds its way through the Downtown area.  And it was these weather conditions that greeted us as we emerged from the stuffy warmth of the El station.

Needless to say we dragged our suitcases the few blocks to the hotel in basic silence, pausing only to admire the majestic Trump Hotel and also the historical Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower, that dominate the skyline and Michigan Avenue.

We checked into the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel, where Johnny Weissmuller, Olympic gold medalist and film's original Tarzan, used to train in the gorgeous Olympic-sized swimming pool.  We didn't have time for a dip though because we needed to defrost and have a feed.

For this purpose, we chose the Michael Jordan's Steak House in the lobby of our hotel.  I had neglected to tell Mum and Dad that there is a New York site of the restaurant upstairs at Grand Central Station, overlooking the concourse, and it's a fantastic place to eat and to people-watch. But in Chicago, to be honest, we chose this restaurant not out of any Chicago Bulls loyalty; but rather in part to avoid having to step outdoors in the freezing cold again, but also so we could see my former room mate Lexie, who works in an office building just across the road.  I've been friends with Lexie for 10 years but my Dad had never met her, and Mum had only met her once. It was fantastic to just sit in the restaurant and have a proper catch up with Lex where none of us were actually in a rush or needed to be anywhere in particular.

Food and friends.  This is exactly what our return visit to Chicago was all about, but it was only the beginning!

The Griswolds Take Manhattan...again!

Mum and Dad came to town and the snow finally fell.  Mum was especially pleased.  Buttoning up our winter coats, we braved the elements and took off exploring, capturing some of the city icons at their best.  How we didn't get blown off The High Line in the Arctic breeze is anyone's guess!

My parents are in New York for a couple of weeks, and I took a few days off to show them around. These are just some early photos of our adventures.
Posted by The ABCs of NYC on Saturday, February 21, 2015

The Griswolds take New York

So my parents are in town until early March and I love having them here.  Like me, they enjoy late mornings, strong coffee, sightseeing, and generally just soaking up every inch of New York.

I took Thursday and Friday off work to spend a couple of days getting Mum & Dad reoriented to the City.  We're staying in a lovely, spacious 2-bedroom apartment in Midtown not far from where I lived when I first moved here.  So it has been great just to wander the old neighbourhood, pointing out the closest grocery stores, pharmacies, pubs with generous pours, and restaurants with the most delicious dishes.  So far we've enjoyed ice-cold beers, lip-smacking BBQ, and the crispiest wood-oven fired pizza.

We went to Madison Square Park, past the beautiful Flatiron Building that I love so much.  After a bit of shopping in Chelsea, I showed Mum & Dad my old, booby-trapped apartment, and then we walked the new extension of the High Line (and nearly froze solid in the process).

We retreated to the warmth of Grand Central Terminal, including the last vestiges of the Holiday Train Show at the NY Transit Museum - a lovely model train of New York and the Hudson Valley.  I went on my first tour of the NY Public Library and got to see their copy of the Gutenberg Bible, plus the original stuffed toys that inspired the Winnie the Pooh stories.  

Lunch at the Grand Central Oyster Bar was great, walking underneath the beautiful Guastavino tiled roof.  And even though the New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, it was so much fun to get to Madison Square Garden and cheer them on.

But, see?  The literal frosting on the cake came yesterday, when the skies opened up and rained down a slushy wintry mess of ice and snow.  Now we're from a part of Australia that doesn't see snow (unless there is a very freaky weather occurrence up in the Hills) so I was so glad that Mum got to play in her first snowfall.  "Kid in a candy store" is the most apt expression for what ensued.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

When water and yeast meet barley and hops

Coopers is Australia's largest brewery and is 100% owned by Australians.  Under the leadership of the fifth-generation descendants of Thomas Cooper, the family-owned company produces 12 beers and a range of home brews, and it maintains a 5% share of Australia's beer market.

Mercifully you can buy Coopers here in the US - I've seen it at Whole Foods but also at The Australian pub in New York.  And when I'm back home, I am definitely a loyal customer (though I admittedly can't decide which of their beers I prefer).

