Fun Times in Sydney

We got back from Sydney yesterday. It was a lot of fun to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there. Definitely more of the 'big city' feel.

We got up at 4:30 for our 7 am flight and got into the city in Sydney around 9:30 on Thursday morning. The view from the plane was just awesome! After checking into our hotel we walked around the city a little bit and had lunch in the park. After lunch we headed over to Darling Harbour and walked around there for a bit. We then walked over to the Sydney Fish Market and got a lemon tart from this pastry place on the way. It was pretty fabulous. The Fish Market was pretty awesome too. All kinds of fish and all of it looked just amazing. After the fish market it started raining so we ran back toward the harbour to try and get out of it. The rest of the evening was pretty drizzly. Got a piece of pizza down the street from our hotel and then some chicken skewers with honey mustard aioli at a tapas place. After that we went to another restaurant that we had noticed and had a tomato tart with filo dough, cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, basil, and goat cheese. Great stuff. Good ending to a very long day.

Day 2 started off with breakfast and then walking over to Sydney Harbour, the bridge, and the opera house. Jordan had a cold and wasn't feeling too great, so we walked around there for a bit and then came back to the hotel to nap. Dinner ended up being kind of a bust that night. We couldn't really find anything that was what we wanted or that wasn't totally booked. Went back to the hotel again and ordered some Thai food. After waiting over an hour we called to find out that they didn't even have any orders open. By this time it was almost midnight and I was ready to crash so Jordan got some sandwiches from a place down the street. We watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics, which was pretty cool.

Day 3 made the whole trip totally worth it for me. After breakfast we went to the markets in the Chinatown area and then walked back toward Darling Harbour to visit the Sydney Aquarium. The aquarium was pretty cool and we got to see some seals and fish and what not. After the aquarium we went back to the fish market to have lunch. I got some tuna sashimi and fried calamari. Both the best I've ever had. Totally fresh. After lunch we walked over to the Harbour Bridge and found some more markets set up. They were pretty cool and had some neat stuff. Then we went up to the pylon on the bridge so we could see the harbour better. The view of the opera house was equivalent to what you would see on a post card. Just awesome stuff. Seeing that in person was the highlight of the trip for me. After the bridge we went down to the rocks for more views of the harbour and opera house. After all of this it was getting close to time to head over to our hotel. We decided to stay at one close to the airport so we could get up later so we got some stuff at the grocery store for dinner and breakfast and then headed to the hotel.

So, that was pretty much it for Sydney. I definitely enjoyed the trip and really loved seeing the opera house. We got some really good photos too. Those are already posted so take a look when you get a chance. Next big thing we have planned is New Zealand at the end of next month, but I'm thinking we might check out Ekka soon. It's a carnival/festival thing they do here every year. Apparently it's sort of a big deal and we have this Wednesday off of school for it.

On another note, I'm happy to say that my microwaveable cake turned out quite well and I'm very happy to have that recipe available to me.

Hope all is well with everyone and that you all enjoy the pictures!

Love,
Nicole

P.S. Go Team USA!!!