Every year, Vivid Festival transform Sydney in a city of lights… Skyscrapers with magical luminous effects, the Opera House becomes a multiform of colours, geometry and shades, and Circular Quay is all dressed up. This year, Custom House is taking the scene with the most amazing sound and light effects. For approximately five minutes, you see the front of the building changing shapes and colours, it’s truly spectacular.

It all last until Monday 13th, so if you are in Sydney for this long weekend make sure to go down to the Rocks for a quick look… Sydney is beautiful when all the lights are turned on!

Ops, I forgot… click on the pictures to watch the video. Just in case you cannot see this in real life, quality is not great but gives you a very good idea on how amazing this is… ;)

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• Barossa… Love at First Sight!

And so it happens that time goes by… 1 becomes 2, 2 turns into 3 and then all of a sudden, you’re 30!
For my big 3-0 I was lucky enough to spend 3 wonderful days in the beautiful Barossa Valley. If you haven’t been there, make sure you choose a weekend, pack your bag and get ready to spend couple of truly amazing days. So, following my recommendations, just a few things you cannot miss.

From the airport it’s very easy to hire a car, and then in only few minutes from landing in South Australia you can be on your way to Barossa or Clare Valley. My birthday was on Friday, after one hour freezing cold flight, at 8am in the morning a well deserved breakfast was very much needed. There is something about me you have probably figured out by now… I love chocolate. It’s easy to love chocolate, and there is nothing wrong with that, but how many of you could actually have a divine chocolate cake for brekkie? Not sure how many…

Anyway, what you see above on the left hand side was my treat for being such a good girl for the last 30 years, a little bit of auto-celebration never killed anyone so if you want to give it a go, whether is your birthday or not, write this down or visit the website. A place to remember!
Cocolat
283 Rundle Street (East End)
Adelaide 5000

So after our luscious start of the day, jump back in the car and drive to the Barossa. It takes approximately 1 1/2, no rush, and it’s a lovely drive although there is not much to do or see, you can enjoy the scenery and make plans on what is just about to come.

Of course wine testing is on top of the list. There are hundreds of Winery Estates, everyone with its own story, background and wines. Make sure you take breaks between testing as your palate could get easily fatigued and the result could be that you don’t taste the wine properly anymore. During this trip, I fell in love with sweet wines more than ever. I guess it’s a common misconception that sweet wines are only for dessert. You would be surprised by how many go so well with cheese and dry fruit, tabbouleh and salads. You just need to be a bit adventurous, but why not give it a try?
My top purchases? Here we go:

1. The Last Straw by Turkey Flat
2. Museum Reserve Muscat by Yalumba
3. White Fort by Chateau Dorrien

After the wine tasting, and shopping, you probably feel hungry right? So why don’t stop at the amazing Maggie Beer Farm Shop!
Every product is produced right there, and you can taste olive oil, wine, cheese, jam… everything you want, they are amazingly fresh and if you want to have a bite, you simply order one of the baskets on the menu and eat outside in the shade, over looking the water. Quite spectacular.
What else? Well, for dinner try 1918, an extraordinary restaurant with, as head chef Christian Fletcher describes “fresh, seasonally-inspired cuisine based on modern Australian tastes and flavours borrowed from Asia and the Middle East”. I have had the most amazing vegetarian dinner, with fried haloumi, hummus and freekah wheat tabbouleh for entrée and Tempura of stuffed zucchini flowers with goats curd and a cherry tomato vinaigrette for main. Soooo delicious!!!

And finally, on your way back to Adelaide, make sure you stop in Hahndorf. All of a sudden, it seems you are in a different country, but definitely not Australia!
The German influence is quite obvious, however if you don’t feel like würstel, pretzels or beer (especially if you get there around 10am!) I highly recommend the White House, an adorable café on the main street. An exquisite place where everyone is welcoming and lovely, coffee is great and food is quite special. They also have an Open Air Cinema so if you have enough time, stick around…
Sadly, time to leave… But we’ll be back for more!

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• Vivid Festival 2011 – Custom House

After more than 5 years in Sydney, no matter how much I try and despite the highest intention of wanting to be a true Ozie, to the local eyes I will and always be a tourist. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I believe it has something to do with what I usually do with my spare time. It sort of spoils my intentions…

Take this weekend for example… Did you know that you could spend a night over in Cockatoo Island? Well, you can. It is the easiest thing, it’s fun, cheap and give you the chance to relax and enjoy one of the heritage precincts in the Sydney Harbour. How does it work? There are several options, depending on your budget. You can rent a beautiful house, which is great especially for families or groups of friends, hire one of the tents in the camp ground (they have beds, chairs, sleeping bags, everything you need) or bring your own and sleep in designated areas. We went for the last option (ours was just underneath the tower on the right, cool!), and with only $56 we experienced a night on the island. Then we played tennis, of course had a BBQ, and relaxed with great music and a very tasty cocktail in the new Island Bar (open only in summer) overlooking the Harbour Bridge. Simply perfect!

Of course on top of all this, you can walk around old buildings, discover what happened since the establishment, have a luscious breakfast with coffee and cake or just lay on the grass to read a good book … one of the best weekend I had in Sydney so far. Well, if weather had the decency to be acceptable it would have been even better. Not to worry, we’ll be back for more!

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• Vivid Festival 2011 – Custom House
• Barossa… Love at First Sight!

Do you believe in positive thinking? Do you believe that when you deeply want something, or need something, you can get it?

At the end of last year, I made a list of little things I wished to happen during this year: new job, new home, new challenges… it’s only half way but so far I have a shiny new visa on my passport, a great new job and I went to Italy even for just few days… not really the way I wanted, however being back and having the chance to spend some time with family and friends is truly priceless.

So here’s my wish for next year, and I need to start early because it is a big one: spend some time in Italy during Salone del Mobile, go everywhere I can and report my discoveries on this little blog. It will be Salone’s 50th year and my 30th birthday… it makes sense and there is no better way to celebrate!

What do you think? Can we dream together? Keep you posted!

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Since my arrival in Australia, T2 has always been one of my favourite places. To explain a little to those who’ve never heard of T2 before, this intriguing company is committed to gently convert every tea lover to a new and wonderful taste experience. They aim to create a range that delivers a bombardment of subtle, unexpected flavours and aromas, creating a spirit of peace and serenity. The range includes exotic teas that look just as beautiful and sophisticated as they taste.

There are more than 180 varieties of tea to taste and choose from, and the one I really like is Orange Pekoe, a full-leaf Sri Lankan tea with hints of of sugar cane and sweet sultanas and a light touch of tannins providing a clean, brisk finish. It is absolutely fantastic to complement Thai meals, particularly if you serve it super cold with just one table spoon of condensed milk. It adds that little sweetness but makes it very refreshing and I assure you, you will have troubles stop drinking!

You can buy T2 in one of their beautiful shops or online. Go crazy Tea!

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