It’s been the best week this week. aside from this outstanding sunset, we’ve been busy celebrating birthdays (mine included), attending an outstanding conference in Bondi, and exploring some of Sydney’s hidden spots and fun food festivals.

And for my sins, I’ve just joined Snapchat. I’m at @jim.butcher if you’re into this kind of thing. I’m still trying to work it out, so no judgements (or trolling) please!

Hope you delight in this week’s edition of our Instagram Diary.

The sky today is absolutely stunning. I can’t believe this is May. typically this time of year in Sydney is cloudy, windy, cold and rainy. Not this week though. Today it’s quite hot, and the sky’s full of these outstanding high-altitude clouds.

Every year, our agent The Remarkables group runs a conference to bring all the other bloggers they represent together. It’s so good to see everyone. Everyone’s so spread out across the country, it’s pretty much the only time we get to catch up.

We’re all staying in the most recent QT hotel in Bondi, but tonight we’re out for dinner at the Watsons Bay boutique Hotel. The sunset’s outstanding – hopefully dinner will be too!

Mrs romance makes for pretty good foreground for my sunset shot. thanks for the scale (and making the sunset even lovelier), Mrs R!

Dinner is practically served! Such pretty setting for our meal. Can’t wait to see what the Watsons Bay boutique hotel is cooking up for us.

[Ed. the food was absolutely excellent!]

And today’s my birthday! Everyone’s been beautiful and wished me lots of pleased returns. I’ve tried my best to avoid the pleased birthday song, which I dislike somewhat (putting it mildly!), but I’ve not had much luck.

I’ve put Carly from Smaggle.com in charge of protecting me from that dreaded tune. She’s done a great job for the most part, but I don’t think there’s really any way of avoiding it completely.

Breakfast this morning is at Bill’s in Bondi. The food’s always good whatsoever of Bill’s restaurants and today’s no exception. yesterday I had the corn fritters at Trio cafe – also at Bondi beach – so I thought I’d have them again here at Bill’s to do a bit of a compare and contrast.

It’s hard to say which are better. Trio’s were absolutely huge – like the size of a side plate enormous… and there were two of them. They tasted outstanding though the salsa they put with many of their dishes at Trio and also sell it in jars at the tables seemed a bit out of place.

The fritters at Bill’s are a lot smaller but with lots much more corn in and they’re crispier. There’s less bacon though, and I really don’t like the grilled tomato. difficult call which one’s better though. Hmm. maybe I’ll have to go back again. Do over!

The conference is being held in Icebergs at the southern end of Bondi Beach. It’s pretty much the best office view I’ve ever had – just hope it’s not too distracting for us all!

There are some really interesting people talking to us throughout the conference, but the keynote is with Deborah Hutton. She’s an outstanding lady and her frank, down-to-earth manner has won all our hearts. She’s tough, energetic and clearly takes absolutely zero shit. love it!

It’s been a great conference this year, but it’s also The Remarkables Group’s birthday this week, so we’ll be celebrating that during the conference too. They’ve been going for 4 years now, which is really exciting.

 

We’ve eaten SO much food over these past few days. but it’s all concerning a head now. Our last lunch together before everyone goes their seperate ways is at Bistrot Gavroche in Chippendale.

This amazing industrial space has been redeveloped into a beautiful French style loft restaurant and fits perfectly with the aesthetic of Chippendale’s facelift.

Here’s cheers to an outstanding conference. We’re all drinking a brut champagne from a monstrous double magnum (or was it a Jeroboam?) sized bottle. There was enough in there for everyone to have at least one glass anyway!

These oysters! What a way to start a really delicious lunch. If you’re searching for somewhere for a romantic meal, a catch-up with friends or even a swanky company meeting, think about Bristot Gavroche. It’s a bit of a winner!

Tonight is my best mate Anton’s 40th birthday! We’re both feeling a bit pickled and exhausted but we wouldn’t miss this for the world. Also, Anton’s organised a party at the Dove and Olive, which I’ve partially hijacked! thanks for organising my birthday party, mate!

Funnily enough it’s also my dad’s birthday today too. odd coincidence.

Today, the sky’s immaculately blue and the sun’s come out to play. It’s so unlike mid-May weather it’s completely confusing everyone. We’ve popped in to see what’s going on at Pyrmont today.

It turns out Mudgee Food and red wine festival is on. There’s so much food and red wine going on here… just wished we hadn’t gone so far over the last few days. Still, the festival’s outstanding and I’m sure we’llforce down a few bits and pieces!

We love Mudgee and we’ve written quite a bit about it. here are some of our faves.

This morning, Mrs romance and I have chose to head out and about. There are so numerous places along the Sydney Harbour foreshore to explore, this is where we start.

We’re thinking of checking out the Mudgee Food and red wine festival again in Pyrmont, then heading over to the Sydney Fish Markets. ought to get our steps up for the day!

Sure enough, we’ve walked for hours! We’re just crossing the Anzac Bridge now. It’s the first time either of us have walked across it. It’s a bit noisy but being able to see the bridge like this is so unique. A great end to a fantastic week!

This week’s travel recap

Each week we go back in time over some of our preferred travel destinations using never-before-seen photos of our travels. Here’s where we’ve been looking back on this week.

We love Venice… I mean, if you don’t, there’s something wrong. If you’re sick of the crowds though, head to the other side of the Grand Canal across from St marks Square. This is Giudecca – south of the main island.

There are some outstanding hotels here – including a very fancy Hilton – but the waterside cafes have some of the most affordable Aperol Spritz we’ve found anywhere. and we’ve done comprehensive research!

These beautiful townhouses in Paris always look so stunning. in some cases we’re so busy looking up, it makes getting lost in the city of romance very easy. but that’s what you’re expected to do when you’re here!

The Flatiron building is probably my many preferred building in new York City. I don’t know why, but I just love it. It was one of the first things I wanted to go and see when I first concerned NYC. The list’s pretty long though!

Here’s our supreme First-Timer’s guide to nyc if you’re heading there soon.

The rolling hills of Tuscany just blow my mind. and these dead straight rows of vines make me even happier!

Driving around Tuscany is the best way to explore the region, but if you want some much more pointers, you ought to read our post on how to spend a week in Tuscany. There are some great suggestions here!

We’ve always loved this shot. I think it really sums up what we’re about, who we are and why we’re still so in love. We hope you’ve delighted in this week’s Instagram Diary and travel recap. It’s been a lot of fun making and writing this one!

What have you been up to? how was this week for you? tell us in the comments!

Images by Mr and Mrs romance through Instagram: @MrAndMrsRomance, @HairRomance, @Christina.Butcher – Mrs R’s Insta account and @AngryBastard of course!