The procures and web page are all nice but the reality is this is a small time affair with maybe a couple of thousand people visiting and it is in Sydney where there are eight million people.
I mean, there were lots of people wandering around but there is no way they were going to this fiesta. They were there for Darling Harbour. The main part of the fiesta itself had maybe 2000 people sitting on the grass and watching people dance and play music and this was surrounded by food pavilions, I think there were eight, and a huge bar area where you could get drinks. We didn't actually go into the bar part, it was just a bunch of tables and chairs on the grass, but I waited in line for some food.
If what I had was typical of what was at the other places, then these people are really starved for some real Latin American food. I had some paella. Had to be one of the worst paella's I have ever had, bland, tasteless (or does that mean the same thing, but saying it twice puts more emphasis on how unimaginative this stuff was) rice and a couple of pieces of seafood, like one shrimp, two mussels and a lot of squid. Several people came up to me while I was eating mine and asked if it was worth the wait in line. I had to tell them no, it was not. I wished I had gone to the line next door which was charizo on a bun. That might sound strange to my American friends, or Tex-Mex friends, and family as charizo in our part of the world is a fatty, crumbly, floating in oil type concoction but Spanish charizo and apparently most of the charizo's in the world are actual sausages that you can cook and eat like any other sausage. It has taken me a long time to get used to it and I still want some old fashioned, Tex-Mex charizo and eggs. But, alas, it is not to be.
The other food pavilions had things like, well, I don't really know what they were like. Supposed to be different foods from different parts of Latin American, but, for example, at the Mexican pavilion, they were serving fajita. Again, biased opinion here, but what they were serving were soft tacos, and not very good ones at that. I smallish sized really think tortilla with some kind of loose meat in it covered with lettuce, tomato, sour cream and capsicum (bell pepper). No cheese that I could see nor was there any hot sauce or avocado anywhere to be seen. I didn't have one but it would seem kind of strange that they were calling this a fajita. I know I am picky when I say an actual fajita is the kind of meat you are using, skirt steak, and the way you cook it. I know, these days, any thing can be called a fajita, like chicken fajitas, shrimp fajitas, and any kind of meat or even ones with no meat, but to call this concoction a fajita just defiles all the memories I have of real food.
Now how did this turn into another food blog. I was talking about the Fiesta and what we did while we were there. Let's just say the food was uninspiring and the rest of the entertainment was even less so. Maybe it picks up after dark but we didn't see any evidence that it might happen anytime soon.
We did go to the IMax theater. We saw the flying dinosaurs. It was entertaining, if somewhat short but what really made it and what was also the worst thing about it was the 3D effects. Sometimes, they look really cool, to the point that you would get dizzy from all the flying around and flying past huge trees and things. But a lot of the time, it was out of focus. I kept thinking it was just me, but Juanita and the kids said the same thing after we left. It was enough to give you a headache while you were watching it. I know I have seem some movies in 3D but I don't recall any of them being out of focus for long periods of time.
William really loved the movie and Maeghan wanted to see something else right after it. We didn't stay for a second movie but the next few movies would have scared them I am sure. They had one on Tornado's and one on a zoo or something. After that, they were going to show Transformers 3 but it did not start until 7 that evening and we did not think we would be there that long. Turned out we were but they had forgotten about that by then.
We spent a couple of really long walks trying to find a decent priced meal around the Harbour. Every restaurant we came to seemed to be some kind of luxury resort dining. Really expensive and nothing we really wanted to eat. And, with about 40 restaurants around, there should have been some that were cheaper. We could have gone into the mall and sat in the food court, but I did not want to drive two hours one way just to eat in a mall food court. The kids weren't really hungry anyway, they just wanted to eat in one of the cool restaurants.
There is one that is an actual ship they have converted to a restaurants. It is docked on one side and I say docked but I am pretty sure it is never going to go out to sea again. But, it does sit on the water and I think it is floating, so maybe they could take it out someday.
Juanita and I have had coffee on this ship so we knew that the kids would be disappointed with it as once you are inside, you just sit a tiny tables and it seems just like any other restaurant. Not a whole lot to see or do and if you did not know it, you would never realise you were on a boat.
We ended up leaving at about 8:30 that night. Long drive home in which everyone fell asleep. I think the kids had fun, they got to play in the new play park but that was so overcrowded with kids, you had to wait in line to do almost anything. And, of course, there were lots of water type things to do but we did not allow Maeghan and William to get in the water. The only really fun thing they got to do was the big slide. Not a real big slide but a decent one, Maybe 7 eight meters but to get up to it, you had to use a rope ladder to climb what amounted to a rock climbing wall. William barely made it a few times but Maeghan would have never made it if I did not help her. The footholds were very slippery and in no way were they at any kind of regular intervals. Plus, as William proved, if you did not manage to get all the way to the told and had to get back down, you ended up taking a lot of kids with you in the avalanche.
They also got to ride the flying fox but that was a 20 minute wait to get on and it was not very long. Maeghan and I waited in line and when William saw us, right at the top where you get on, he came running up and cut in line ahead of all those people so he could have a turn. Several people gave me dirty looks but they knew I had been looking for him the whole time we were waiting in line so it shouldn't have been a surprise when he showed up. Besides, I was not going to wait in that line again so he could have a turn.
Since we spent the day in Darling harbour, we will not be going back this week. We did the theater and the playground was nothing to write home about, although I seem to have done just that. The new restaurants they have along the playground might be good, but from where they are, you cannot see the actual playground to watch the kids. They put this great big kiosk thing right in the middle and it blocks the view to the play area from the restaurants. So that is a no go. I guess we will have to find something else to do this week.
Guess I will be going now. Don't know if I managed to make this entry shorter but it seems like maybe it is a little smaller. Then again, by the time I finish writing bye, it will be just as long. I am making myself of shrimp and sausage gumbo which I had planned on making yesterday but we went into town instead, so I am making it today. I tried to follow a recipe but did not manage to do very well with it. And, since I have been working all day and have not had anything to eat, I am about to go get some as I think it should be ready by now.
So, until next time
Talk to you later
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