Finally! I’m back in Australia for another visit, still ‘living without beethoven’ technically, although Marco and I facetime and talk on the phone at least once every day (no, we never talk that much when we live together). The time change of course, makes this awkward, but typically I will either facetime him late at night, as he’s arriving home from work in Sydney, or early in the morning, just as he’s heading to bed. He usually calls me at work when he wakes up and is having his breakfast.
This trip was fairly easy – the flight was pretty good, I slept off and on so I hit the ground running. I arrived in the morning and we did a quick grocery shop, then headed downtown. We wandered around the Rocks and the Saturday market, then grabbed a beer at a pub Marco sometimes frequents. After a walk and some sun-sitting in the botanical gardens, we found our way to an amazing little vegan/gluten free restaurant that Marco and Marieke discovered during her visit recently. Sitting outside in the dark, warmed by the gas heaters (yes, it can still get chilly in the evenings) and wrapped in red fleece blankets (okay, Marco refused, but I curled right up), we ate the most amazing food. http://www.bodhi.id.au/
And that was just day 1.
Day 2, Sunday – went for breakfast in the neighborhood. It was likely the best breakfast I have every eaten. French Toast (they even have gluten free bread that’s incredible), maple syrup and cinnamon, with ricotta cheese and black cherries…topped with maple bacon. After that we took the Ferry from Sydney Harbour to Manley Beach to do a little hiking – had to work that breakfast off somehow! It was a warm, lovely day.
Day 3, Monday – Marco headed off to the university, it was a rainy day, so I did a bit of work as well. Spent the rest of the day doing little errands and relaxing because we had tickets to see Midsummer Night’s Dream in the evening and I wanted to stay awake for it. We grabbed a quick glass of wine at the harbour where a seagull shat on my head – it got in my bangs, and it was very hard to rinse out. Apparently that’s good luck – at least it didn’t get in my wine. I managed to sleep through much of a fairly interesting interpretation of the play – it’s not that it wasn’t good, it just didn’t grip me in a way that could keep my jet-lagged mind active.
Yesterday I walked to Coogee Beach, did a bit of watercolour while sitting in the sand – thought I’d see what happens if you do watercolour using salt water. Apparently not much. I feel much more at home here in Sydney now, and am loving my visit. I don’t think I’d want to live here permanently, though – Marco and I are those weird people who love winter, and thrive on the changing of seasons. I’m sure for the rest of my life though, anytime I smell eucalyptus it will bring me wonderful memories – partly from smelling it in the Blue Mountains, but also because that’s the scent that Marco’s laundry detergent has and it fills up this tiny space very nicely.
I am very very excited about this coming Friday. Marco and I are heading to the Sydney Opera House to hear Marco’s all-time favorite Beethoven’s 6th. We will be seeing a world-class conductor as well as an amazing Japanese pianist who has been blind from birth, performing. This is like the melding of the Beethovens! I plan to have a nap so I can actually stay awake through it. I have a tendency to doze off at most performances (I am an insomniac, so I guess sleeping in moving cars and at expensive performances are when I catch up). Just a little info on this amazing event:
“Beethoven was already up to his third piano concerto when his first symphony was premiered. He was first a piano virtuoso, writing music for himself to play. And the Third Concerto fits the bill perfectly: brilliant, elegant and audience-pleasing. Our soloist is Nobuyuki Tsujii, blind from birth, who caused a sensation in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition and has acquired a devoted following in his native Japan”
The Pastoral presents Beethoven as a ‘poet in sound’ offering musical impressions of an afternoon in the countryside outside Vienna. Joyful impressions, a rippling brook, birds, peasants dancing, the fury of a storm and relief at its passing… It’s all there in this radiant music.
Program:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.3
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.6, Pastoral
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Nobuyuki Tsujii piano
Just a side note – I started this blog thinking it would be about the trials of living apart, and initially that’s what it was, although some people thought it was supposed to be a travel blog. Seriously, it IS called ‘livingwithoutbeethoven’ not ‘visitingbeethoven’. Almost a year into this adventure, however, I am finding that we have discovered a rhythm that works for us and I don’t feel that I have much to add to the ‘living without’ part of this adventure, and so, it is becoming more of a travel blog I think. There is still a smattering of ‘finding myself’ mixed in both the ‘living without’ and the ‘visiting with’ adventure.
Today, I’m having a bit of a relaxed day – three days of walking a lot has taxed my knee replacement, and so I have planned some time to do painting and cooking. Tonight we’re heading out to see the Tom Hanks movie Inferno. Tomorrow evening, we’re off to the Sydney Observatory for a night of star gazing – can’t wait for that and then, of course, Friday is our big Beethoven evening at the Opera House. Wow!
As many of you know, I discovered a love for watercolour on this journey to find something to fill a creative void I’ve been experiencing for sometime now. What a happy place I’ve found! My world has opened up, thanks to finding the #WorldWatercolorGroup and also through the encouragement of my friends and family. My life feels more balanced now, and while everyone talks about work/life balance, it isn’t about that for me. It’s really just about balancing my mind- feeling challenged and fulfilled in all the ways that make me feel whole. Work and life just happen to mesh nicely at the moment. As you can see, I’m moving away from birds to amphibians, mollusks, maybe reptiles…
Next time I’ll be writing more about Beethoven (especially the concert on Friday) and likely toads, in honor of my Dad, who called me Toad even before I was born. Now I’m off to sun myself.
cindy rublee - living without beethoven 