James O'Brien

Colin and I were due to meet at 1230 today at Taylor Square, with the plan of heading down to Stanley Street for something yummy.

As I sat and waited for him to arrive, I thought for a moment about “Gilligan’s Island”.

Twenty years ago, when Sydney was “dance party city”, you would often see “beautiful people” sunning themselves in the afterglow of Sleaze Ball or Mardi Gras.

Back then, the nearby 191 and JBF were thriving establishments. I’m pretty sure the space where 191 was has re-opened in some form, but JBF, The Taylor Square Hotel, remains in an almost-abandoned state.

These days, Taylor Square is a little lifeless, with the only activity being “that stupid fountain” (as Colin called it), spurting water up and down.

The one piece of “life” I noticed was the old abandoned public toilet, which has been the subject of some guerilla knitting.

It’s an interesting use of the space, I noted, which has previously housed a couple of art exhibitions, years after it was abandoned as a public convenience.

But as lifeless as Taylor Square is, it wasn’t much better at Stanley Street, where our desire for something nice for lunch came to nought.

The restaurants there were either closed for lunch or simply closed. It’s a shame, because it was always such a great place, especially around the time of the annual Italian Festival.

So we ended up in the cross, and had lunch at Sopra at Fratelli Fresh. While Colin at the Osso Bucco, I had the Mahi Mahi. Mine came with my three favourite things in the world: mussels, cucumber and tomato. It was excellent. And with a 500ml carafe of red shared between two, the total cost was less than fifty dollars.

Thank goodness, there’s some life in the cross, because Darlinghurst and East Sydney are looking a little drab.

Overall it was a lovely day out and about chatting, and finally having a terrific gelato from a place on Victoria Street, near the hospital. Berries…. mmm

Other than that it’s been a reasonably quiet Saturday best summed up by the contrast between last Saturday and this. Last Saturday night I went to the opening night of Wicked. Tonight I watched The Wizard of Oz on Fox Classics.