After spending my entire life on a plane filled with screaming children, freezing cold air, and indistinguishable food, I finally arrived in Sydney. Somehow I managed to loose an entire day on my way there, but I arrived tired, yet ready to face any adventure Tanya and the girls (Tanya's nieces) might have for me...except for of course being lost in the Sydney airport for an hour. That was I was unprepared for. Luckily, I found a payphone, and after a long struggle trying to figure out how to pay for it, I was able to inform Tanya that I was indeed at the airport and that she was apparently at the wrong gate. When we finally found each other, I saw that the girls had created the beautiful poster you see above which now resides on my wall at home :)
Tanya wasted no time in introducing me to Sydney, which was as I had hoped. We drove straight to the city, beginning in darling harbor which are the next few pictures, and making our way to Circular Quay where the Harbor Bridge and Opera House reside.
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| Yeah, I take a lot of pictures. Get over it. |
Here you will see a pirate ship that was the cause of much discussion over my stay in Australia as Tanya believes it to be something other than what it is, which is a pirate ship. We didn't spend a lot of time in Darling Harbor the first day, but we were able to see a lot more of it later on.
By the time we made it into the city, Natalie and Eliza were starving. I, however, had just eaten something a nice flight attendant had tried to convince me was french toast, so I wasn't very hungry. Nevertheless, we decided to stop in on this cute little chocolate shop called Max Brenner. We each got a chocolate dipping plate and proceeded to create the most delicious chocolate covered strawberries I have ever had. It was a nice place to stop and rest, but soon it was back to walking around the city.
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| No food is too pretty to eat, but these came pretty close. |
We made our way down the streets of Sydney when all the sudden Tanya grabbed my attention and told me to look ahead. Out in front of us, through the break in the buildings, was a quick peak at the Harbor Bridge. I was beside myself. I honestly remember feeling like I was in a dream, that I wasn't really in Australia, because for nearly 18 years I had only ever dreamed of this place, and now it was all too real to be true. I was also severely jet lagged, so my body was all sorts of confused which didn't help with the whole out of body thing that was going on.
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| Speechless. |
We walked down to the Harbor where I first beheld this amazing sight: the Sydney Opera House. Let me tell you kids, there are no words to describe the feeling you have when you are standing across the way from one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and one you have dreaming of seeing for as long as you can remember. I'm sure Tanya got sick of me saying "It's just so beautiful." I literally could not find the words to describe how utterly stunning it was to be there.
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| Waiting my whole life to see this. Right there. |
Just around the corner from where the Opera House picture was taken, were some very friendly guys playing the didgeridoo. I guess it's just not really Australia without a little didgeridoo action. However, it was really weird to be in such a cosmopolitan setting, and hear the didgeridoo in the background. I ended up taking a picture with these guys on my last day, and I put some money in their basket for being so cool.
We spent another hour or so in the city, taking pictures in front of the bridge and the Opera House. The girls began to fade, and Tanya had to get home so we left, making a stop at Sam's (Tanya's sister's) place of work. (Her building is beautiful. Everything is high tech and super clean. Kind of like her house...). This is where I was first introduced to the fact that people in Australia do the kiss-hug thing where they kiss you on your cheek when you hug even if they've only just met you. I remember feeling kind of weird, and not knowing what to do, but smiling just the same when Sam did it. Now, of course, it's not weird, especially not with Sam, but it was definitely new.
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| View from Sam's Building |
We went back to Tanya's so I could freshen up a bit before going back to Sam's for the big "meet the family" dinner. Just as a preface, Sam and her husband Tony always, and I do mean always, make incredible food. I was never worried that I wasn't going to like something and would just have to politely eat it, because it was always fantastic. We had a lovely dinner with Tanya's sister Janne and her family, and her mom Judith. We talked about this and that as I got to know her family, and then I finally crashed at about 9 or so, and we went back to Tanya's house where we had our first of many meaningful car-ride discussions, and went straight to bed.
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| Aren't these girls just the greatest? |
It was truly a perfect first day, and the start of a perfect three week vacation in the land down under.
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