CHIPPENDALE – a Sydney crime scene goes green

Cutting edge; Central Park has replaced the old Carlton & United brewery with eco-design shops and apartments.

An accident of logistics* sees me staying in an Air BnB apartment in the historic inner city Sydney suburb, Chippendale. (Sorry if you hit this blog post while googling ‘furniture’ or ‘hunky male strippers’.)

Finding a little time for blogging after an enforced break, I researched ‘Chippendale, NSW’, on the web. Apparently it’s famous for its murders.

THE 12 WORST THINGS TO DO IN AMSTERDAM

There are plenty of good things to do in Amsterdam, so why waste time and money on the dross?

A popular article just appeared on the web – The 12 Worst Things to Do in Paris. I’m pleased to report that I’ve only made French travel mistakes numbers 1, 3, 11 and 12 – having visited the Champs Elysees, the Mona Lisa, Gare du Nord and the Forum des Halles.

The article inspired Mevrouw T and me to consider the dozen worst things to do in the city we love, and to pass our warnings on to potential visitors.

FAKING THE CITY TO SURF – by running it in Amsterdam

They’re off! Photo: Sydney Morning Herald

It’s exactly ten years since last I finished Sydney’s City to Surf race from the city centre to famous Bondi Beach. Time to do it again.

One problem – I’ll be in Amsterdam, not in Sydney, on the big day.

So I’ve had to devise a 14km virtual reality City to Surf route in a town which has no true city centre, no surf and nothing remotely like Heartbreak Hill, the steep stretch halfway along the course that causes so many hopefuls to ‘hit the wall’.