Summertime

Sex, wine and the baths may ruin our bodies, but they make life worth living.
- Ancient Roman gravestone.


As the planes continue to land overhead, the breeze picks up from the south and the coolness of the evening sets in. You can smell the eucalyptus, frangi panni and the slight smell of jet fuel drift in from the coast. The cafes fill up of an evening, and the sunglasses remain on, since the sun isn't setting until about 8.30 -- these longs days of warm air, sun and dining al fesco are part of what makes this place intoxicating during these glorious days of summer.

Sydney absolutetly basks in its glory this time of year. Sydney summer is about enthuisaism, taking a break, joining friends on trips and taking time to do the things you might have been putting off all year. Outdoor cinemas pop up around the city, showing everything from old classics like Casablanca to the newest relesase -- complete with a chic bar and delightful seafood to accompany your evening. One of the best parts about summer in the south, especially in Sydney, is the picnics on the weekends. All you have to do it take a walk around any of the major parks in town, and some of the smaller ones, and you will find people lazing about the day, reading the newpaper, enjoying good drink and nibbles -- Olympic Park is especially busy this time of year, given its great location, abundant green grass, miles of dedicated bike trails and the feeling of not being in a city. Once you enter the park, you get a sense of nature as it should be in the summer. Birds chirping around you, the breeze bending the gum trees, and the smells of grass and bar-b-que's floating across the lawn.

As I was contemplating the quote at the beginning of this post, I thought about these things -- and how it gives a good impression of Sydney in the summer sun. Sex wine and baths are part of it all, although, not necessarily in the Roman way. Lets discuss:

Sex: Sydney is a very sexy city. The lights at night intice you into its lovely lanes, calling to you to enter the city and explore its streets and crevices. Sydney eschews sex -- it practically drips from the tops of the skyscrapers down into the street. The warm nights give everyone a sense of promise that seems to flow with you as you walk through the streets from pub to pub, club to club. We embrace it -- and it in turn, embraces us.

Wine: Australia is a major player in the wine industry, and it flows here like water from the taps. The availability of reasonably priced, great quality Australian wine is abundant. I love it and I fully embrace this aspect of the Austrlian culture. Different from America, we are able to embrace wine in the middle of the day. Feeling tipsy or even drunk by early afternoon feels so nice -- like a secret that you don't want to share -- the afternoon buzz is one of those summer activities that seems to be justified by the heat, the sun and the social nature of the city itself.

Baths: A stretch here -- baths always remind me of the rock pools at many of the beaches. These are pools that have been carved into the stone right on the coast, where the waves break over the side and add to the natural feeling of your swim. The beach is the Australian temple -- and the sun is its god. To embrace the beach is to embrace life here -- the coastal activities are alive and well throughout the year, but the numbers of people steadily grow throught the summer, as more people are off work, and more students are out of school. To live at the beach only means you don't have to travel far for your summer tan. Most of all, the three things: sex, wine, baths -- all help to explain what Sydney is about in the summer. It helps to explain how we feel and embrace this time of year. It is so easy to fall into the bohemian flow of sex wine and beach -- and so difficult to escape it. But Sydney in itself is an escape -- from the mundane-ness of life, from the boring points of the winter, from the soul crushing office -- Sydney will take you in, embrace your body and carry you through the summer with love and affection.
Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere.