The Old Girl had to work in Auckland this last week so we took advantage of the fact that her work was paying for the cost of a hotel and parking and I went with her. We stayed at the Travelodge in the Wynyard Quarter down by the water. It was pretty good and our room had great views of the city.
On Tuesday night we went to the opening night of The Marriage of Figaro at the Aotea Centre. As usual NZ Opera did a marvellous job with great sets, good orchestra and outstanding performances. Mozart operas aren't my favourite as they tend to be very long and, while being musically proficient lack the 'oomph' of the Italian ones from Verdi, Rossini and Al.* Before the opera we dined at the Federal Delicatessen which never disappoints.
On the way to the deli we walked past the Grand Hotel and saw a brand new white Ferrari Portofino parked in the forecourt. We agreed how much of a wank it is for someone to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car that's too powerful to drive around city streets. After our meal we walked past the hotel again and saw this:
The goose of a driver must have accelerated too much and ran into a small Toyota. What a laugh.
On Wednesday I had lunch with Tony and Mike. We went to the Wintergarden Cafe in the Auckland Domain where we had very nice tomato soup and a good catch up. Very nice. In the evening The Old Girl and I dined at a Wynyard Quarter restaurant. The food was excellent. Richard will be pleased to know that I had red wine with my fish dish. A Central Otago pinot noir went well with the John Dory on top of beetroot risotto. As I said to The Old Girl - "No One will notice if I spill my wine into my meal as the risotto is already red." Ha. ha. (We have our little laughs). Central Otago pinot noir actually has beetroot notes so it was appropriate. The wine wasn't chilled.
On Thursday night Tom and Janny invited us to their house for dinner where we had a great evening and a catch-up while eating delicious Moroccan -style food and drinking French wine. Lovely.
On Friday night we caught up with other friends at Mezze in Vulcan Lane. As I said in the previous post it seems to have changed hands as the wine list was rubbish and my favourite dishes were no longer on the menu. That was a bit naff I thought as I'm a regular there, going at least once a year!
We had been expecting rain and associated bad weather in Auckland but were treated to nice days and lovely clear evenings. I took a couple of pics after the opera.
That's all for now but I can write more if you want.
* et al - that was a little joke there.
1 comment:
Even better than number 1 in the series! Can't wait for number 3 - where we examine the three things that can go wrong with a bottle of white wine. Can't wait.
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