If your exposure to Coopers has only ever been from the consumption side, you might be interested to know that you can tour the brewery and see what makes this South Australian icon tick.  Even if you think you don't like beer, give tour guide Frank one hour of your time and he'll take you though the impressive fermentation facilities, bottling and distribution, and quality control centre at Coopers.  You'll work up a thirst, but your tour ends with a tasting of 10 delicious beers - and Frank is a generous pour.

Tours cost about $30 and can be booked online here.  All proceeds go to the Coopers Brewery Foundation, to support a range of philanthropic projects across Australia.

I did a tour of the brewery on my recent visit back home - check out my photo album below:

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination

I left the Adelaide sunshine behind on 23 December, and New York welcomed me home with bleak grey skies and drizzle.  Equally unpleasant is the fact that I'm now battling jet lag, finding myself wide awake at 4am and staring at the ceiling.

So I've decided that a perfectly acceptable way to pass these sleepless hours is to work my way through the stash of Australian chocolate that I brought back with me, and I'm not talking about supermarket chocolate either.  The calorific wonder food that I'm referring to is an Adelaide family legacy - an icon, 99 years in the making.  That's right, folks - I'm talking about Haigh's Chocolates.

Beehive Corner in Adelaide
Image credit here

In 1915, Alfred Haigh opened a chocolate shop on King William Street, in the commercial centre of Adelaide.  His operations were modest, but customers were faithful and business boomed. Two years later, Mr Haigh purchased his family home in Parkside, just outside of the City, and he set up a small chocolate factory there.  By 1922, there was such a demand for Haigh's Chocolates that Alfred Haigh was forced to move to bigger retail premises at Beehive Corner, and that heritage-listed gem remains the flagship store for Haigh's Chocolates today.

When Alfred Haigh passed away suddenly in 1933, his son took over the store and the notion of the Haigh's family dynasty was born.  You can chart the history of Haigh's by looking at Australia's own history - from the war years, to the early days of Australian cinema, through to the advent of television, and the subsequent expansion of Haigh's interstate.  But even though you can now buy Haigh's products in Sydney and Melbourne, the chocolate is all still made in Adelaide and that's a great source of pride for the city.

Haigh's is still a family business too, with fourth generation descendants of Alfred Haigh steering the company to great success - locally, nationally, and even globally.  In 2014, Haigh's was internationally-certified for its commitment to sustainable cocoa farming and the company has also been a long-time fundraiser for the protection of Australia's native species, including the bilby.  All of this is well and good but let's face it, millions of us eat Haigh's Chocolates simply because they taste amazing - plain and simple.

On my recent trip home I actually got to see how the Haigh's magic was made, by doing a free guided tour at the Visitor Centre in the converted old family home at Parkside.  On the 20-minute tour, our guide Tara-Jane talked us through the breadth of the company's operations, and we got to see the chocolatiers in action.  Tara-Jane spoke so fondly about her colleagues and the family atmosphere at Haigh's, it's little wonder you have to wait until someone retires before a job vacancy gets advertised.  Why would you leave, when you can eat as much chocolate as you want all day!?

For me though, the best thing about the Visitor Centre is that there is also a retail store attached and you can load up your shopping basket with items from the extensive range of Haigh's merchandise, including chocolate frogs, truffles, aprichocs, drinking chocolate, and more.  I'm not even going to list my favourites because we'd be here all day.

Haigh's turns 100 years old next year and I can only imagine the big celebrations they have planned.  I would be delighted if they would agree to export their chocolates, at least to the United States.  That way I could keep a steady supply of peppermint chocolate frogs in my fridge - perfect for addressing 4am jet lag, or when that everyday chocolate craving strikes.

To market, to market

In the wee hours of the morning on 23 January 1869, a group of market gardeners found their way to the centre of Adelaide and began to sell their fruits and vegetables.  By 6am, about 500 customers had cleaned the vendors out, and Adelaide's "City Market" was born.

