Como

“Como”, said the station sign. And they ran on bridges over two arms of water from the sea, and they saw what looked like a long lake with wooded shores and bungalows: a bit like Lake Como, but oh, so unlike. That curious sombreness of Australia, the sense of oldness, with the forms all worn down low and blunt, squat. The squat–seeming earth. "

- DH Lawrence, Kangaroo, 1923.

Yesterday I saw a wonderful new play, called Toy Symphony, by Australian playwright, Michael Gow. Gow grew up in southern Sydney at Como, which was indeed named after Lake Como in northern Italy. As the play was based in parts on Gow's life, we travelled to Como in several scenes of the play.

So, today, we did something I've been meaning to do for a long time - we hopped on the train and travelled the 25 minutes from our place to Como and had breakfast at the Como Marina Cafe. Then we wandered around, and walked across the old railway bridge. It's now a footbridge and cycleway, joining Oatley and Como, across the Georges River.
The railway bridge was completed in 1885

Below: Photo of railway bridge taken by Robert Hunt, 1885. Macleay Museum, Sydney.

Above: Cafe, marina and pool, taken from the bridge

After all that strenuous exercise, I cooled off with a dip in the free pool.

More pool pics here.