Market Saturday

Yesterday was dedicated as market Saturday. I’ve been hearing a lot about Sydney’s street and flea markets, so I wanted to spend a day checking them out. Sarah and I took the bus into town and ventured first to Paddy’s Market. It reminded me of the flea market I used to go to in Florida with my grandparents. You could find everything from clothes to cookware to luggage to souvenirs. They also had a separate area for fresh produce. The main part of the market wasn’t too interesting because it was just a bunch of stalls selling the same thing at different prices, if you paid close enough attention. However, the produce was interesting to wander through. I found something called a sugar banana, which I’ve never heard of. I bought one—I was totally undercharged as the sign said $3.50 per kilo and he only asked for 10 cents—and tried it. I can’t even describe how weird it was. I felt like I was eating something banana flavored that had a grainy texture like it had been rolled in sugar. It also had a bite of sweetness at the end. I’m not sure why anyone would choose to pay more for them.

Pretty view of the city

Fountains near Darling Harbour

Sugar Banana! (look how fat it is)

We spent near two hours at Paddy’s, which is set underneath a full-service mall, before heading over to the Rocks. I didn’t quite realize that we were on the complete other end of town when I suggested that be our next stop, but oh well. We ended up walking through a really pretty park on the edge of Darling Harbour that we stopped to take pictures it. There was a carousel and giant playground as well, so it was swarming with families. We also passed by the outside of the Chinese Garden of Friendship, something I plan to see eventually.

When we finally got to the Rocks, there market was just starting to close, so we hurried quickly through the stalls. The Rocks is more of an arty market with many paintings, ceramics, and decorative purses on display. It was more fun to look at the items on sale here though.

The Rocks Market

It finally got too cold for us though between the wind chill and the sun going down, so we went to the nearby Pancakes on the Rocks and had mimosas and pancakes for dinner. It was fairly decently priced compared to everything else in Sydney, only $6.95 for a stack of two pancakes with butter. It kind of reminded me of iHop. It seems to be some kind of phenomenon here as there was a huge line out the door. I wanted to buy some of their pancake mix because I haven’t seen a mix anywhere else, but I didn’t want to carry it around with me the rest of the night, so I passed. I did find pancake mix at the store today though and it was $7.50 for a small bottle! It might have been cheaper to buy it in the Rocks...

Some building...