Art Gallery of New South Wales

It rained all day. In other words, a perfect day to spend indoors at the Art Gallery of NSW.

The museum is billed as one of the country’s flagship art museums. When it was first established in 1871 it had neither a collection nor a building. Those came later. Over the following 150 years, the museum not only changed names, but locations as well. One thing that didn’t change was the role it continues to play in the cultural life of NSW as well as Australia.

As a public museum, there is no admission charged … except for special exhibits, like the current one … featuring Kandinsky’s work. We opted to skip it as there was more than enough to see in the free galleries.

In fact, a little after noon, we had to take a break for lunch before continuing with the remaining galleries. The first restaurant we tried at the museum wasn’t even seating anyone without reservations. That’s how popular it is. So, we went to the Gallery Café instead. The place was packed, but we were seated after a 5-minute wait. A hearty soup seemed like the perfect choice on a rainy day … and it was. Mui enjoyed his green papaya salad, a specialty of the chef.

Then back to exploring the museum. Just when we’d think, “OK, we’ve visited all the galleries,” rounding a corner, or coming up to what looked like a wall from a distance, would lead us to another room. Amazing place.

We finally left the museum around 3:15p. It was still raining … steady, light, wet. After running some errands, we headed home to leftovers for dinner … from yesterday’s lunch at the East Chinese Restaurant. Then, the dreaded packing chore … ugh!

The Sydney bag has been repacked … the carry on bags await toiletries and other last minute items before they can be zipped up.

We’re ready for the next phase of our Australia adventure.

Tomorrow we embark Regatta.Read more