Shopping
Shopaholics will not be disappointed with
Sydney, a cosmopolitan city that offers international as well as
local name brands, world class shopping centres, streets that
reveal a host of fascinating speciality shops, and discounted
market stalls that offer anything from clothes to arts and crafts
and edibles. Most of the large department stores are within the
city centre and within a few blocks of each other. For exclusive
shopping, the QVB, or Queen Victoria Building, is an architectural
masterpiece housing a large variety of designer label and
speciality shops, while in similar vein the nearby Strand Arcade
houses some of Australia's top designer labels, as well as
boutiques, jewellery and beauty salons. Downtown Duty Free in the
basement is a great place to pick up some bargains. Other centres
include the magnificent Grace Bros' with eight levels boasting vast
quantities of goods, Sydney's oldest department store David Jones,
the Harbourside development at Darling Harbour, MLC Centre,
Picadilly and Centrepoint. Explore the streets of The Rocks, which
hide a myriad of speciality shops, while Skygarden centre is home
to the biggest bookstore in town, Borders, which also stocks a wide
selection of magazines, CDs and DVDs. Sydney's biggest market is
Paddy's, open from Thursday to Sunday, which offers discounted
mainstream items, while the Glebe (Saturday) and Bondi (Sunday)
markets are traditional alternative markets with a good selection
of clothing, arts and crafts, and second-hand goods. The Rocks has
weekend stalls trading mainly in good quality crafts, collectibles,
and art. For something totally different the daily Sydney Fish
Market is a fishy spectacle as well as a great place to feast on
fresh seafood. A wider variety of food can be bought at Coles or
Woolworths supermarkets.
