Arriving in Sydney

A 4 and a half hour flight from Cincinnati to L.A., a four hour layover, and a fifteen hour flight across the Pacific put me smack-dab in the middle of Sydney, Australia. The long flight actually wasn't as bad as expected other than the announcement half an hour before landing that it would be a "very rocky descent" and images of Lost flashing through my head. Other than that it was just the usual, lots of sleeping, a couple of movies and two not-so-great but also not-so-bad meals. First stop off the plane was the Duty Free to fulfill the order for a flip-top of Marlboro Reds and two bottles of gin (Australia, apparently, is very expensive and tobacco and alcohol are heavily taxed). Then on through customs and out to meet Nea and Aleja, the two other girls who had just arrived from Mexico City, out in the chilly 7 a.m. dawn.

We took a taxi to my cousin Lupe's apartment on George Street, had breakfast, showered, and took care of first-day administrative stuff. Grocery store (eating in all week to save money), paying for the rest of the Fraser Island trip, ATM, etc etc. We finally left to do some sightseeing around 5 but being winter in the southern hemisphere, it was already getting dark. Our first stop was the cathedral where they illuminate the front facade at night. They illuminate 6 other buildings around Sydney and most of them look pretty tacky, but the cathedral is really gorgeous. It's like a slide-show, with a bunch of different images fading in and out of each other on the projection. We sat for about an hour and a half and watched the whole cycle a bunch of times, sitting on the cold, stone ground of the plaza and taking it in.

From the cathedral we went to the 42nd floor of a circular building where there's a rotating restaurant/bar. We got our first look at the famous Sydney Opera House from up there, as well as an amazing view of the entire Sydney skyline all lit-up at night. I was surprised by how modern the city is, lots of steel and glass skyscrapers jutting up into the sky contrast with the beautiful geography of the winding coastline. After one gin and tonic I was pretty much falling asleep in my chair (it's a 10 hour time difference with Cincinnati) and we called it a night.

We got a much slower start than expected on Friday, not leaving the apartment until around 1 in the afternoon. We spent the entire afternoon walking, covering most of central Sydney. All the way down George St. to a neighborhood called The Rocks, full of winding streets and cool, old buildings. We walked half-way across the Sydney Harbor Bridge from where we got great views of the harbor and the city. From there we went down to the Opera House. It was smaller than I expected it to be but amazing nonetheless. The bathrooms were the coolest bathrooms I've ever been in, with curvy wooden doors on the stalls and lighting impressive enough for a modern art gallery. Next came the Botanical Gardens where we unpacked our picnic lunch and were soon close to being attacked by the seagulls and birds. We kept shooing them away and pretending to throw things at them, but they were fearless and after Lupe warned us that they've been known to attack people, we grabbed our stuff and ran for a bird-free zone to enjoy the rest of our lunch. We didn't wander around the gardens too long because dusk was upon us and the giant bats hangin like pods from the trees were starting to wake. We made a quick escape and walked over the Art Gallery of New South Whales. There was some really cool Aboriginal art work that we weren't allowed to photograph for "tribal reasons" and some other cool stuff, but the museum was closing so we didn't stay too long. From there, we walked down to a neighborhood called Woolloomooloo where there was a pretty little marina, great views of the skyline, and loads of those giant bats swooping and soaring overhead. We decided to rest our haunches and treat ourselves to a beer before walking back to the apartment.

We didn't get to rest long because being the first game of the world cup pitting Mexico against South Africa, we had to join the festivities. I know, I know, I don't like sports, but we didn't really actually watch the game. We went to an apartment where there was a mixture of Mexicans, Irish and Australians to pre-game, have a bit to eat, and watch the opening ceremony before heading down to a park where there were huge screens set up to watch the game. Lots of boxed wine means the night is sort of a blur, but we had great fun.

Our hangovers meant that we got another slow start on Saturday. We took a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach, getting some great views of Sydney Harbor on the way. Manly Beach is like a little seaside town a half-hour ferry ride from Circular Quay in central Sydney. It was pretty chilly and we were hungry, so we found a little restaurant where we shared some calamari and pasta and then took a quick walk down to the beach. The chilly breeze meant we didn't wait too long before getting back on the ferry and coming back to the apartment for a nap. The nap turned into sleeping through the night for me, surprise surprise, which is why I've now been up since 5 this morning. The other girls went out and though Lupe is sound asleep in the next room, the other two girls have yet to make an appearance. So it looks like it's going to be another slow start...more time for me to enjoy my morning coffee and a good book while watching Sydney awake from the window.

I don't think I'll get a chance to put any photos up until I get back to the States, so you'll have to wait for those. Probably won't get a chance to post much after we leave Sydney either, but I'll try my best! Good morning, good afternoon, good night, hello, how are you?