The Hilarious-est Crypt I've Ever Visited

Photos:

• Top left: Coles. The grocery store I've been to nearly every day since I arrived.
• Top right: outside Hyde Park Barracks
• Bottom left: Spire of St. James Church with Sydney's AMP Tower in the background
• Bottom right: inside St. James Church

After my daily visit to the grocery store, I spent yesterday morning running around trying to find a computer with Firefox that didn't cost $5 an hour. Success came at last when I found an internet cafe right across the street from Hyde Park that has absolutely everything (right down to Skype and AIM, etc.) and costs less than the place I'd been going to in Randwick. The only downfall: it takes at least 30 min. to get here. I think it's worth it, though, because it gives me a reason to get downtown earlier in the day.

Finally got my newest posts published (see entries for Monday and Tuesday) and then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Hyde Park/Macquarie Street area. I started off at St. James Church, which is directly across the street from the Hyde Park Barracks. Nice looking church, although I'm not sure I'll find anything else here that's even remotely close to St. Mary's. Felt a little awkward in the church as I was the only one there besides the organist, and my shoes kept making this squeaky noise that echoed. Inside the church, the blue and red light that you see on the right (which I think looks kind of like a Pepsi vending machine in the photo) is actually a chapel that has 3 walls made entirely of stained glass. They hold services in there at least once a day.

Before leaving, I made my way downstairs to the "Crypt Shop," which is what they've named their gift shop because it is, literally, in the crypt. For the record, the name is far more entertaining than anything you can find inside. I also found it slightly humorous that they've converted two of the other crypts underneath the church into bathrooms. So where you look expecting to find some sort of burial place, you actually see a sign for "Female toilets." But something tells me that nobody else thought it was quite as funny as I did...

Farther down the street was the State Library of New South Wales, where they currently have exhibits of early nineteenth-century panoramic sketches of Sydney, Aboriginal Sydney 1770-1850, and a collection of centuries-old illustrated manuscripts, etc. I think you can take a look at the things on display by clicking on the link above to the library's website. After the library, I walked back to Circular Quay and caught the bus home.

And now...

As I have a habit of making random lists, I will conclude today's posting with one of the several that I have compiled over the last few days. Today's list is entitled "Things I Never Expected to See All Over Sydney But Are Nevertheless Here in Abundance," and it goes as follows:

• Wig shops, including stores like "Wigs on Wheels," "AAA Wig King," "Ahead in Wigs" (get it?), "Freedom Wigs Australia"...well, you get the idea.
• Mexican sailors (yes, you read that right). The Mexican Navy Sailing Ship "Cuauhtemoc" has made it's way to Sydney, but I missed my chance to get a tour of their ship.
• Turkish food. Sorry folks, no good explanation for that one, yet.
• Asian people. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense: I keep forgetting that I'm a lot closer to Asia now than I've ever been before. Let's just say that even if Mandarin Chinese was the only language you spoke, you probably wouldn't have any problems getting around Sydney.