darlinghurst

Sydney was alive today. The jacarandas are in bloom, the runners are out and the cafés are so packed that the customers spill out onto the streets. Summer has finally arrived! Armed with a camera, a notepad, and my iPhone (for much-needed GPS assistance), I stepped out into the madness of it all.

Darlinghurst, dubbed the "Soho" of Sydney, is home to artists, designers, young filmmakers and the café society. My first activity of the day was finding the Sydney Jewish Museum. It's on a quiet, shady street lined with large, billowy trees. The museum itself was lovely, also. The exhibitions focused mainly on the Holocaust but also touched upon the history of Jews in Australia. Apparently 16 Jewish convicts were on board the First Fleet in 1788, which I find interesting considering the paper I just wrote on Australia Day and the founding of the nation.

I spent an hour there before I was ready to fill my empty stomach. Bills, down the road on Liverpool Street, had been recommended to me. It's an unassuming café on an otherwise empty street, yet bills is a favorite Sydney spot for brunching, and I can see why. The airy café is full of light, which dances across the pure white walls, and features a large communal pine table in the middle of the main room, piled high with newspapers and magazines to browse through. Looking around, most people had ordered the house specialty, so I did too: ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter. Pure decadence. I can't even remember the last time I treated myself to such an amazing meal.

Feeling full and restless, I was ready for a stroll through the quaint little streets near Taylor Square. Lined with vintage shops and sweet boutiques, I stumbled upon a few real eye-openers. At Zoo Emporium, Michael Jackson was playing as I browsed through the $5 treasure chest, gawked at a $75 electric blue sequin bustier, examined sunglasses, sundresses, and African necklaces and snuck peeks, riveted, as a transvestite couple tried on stripper heels.

Regina Garde, in Surry Hills, is slightly more upscale and more modern, but was also a treat for the eyes. The small boutique is exotic, filled with the sweetest, most colorful cocktail dresses, covered in lace and bows and ruffles and Balinese prints. It was hard walking out empty handed.

Sydney Jewish Museum

148 Darlinghurst Rd.

bills

433 Liverpool St.

Zoo Emporium

180 Campbell St.

Regina Garde

292 Crown St.