With the bottom falling out of advertising revenues, the local quality newspaper (i.e., one which is not published by Rupert Murdoch) has tried to pump up the jam on other revenue sources, notably events. One long standing event is Good Food Month in October. Another more recent one is the NSW Food and Wine Festival.

One event in that festival is the Sydney Cellar Door one which runs over Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend. A number of wineries from different regions of the state set up tents in Hyde Park. You go to the information booth and buy a commemorative glass (plastic, actually) and vouchers, each one entitling you to a 30ml sample of wine of your choice. Some other tents were occupied by food vendors. So far, so good.

But there were a few problems. First, you would expect that a media company would know how to promote an event like this. Yet nobody I knew was aware of it and I wouldn't have been had I not known someone at the company who sent me a press release on it last week. Second, it was in Hyde Park south, which is very much the less trafficked part of the park and worse, there were no signs in Hyde Park north pointing people to the festival. (Mind you, that may be down to the Council.) Third, there was a "lawn games" area set aside. Great concept, bad execution. There were no games marshals / ambassadors who regulated the games so it ended up being one giant chess set whose pieces were being pushed over by 3 year olds, and randomly placed croquet targets and a couple of mallets and balls.

As a result of problem 1 there were vast acres of empty chairs and tables and I can only imagine the sinking "oh dear, what have we done" feeling in the pits of the stomachs of some of the exhibitors. (Although the steamy high 20's weather didn't help, with tomorrow's forecast to be worse.) That having been said, from a VISITOR'S perspective that was great; there were no crowds and it was a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere, the diametric opposite of the Aroma festival that is held each year in the Rocks, which has featured in this PAD previously, and which is wall to wall people and few if any places to sit and savour.

I of course do not partake of alcohol but was with someone who does, which explains the presence of the glass. I DO of course partake of pizza, which explains the background. The pizza was from a stall run by Via Napoli, a pizzeria in Lane Cove. (Not at all convenient to me these days, alas.) The young woman who was serving me seemed to be recently arrived and had a very thick Italian accent, so I took the opportunity to conduct the whole transaction in Italian. Which, I found, I was able to do quite easily. This was a confidence booster for when I finally get to Rome; it's nice not to have to rely on finding English speakers, though there are doubtless many of them there.

Although the day ended well, it started on a rather sombre note with news of the death of Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) at the age of 83 coming through this morning's news feeds. Unfortunately a trip to the Genesis planet is out of the question this time. I wouldn't class myself as a Trekkie, but Spock and therefore Nimoy has been a thread in the tapestry of my life, and the lives of many others, for many decades now. With the body of work that he's left behind he will never, in a sense, be gone... yet with each such passing it's hard not to feel those threads being pulled, and the tapestry unravelling just that little bit.

Last Year
Coincidentally, last year's shot was in relation to another event run by the same newspaper.