Stanmoreistan: Stanmore

This next suburb is another Inner West spot, meaning we get to look at interesting old architecture, read some anti-colonial posters, and eat brunch.

Stanmore

Being quite close to the city, Stanmore is but a 9 minute train ride from Central. I arrived in this entirely typical Sydney Train station and got started, 

jumping out at the southern exit. 

My exploration today was to be more on the northern side of Stanmore, but I figured I'd poke my head out here first. Out here, I found a small and slightly tired strip of shops,

the most ballin' GP ever,

and the local bin, championing many progressive causes. 

Also here is some footpath vandalism by a couple of 84 year olds, judging by their names, 

and the local primary school with a bit of a grand old building - albeit hard to picture properly behind the fence and trees. 

Southern Stanmore sufficiently sampled, I crossed the train line,

to emerge at the other side, a slightly more lively, but still fairly quiet, continuation of Stanmore's modest commercial centre. 

Mrs Completing Sydney wanted to come along today in order to eat Inner West brunch, so we stopped at the first place they had, a spot called Little Mule. 

This is a fairly lowkey cafe, with pastries in the window, coffees out front and a kitchen out back. 

Naturally, this meant all three options had to be fulfilled, some (not that great) pastries, 

a perfectly acceptable latte,

and some (also not that great) corn fritters. 

Today's brunch experience: sadly, only just okay. 

With that behind us, we were now at liberty to continue through more stans.  

This meant carrying on up quiet Stanmore CBD, where we learned that Sunday morning Stanmore is mostly closed, 

save for a local grocer or two,

but we did get a nice little city skyline glimpse, which is always nice. 

Another point of interest is this paediatric clinic whose logo is a centipede wearing many shoes. When paediatrics is so easily confused with podiatry, it seems like a bizarre logo choice, but I'm not a doctor. 

After a short distance more, Stanmore's commercial centre began to subside, 

and the residential bit began. 

As you might expect, houses here are that combination of historic and adorable that we come to expect from the Inner West,

with some ambiguous "is it a house or shop" spots, 

this place with a giant pot, 

and submerged mailbox, 

and plenty of pleasant little places. 

We continued into a local park,

where dogs are allowed, 

and found a delightful little spot with trees and paths, 

benches and arches, 

and this unusual fixture. 

Mention must also go to the pretty cute mural across the street.

From here, residential Stanmore continues. 

This means more quiet, tree-lined streets,

and more adorable old houses.

It's actually quite surprising to see such quiet suburbia so close to the city. 

I also got a kick out of this intersection with a corner store and huge palm tree. 

The next section of Stanmore features a good number of Bert and Ernie houses - my term for these old duplexes which are divided by their colour schemes. 

Other highlights in this next pocket of Stanmore are this suspicious glove, 

colour coordinated with this house,

and one final Bert and Ernie,

before I reached Parramatta Road, every Sydneysider's least favourite stretch of asphalt. 

Parramatta Road is always a bit of a time capsule. 

For instance, you've got this clearly vacant-for-a-while Asian takeaway,

and the former spot of the famous Olympia Milk Bar,

unconvincing awning and all. For those unaware of this place, Olympia Milk Bar is a recently-shut milk bar known for its unchanged-for-decades run down decor and sad back story. I've always found people's fascination with this place a little bit uncomfortable, and Googling "Olympia Milk Bar" brings up many pages of news articles, blog posts and online discussions about this place, all with varying levels of Jerry Springer-esque condescension. But here I am talking about it, so I suppose I'm no better. 

Parramatta Road also marks the northern border of the suburb. This meant that from here, we were at liberty to cross the road and grab a bus home. 

Stanmore: The kind of place you may want to live in if you're after that quiet suburban life, not too far from the city. Perfect for small families who also happen to be multi-millionares.