A Gargoyle Escaped

...from the University of Chicago, and ended up in...

Balmain!

See, there it is on the upper right-hand corner of the roof. Balmain is a part of Sydney where boat builders used to live and work. Now it is quite swanky.  None of the other buildings have gargoyles. 

A local told us that this cottage and others similar were built about 1850.

There are more of these types of row houses, built in the late 1800's.

Now, doesn't this bird look like it's wearing a mask? A bit like a bandit. And it acted like one too! When Rick got up from his chair at a  café   two common mynas flew over and eyed the crumbs of his muffin even though I was sitting right there.

Common mynas make an astounding variety of sounds - so many, and so unusual (to us) that Rick and I may expand our horizons to try audio recording.

We then took the ferry and train back to our neighborhood. (That's the Sydney Bridge).

And I picked up Sylvia from school. Her drama teacher had handed out packets of "chippies."

 If they're bright orange and fit around your finger they've got to be good, right?

Australians tend to shorten words and often use dimunutives. Hence, breakfast is "brekkie" and chips are "chippies."