13D Australia Summer Trip: Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building, Sydney
Sydney's Town Hall is the largest and most ornate late 19th century civic building in Australia. One of the good things about staying in the area of Surry Hills is that you can simply make your way to this rich in history and architecturally spleding Town Hall on foot. The Town Hall is still performing its civic duties for the Australian and it is open during Council's business hours, Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm. You cannot just roam on your own without any particular business in the Town Hall as you will be escorted immediately by the Commissionaire at the George Street entrance to the relevant location of the Town Hall. If you are interested in viewing the venues or specific areas of the building, it is recommended that you join a scheduled tour of the building by contacting Fosth@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. One interesting thing that I noted back then from the Town Hall is the display of the rainbow flag. There was a parade celebrating the rights of LGBT and hence, probably the reason of the rainbow flag. If you are looking for a supermarket (where you can stock a year supply of Timtam and Kitkat), there's a big Woolworths located right opposite Town Hall. The entrance to Town Hall train station is located right in front of Town Hall and Woolworths.
If you continue walking toward the next block on George Street, you will see an astonishing building called the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) which has over 180 of Sydney's fashion boutiques, jewellery shops, homewares shops and several cafes and restaurants. The grand shopping mall has even gained praise by none other than Pierre Cardin (I wonder if he will go to such extent like creating a line inspired by QVB).
Just like Covent Garden in London, QVB was historically a market in the olden day. The market has been redesigned and refurbished throughout the years until it has attained its grand state of now. A statue of Queen Victoria is built and displayed right in front of the QVB. I suppose a lot of people has referred to the statue of the queen as their favourite rendezvous point here.
If you are already in awe of the outward look of the QVB, you will be even more amazed at the interior display of history inside the building. A 45-minutes guided tour is available for a fee (SGD 16.89) for people who are interested to learn more about the design and history of QVB which includes the glorious stained glass windows. The tours run on Tues, Thurs, and Sat at 11.30am but do note that QVB is closed on New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.
QVB houses many various type of stores from accessories like Pandora and Folli Follie, arts and antiques like The Art of Dr Seuss (which is rather interesting, you should pop by when you have the time) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ladies fashion like Karen Millen and Topshop, footwear like Onitsuka Tiger, Asics and Glue Store, restaurants and cafes like Adriano Zumbo and T2.
While you may feel like going to immediate shopping spree mode at QVB, you may want to make your way to the upper level of the southern half of the shopping centre and go closer to the center where the dome and the clock are located. The clock is named the "Royal Clock" and it was designed by Neil Glasser and made in England. When the clock is activated, it displays scenes of English royalty.
The Royal Clock activates on the hour from 9AM to 9PM. I did not manage to see the performance but Wikipedia mentions that each performance begins with the music of the trumpet voluntary as miniature trumpeters emerge from the tops of each of the clock's four outer turrets. There are scenes displayed (one at a time) through windows on both sides of the clock that face the railed walkways. Each scene briefly illuminates to display the story of English royal history. One of the stories depicted by the Royal Clock shows the execution of King Charles I. I suppose the history of the royal is not always filled with sweet wine and roses.
Queen Victoria Building is located at:
455 George Street,
Sydney, Australia
Opening hours:
Monday - Wednesday, Friday - Saturday 9AM to 6PM
Thursday 9AM to 9PM
Sunday 11AM to 5PM
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