Fast forward to today and Adelaide Central Market is more than just a couple of gas lights and rudimentary fencing.  It's now home to 80 permanent stalls and over 100 other shops, visited by more than 8 million people per year.  It brings the best of Adelaide's produce, and the gourmet foods of our wine regions direct to the centre of the City, and its location next door to Adelaide's Chinatown precinct makes it a perfect place to celebrate Adelaide's multiculturalism in the most delicious way possible - through food.

Check out the photo album below:

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

A girl in every Port

About 20 minutes northwest of Adelaide's CBD is the beautiful area of Port Adelaide.  As its name suggests, "The Port" is the headquarters of South Australia's maritime history, and historical architecture and heritage-listed monuments abound.

Our first stop was the Port Adelaide Lighthouse, which was first lit in 1869 and went on to serve South Australian mariners for the next 143 years.  The lighthouse stands 69 feet tall, or 21.03 metres. In 1985 the South Australian Maritime Museum acquired the lighthouse and restored it as a permanent exhibition.  Queen Elizabeth II opened the lighthouse to the public in 1986, as part of the celebrations for South Australia's Jubilee year (150th birthday).   We climbed the 70+ stairs today, and had a wonderful view from the exhibition deck.  A bit blustery, to be sure, but well worth the huff-and-puff climb.

Around the corner, we passed the historic tall ships, the Falie and The One And All.  Their glory days may be behind them, but the boats are still available for private events, charters, and sailing training.  There is also the incredible City of Adelaide - The Splendid Clipper Ship that is moored at Dock One.  Constructed in 1864, the City of Adelaide was recovered from Scotland and is destined for a 10-year restoration, currently being funded by private individuals and corporate donors.  The City of Adelaide is intended to the centerpiece of a seaport village, where visitors can learn about Australia's colonial history.

Continuing the nautical theme, we spent a happy few hours in the South Australian Maritime Museum, whose collection dates back to 1872.  Spread out over 3 floors, the Museum has fantastic exhibits - many of them interactive - and all of which immerse you in the maritime journeys that brought people to South Australia.  I particularly loved the current exhibition called "Rough Medicine" that looked at life & death in the age of sailing.  Some of the horror stories of disease and death aboard those long sea journeys were incredible.

After a bite of lunch, we realised we only had time left to see one more Museum, so we drove over to the National Railway Museum.  It was a first for all of us, which is pretty rare.  I'm so glad we went there because the Museum holds a fantastic collection of train carriages, engines, and artifacts from railway operations not just in South Australia, but across the country.  You get to see model trains that run across a fantastically-detailed miniature landscape.  You can also ride one of the gauge railways at the Museum, but it was just doing its last circuit as we arrived so we missed out on that one.  Next time, for sure.

We only just scratched the surface of Port Adelaide's offerings today.  There is so much to see down here.  I'm coming back to this hood next week, so I'll have another opportunity to see a few more sites then.  In the meantime, check out my Port Adelaide photo album below.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

Danke schoen, darling!

Hahndorf - 20 mins SE of Adelaide
Image credit here

One of the great things about Adelaide is that you're pretty much 20 minutes from anywhere - from a major shopping centre, from a beach, from a winery, or from gently rolling hills and fresh country air.

Case in point: drive for 20 minutes south-east of the CBD into the Adelaide Hills and you'll come to the lovely town of Hahndorf.  Even when the city bakes in the summer sun, Hahndorf remains a lush and green place.  It is also classified as Australia's oldest German settlement.

But Hahndorf was an area steeped in history well before the Europeans arrived.  For over 2,000 years the Peramangk people occupied the land where Hahndorf is today and they were sustained by its plentiful supply of native flora and fauna.  By the early 1830s the Europeans had settled in Adelaide and in 1838, a South Australian businessman named George Fife Angas went to London to promote colonisation here.  On his travels he met a man named Pastor Kavel who was trying to help German Lutherans who were being persecuted by the King of Prussia.  Angas persuaded Kavel that South Australia was an ideal place to escape to, and the first cohort of German settlers arrived here the following year.  Thirty-eight families established their homes in Hahndorf, and while it was originally a farming village, Hahndorf ultimately became a major service centre for the surrounding region, and businesses prospered.  These days, Hahndorf remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

We started our day with a visit to The Cedars, one of Australia's historic and artistic treasures.  It was the home of Hans Heysen, master of the Australian landscape and also showcases the work of his talented daughter, Nora Heysen.  An accomplished artist in her own right, in 1938 Nora was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize.  At the Cedars, you can tour the Heysen family home, and even look through the famous artist's studio, which is now the oldest purpose-built artist's studio in the country.

