Hipsters, Coffee and The Grounds of Alexandria

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#illustration, artisanalcoffee, australia, Floral, flowers, hats, hipster, humor, sydney, thegrounds, thegroundsofalexandria, travelaustralia

A friend who lives in Sydney told us we must visit “The Grounds” for brunch. So we did.

Built on a repurposed industrial compound, The Grounds of Alexandria is a eatery, bakery, produce market, flower shop and farm — all rolled into one mega cafe.

They have a small farm section with hens and goats, which means adorable human babies petting adorable goat babies — hours of fun for me. You can then choose to sit out at the pergola in their magical garden with flowers,  fountains, and fairy lights. Or you could sit in the overcrowded main section and order a breakfast board (average) and artisanal coffee (absolutely divine). Across the cafe is Garlands, a flower shop selling just-cut flowers, some of which come in strange psychedelic colors. A few steps behind that is a produce stall, where you can buy fresh handmade pasta, cheese, meats and some very expensive Himalayan rock salt. Bare, minimal industrial space covered with lots of green and flowers – it’s all very beautiful.

We went on a week day and the place was full to the gills with very stylish people and a lot of hipsters. I am never clear on this cultural phenomenon being Indian and all, but guessing by the number of flowing kimonos, geometric jewelry and wide brimmed hats, I might be right.

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Blue Mountains

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#illustration, aboriginal, australia, bluemountains, folklore, legend, lovestory, sharpie, thethreesisters, travel, travelaustralia, travelwriting, watercolor

The Blue Mountains near Sydney are best viewed on a rainy misty day, in my opinion. Because that’s when they are magical and shrouded in mystery, with The Three Sisters playing peek-a-boo from behind the clouds.

The Three Sisters is the Blue Mountains’ most spectacular landmark. They are essentially an unusual rock formation, with three peaks representing three aboriginal sisters, who according to legend were turned to stone in an unfortunate battle for love.

Legend has it that three beautiful sisters of the Katoomba tribe had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe. But it was against tribal law for them to marry. So the brothers decided to fight for their love in a fierce battle and take the sisters away.

To prevent this from happening, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe turned the three sisters into stone so they couldn’t be taken away. Of course, he had intended to reverse the spell but the witchdoctor was killed in battle and noone else could undo his spell. With his death, the sisters’ fate was sealed and to this day they remain rocks, as reminder of the fact that innocents are punished when battles are fought among the powerful.

Feeling Good

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#illustration, #music, art, australia, bodyimage, girls, gouache, interiors, printedtops, selfacceptance, travel, watercolor, writing

Back from my travel to Australia, which is a ridiculously beautiful country. Literally, the photos need no filters.

Friends and family pampered us no end with lunches and dinners and pretty presents all over the place. We were like Hollywood celebrities, leaving the airport at various cities in our big ass sunglasses and being scooped up by friends in their huge cars – no taxi queues.

The food in Australia was outstanding no matter where we were. So was the coffee. And the wine. And the beer.

We slept for 18 hours last night and this morning was all about swaying my hips to Nina Simone, while I made my coffee and looked through the hundreds of photos I took.

PS: There’s a new BUY MY WORKS button to the right side bar of the blog where you can, you guessed it, buy my works. Also, some changes to the Sketchbook Store page, so go check that out if you have time 🙂