Back to Sydney and the month of love

It’s recovery time for us as we try to wind down after an Excellent Australia Day weekend.

Having spent the last few days enjoying the company and hospitality of my brother and of Nikki and Mr SY from Styling You, we’re expecting a quiet next few days.

The question is, will our expectations be met?

With a resounding ‘no’ to that last question, we spend the last couple of hours in Brisbane with my brother and sister-in-law by the water at the Moreton Bay Sailing Club bar. Yes, this is a pint of Guinness. And no, it’s not the only one we drink. But it does help us relax… not that we need it!

It’s been a great morning, considering the amount of partying that went on last night! And considering we were up quite early to help my brother pick up the family’s new dog from the rescue centre.

And also after that we had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with Rachel from RedcliffeStyle.com and Lisa from MrsBCsHouseofChaos.blogspot.com.au and their families for a spot of breakfast.

So it’s been a busy day so far!

Completely obsessed, I prattle on about this sign I saw at one of the river cat ferry stops on the way into Brisbane the other day. Why would something like this need to exist? Has there been a recent spate of Segways hurtling fore and aft, starboard to larboard? Do their gyroscopes mess with the ferries’ navigational equipment? Is this the latest thing for pirates?

Apart from looking ridiculous, what harm are these unorthodox forms of ‘transport’ really doing? I’m fascinated.

Anyway, before long, we’re saying goodbye once again to the Sunshine Coast and all who live there. We’re flying Virgin, which – just so you know – serves complimentary beer and wine on domestic flights that depart after 4pm! Do we? Of course we do! And I have some cheese and biscuits. So there.

We arrive home to discover a bottle of white nail polish has opened in Mrs R’s handbag. It hasn’t made too much of a mess, but it scuppers plans of an early dinner while we clean up.

We decide something reasonably quick and reasonably healthy is called for, so I do my gluten-free spicy chicken nuggets and Mrs R knocks up a tasty corn, red pepper and pomegranate salad to go with it.

Mrs R is up again at the crack of dawn to go for her run. I love this view and never get tired of it. Especially with a sky so clear and blue.

Tonight we negotiate a meal of gluten-free rissoles and warm sweet potato, zucchini red pepper and pomegranate salad (me on the rissoles, Mrs R on the salad). It is most satisfying!

We love where we live. I think that’s important. Yes, it’s quite a small apartment, but the view and the light we get from the sun room, not to mention the 15-minutes-from-everywhere location, makes up for it.

We catch up with our mate PK from MrAristotle.com this morning. We love MrAristotle.com. It’s a site offering high-end experiences in Australia and all over the world. I reckon there are some good options here for a special Valentine’s for your fancyman or lovely lady. Serious brownie points to be earnt here!

We meet round the corner at the Paramount Coffee Project. It gives me an opportunity to try another one of their crazy tasty milkshakes. I have the Schnickers – a malt chocolate affair with bits of nut and chocolate chip in it – Paramount’s answer to a liquid Snickers. It’s good, but the peanut butter and jelly one is better.

Mrs Romance has this strawberry soda, which looks and tastes great!

Today’s post has made me very happy. It’s all about our DIY beer tasting we did when we were in England recently. It was a lot of fun, and best of all we had a good excuse to taste some very good British beers.

Here’s our post on our UK beer tasting.

This afternoon we head to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s front lawn. We’re here to hear a talk about BuzzFeed coming to Australia. It’s an exciting prospect. It’s a great news site and getting some local coverage on it will be great.

We head to Tio’s in Surry Hills for a few tequila cocktails tonight. Great music and atmosphere, and the cocktails are pretty good too!

We’ve carefully avoided breakfast this morning. The promise of lunch at Alpha Greek restaurant is first fulfilled by the dips served. The eggplant dip is tender and smoky but the taramasalata is a pot of genius!

Our table soon becomes very full. The plate nearest to us us the baked halloumi cheese is exquisite.

Then the Greek salad comes. Very good – and the slab of fetta cheese is so tasty!

There are several other dishes we enjoy – including a shoulder of lamb that is so tender it must have been roasting for about a month before serving. It’s awesome.

But eventually we come to dessert. The Turkish delight ice cream on little chunks of strawberry underneath and fresh raspberries on top and an almond filo cigar to finish… it was the end of all of us!

This morning, Mrs R heads back to the Paramount Coffee Project in Surry Hills for a catch-up with a friend. She has another strawberry soda but adds on a bit of avocado and toast for kicks. Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

After her catch-up, Mrs R comes back home to pick me up to head to Darling Harbour. They’re celebrating the Month of Love during February. They’ve got lots of romantic things to do here – mostly starting from 6pm.

Floating on the water are these heart shaped icebergs – and you can hire a row boat to spend time on the harbour with your loved one. What a lovely thought!

We’re looking forward to spending a bit more time here over the next month. How about you? What will you be doing this Valentine’s Day?

 Images by Mr and Mrs Romance via Instagram: @MrAndMrsRomance, @HairRomance and of course @AngryBastard!