With our bellies growling, it was time for lunch and we drove along the Main Street, under the 100-year old elm trees that line the sides of the road, shading the heritage-listed homes and stores.  There were signs up everywhere celebrating the 175th anniversary of German settlement in the area so we felt it was rather fitting to snag a table inside The German Arms, which was established here in 1839.  Their chicken schnitzels, German beers, and crisp ciders are all pretty amazing - you heard it here first.

We walked off lunch by dawdling along the beautiful Main Street, weaving in and out of the old stores.  The architecture here is so charming and many of the stores even sell old-time goods like boiled sweets, home-made candles, and freshly-made ice-cream, prepared with recipes that haven't changed for generations.  Local artists are thriving here and their works are on display in tiny galleries lining the Main Street.  I found the indigenous artwork at The Aboriginal Art House to be particularly impressive, but you know that I am a huge sucker for colour.

At this point in the warm afternoon, hydration was essential so we called into the beautiful, brand new cellar door location for Handcrafted by Geoff Hardy.  Geoff's son Seb took great care of us and made sure I sampled the delicious Fiano 2014, which of course I had to purchase at the end of the wine tasting.  Make sure you call in to see the Hardys when you're in Hahndorf - they will not steer you wrong.

On the way home, we called in to see another South Australian family dynasty- the Beerenberg Family Farm.  We chose not to pick our own strawberries (though you can, from November to April); rather, we left such sporty activities to the young families.  Instead, we just browsed the storefront area and came home with armloads of fresh jams, chutneys, and sauces.  Definitely worth a look to score some tasty treats at the end of a long day.

I got a bit snap-happy today too, and I've done my best to write captions against most of the photos in this album.  Check out the Hahndorf photos in the album below.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

A pukka lunch is money in the bank

When I lived in London, I worked at Australia's High Commission and our offices were in the beautiful Australia House building on The Strand.  It's down the road from St Paul's Cathedral, though I have to confess that old ladies selling birdseed on the front steps for tuppence a bag are long gone now.

The area around the Cathedral is called "The City" and it's a bit like Wall Street in New York - full of bankers and financial institutions.  But there's also a fancy shopping centre there called One New Change.  I spent a bit of time in that shopping centre - not for commercial reasons, but for culinary ones.  Because inside this modern, glass building you'll find Barbecoa, one of the restaurants in Jamie Oliver's ever-growing empire.  The number of cocktails and heaped plates of BBQ I devoured there are lost to history, but I will never forget our work Christmas lunch in 2010 when, quite by chance, Jamie Oliver came into the restaurant and was gracious enough to have a photo with us.  I was never lucky enough to meet Jamie again, either at the restaurant or at his Recipease place in Clapham, the restaurant/school/retail store around the corner from where I was living for a time.  But suffice it to say that my admiration for Jamie, his cooking style, and his approach to food, continues.

In light of all this, it will hardly surprise you that I found myself dining today at Jamie's Italian, his new restaurant in Adelaide's CBD.  There are now 30 "Jamie's Italian" restaurant worldwide, including 4 others across Australia. I wasn't expecting to see Jamie here either of course, but his influence is all over the menu, especially the use of fresh, local produce including Australian lamb.

The restaurant has also breathed life back into a gorgeous piece of Adelaide's architectural history.  The Art Deco-style building was designed in 1938 and housed a number of banks over the years.  It has now been heritage-listed, and Jamie's developers have obviously been very sympathetic to that.  The opulent marble flooring and imposing columns are all still there, but downstairs the bank vaults have been converted into the toilets (authentic, porcelain "Crappers" too - check out the photos below!).

