Wednesday we had the last Wine Wednesday in the park (well, at least the last one I'll attend). On Thursday, four of us went out to a few bars. Part of the reason I wanted to go out on Thursday night was to see this club Ivy. Everyone has talked about it (and they either love it or hate it). It seems to have a more "dressed up" crowd (men in dress shirts, maybe some blazers. women in going out dresses). On the weekends it's $20 or more to get in, but on Thursdays it's free. So I figured I'd pop in quick, check it out, and head home. Of course, I had to check out the rooftop pool.
It's actually a pretty cool looking club (didn't stay long and left around 10 or 11pm). Almost has a Vegas feel to it.
On Friday we watched an NRL finals game at a pub then made our way to Absinthe Salon. It's a small, intimate bar that, well, serves absinthe. You have to make a reservation so I called and booked for 6 people at 9pm (they close at 10pm). However, the game went long so I called to cancel. However, the lady said that if we show up before 10 and order, we can stay later. Sounds good, so we left the pub around 9:30 and made it to the salon around 9:45. We had to ring a bell upon arrival. They remembered me and left us outside as they prepared our table.
Once inside, you can see they're going for a old, French salon vibe. No music was playing and it was not very loud. To be honest, it almost felt like we were doing something illegal. Of course, the presentation of the absinthe didn't help take that feeling away.
It's made from fennel, anise, wormwood, and other herbs. Kind of a bizarre thing, but as a fan of black licorice, I enjoyed it. Afterwards, we made our way to another bar and then ended up at a bar/club (that served free popcorn. Tasty).
On Saturday I took care of some wedding things and walked around the botanic gardens. Gorgeous day. Over 80 degrees and sunny.
Saturday night we threw our last North American party. I got to teach another drinking game, this one called "throw the ball at the can." Classic. We headed out to a bar, but didn't stay too long. However, apparently all of these nights finally caught up to me and I slept through my 7am alarm. I awoke to a co-worker calling me and asking where I was. It was 7:45. Our tour bus to Hunter Valley leaves in 15 minutes. Oops... I threw on some clothes and ran out the door. According to our friends at Google Maps, it's a 21 minute walk from my place to the bus pickup point. I hauled down the street (considered taking a taxi, but when he gave me push back, I continued on). I made it. 8:00. Whew.... And, hey, I wasn't the last one!
Anyway, bus antics aside, 11 of us signed up for a Hunter Valley tour to see the wine region near Sydney. We started off at Mount Pleasant.
I learned here that this region is best known for its Semillon wines (dry, white wine). This was probably my favorite wine of the day. Dry, a little bit of citrus and minerals. They also served the Australian obligatory Shiraz and other wines as well.
We then stopped for lunch. Had a tasty pear, gorgonzola, and prosciutto pizza. Then did a little cheese tasting and grabbed an ice cream. After that, it was off to a distillery. A vodka distillery. Now, I really wasn't too pumped for this one, but it turned out to be fun and educational. It was interesting to taste the vodka. You're given just a little out of a test tube. And we were tasting their flavored ones.
We then took a little tour and learned how they made vodka.
Using wheat, they basically make pure alcohol. However, they have to distill it to remove out the "bad" alcohols (the stuff that will make you blind, etc) and get it down to pure ethanol. You then dilute it with water to get it to 40% and, ta-da! You have vodka!
Next was Hope Winery and their cool tasting room. Some pretty good wines, although I was coming to the conclusion that Barossa is a better region. However, it was still fun and beautiful country.
We ended at a sparkling wine place. Those were fun to taste, including a red Shiraz Tempranillo blend. This was also the "chocolate tasting" portion of the tour, but that ended up being some free samples of chocolate in a chocolate gift shop... Yeah, the tour was fun, and a good value, but slightly disappointing. But if you're in Sydney and want to check out wine country, you definitely should.
I should head to bed now. Gotta start my last week at work in Sydney!
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