My parents and I had lunch at Jamie's at 2.30pm, which is pretty late in the day, but it was the earliest we could get in.  And that's on a Monday, which says quite a lot about how positively Adelaide diners have responded to Jamie's latest venture.

In spite of the hour, our stomach grumbles were totally worth it.  The menu reflects the breadth of Italian cuisine - meats, fish, vegetables, cheeses, and tasting plates/boards too.  How was I expected to narrow it all down?  So we didn't - we just ate a bit of everything.  In addition to the amazing pasta, you definitely need to try the polenta chips, the risotto balls (arancini) and the tutti frutti lemon meringue pie...so good!  But of course, you also need to do as we did and wash it down with local South Australian ciders and wines - a total treat!

As we were leaving today, a small crowd had already gathered on the footpath outside to come in for the start of the dinner rush.  I got the sense it was going to be another busy evening for the cheerful, charming staff.  The phrase "laughing all the way to the bank" also sprang to mind, but that seems totally appropriate, given the restaurant's previous tenants.  This new restaurant is a great addition to Jamie's food family, and a real coup for the city.

There's no place like home

Welcome to Adelaide, dear friends!  It's so great to be home.

I've spent the last 20+ hours travelling, and the twinkly Christmas lights that are shining in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center in New York are literally half a world away now.

After delays getting out of JFK and LAX, and a missed connection out of Sydney, it was wonderful to finally get off the plane in my home town and be met by this fantastic gingerbread village, right inside Adelaide Airport.
 

If Adelaide has done something like this before, I've never been lucky enough to experience it.  I mean, come on!  In addition to the little gingerbread houses, there were two model trains, and a giant mountain of royal icing that stands at least 2 metres high and took 200 kilograms of icing/confectioner's sugar and hundreds of lollies/candies to build. 

The delicious display is the excellent work of the patisserie students at the Regency Campus of TAFE (Technical & Further Education) SA and will be on show until 5 January.  Snowy landscapes aren't exactly a feature of Adelaide at Christmas time - or at any time really - but I'll celebrate edible talent any way I can!

On the subject of Adelaide landscapes, I was a little dismayed to see how yellowed and crunchy the countryside looked as we commenced our descent into Adelaide this afternoon.  The meteorologists have already predicted that Adelaide will have blistering summer heat waves this year.  Days over 40 degrees Celsius (104F) aren't exactly uncommon during summer, but the dry heat can get awfully uncomfortable for people, pets, and gardens.  Such a contrast to my other home town, huh?

Now I know we're  all on vacation here, and we're not meant to be using our brains much,  but before we throw ourselves into Adelaide tourism I think it's worth giving you some quick information so you can get your bearings.

British colonists (not convicts) first settled in South Australia in 1836, but the Kaurna (pronounced 'gah-na') people have been the traditional owners of the land in the Adelaide Plains area for millennia.  The Kaurna people lived a nomadic existence on their land, which also include the area where Adelaide's central business district is now situated.  We'll revisit Adelaide's indigenous history and culture in a couple of days time.

Fast forward to today though, and there are 1.67 million people living in South Australia, which is basically the population of Nebraska living in an area bigger than Texas.  But 77% of South Australians reside in the "Greater Adelaide" area - which includes the capital city of Adelaide, and its surrounding major suburbs.  We've basically clustered around the capital and the coastline - but when I show you photos, you'll understand why.

I grew up in this Greater Adelaide area and when I was at school, I was friends with "Aussie" kids, but also kids whose parents had moved here from Greece, Italy, and countries all across Asia.  Over the years since, Adelaide has become home to a vibrant Filipino community, and families from Afghanistan, South Sudan, and beyond.  Mass migration has been part of Australia's way of life for decades - very similar to New York, in that respect.  And just like New York, Adelaide has become a more diverse and (I'd argue) a more interesting place for it.  You can see this diversity reflected in our food, music,  religious and sporting cultures.

But we will discover this all in good time.  For now though, I'm going to unwind with a glass of local South Australian wine and attempt to sleep off this jetlag.  We've got a busy couple of weeks ahead!