In contrast to yesterday, Syd and I packed today full with just
about as much as we could possibly do. We
left the house one last time and began the day around 10:30 a.m. Unfortunately, Syd’s house sitting duties
were over so we had to move on to other accommodations. A rather long bus ride later we dropped our
luggage off at our hostel and began walking.
Most everything we saw was by foot, so it is not surprising that we
finished the day having walked 12 miles.
Exhausting, but worth it. The
weather certainly helped as it was 75 and sunny the whole time. What more could we ask for?
In short here is a list of things we saw: Royal Botanic
Gardens, Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair (a lookout point in the Sydney Harbor), Sydney
Opera House (again, it never gets old), Hyde Park, Paddy’s Market, all of
Darling Harbor including the Sydney Convention Center, Queen Victoria Building,
and St. Mary’s Cathedral. I don’t have a
bad thing to say about any of them. In
fact I could say a ton of great things about all of them, but there is no time
for that.
Some of my favorite
moments today probably came when we were exploring Darling Harbor. It is less touristy than Circular Quay/
Sydney Harbor. While there are still
plenty of tourists, this area seems to be used more by locals. There are endless restaurants, cafes, and shopping
areas. It was a great place to just hang
out and be social, this means excellent people-watching. The entire harbor is a refreshingly modern
spin on most of the things I have seen in Sydney thus far.
Paddy’s Market took me straight back to world tour days. I will always love a good market.
Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair was absolutely gorgeous, another one
of those moments I cannot put into words.
Syd and I got in some sketching time here too. Exciting stuff.
Hyde Park is basically a really big park.
Queen Victoria Building is a really old building with lots
of character. At some point it has been
converted into a high end shopping center.
I found it to be pretty interesting.
I am not sure if the average joe would find the same interest though.
Probably the best thing about today was that it was all
free. Since we had a relatively low cost
day we went out for a nice dinner at an authentic pizza place. We both thought pizza sounded tasty so we
googled good pizza in the city. The
internet led us to this place and it did not disappoint. Well at first it did; we arrived at about
5:15 licking our chops and ready to stuff ourselves. To our surprise the restaurant didn’t open
until 6:00. We had 45 minutes to
spare. Despite our dying hunger we made
the most of it and walked a few blocks to a low-key pub. Both of us relaxed on a sofa with our first
Australian beers watching Rugby together.
Not a bad way to spend the extra time.
Back to dinner, the pizza was authentic, so much so, we felt as if we
were back in Italy. It was definitely
worth the wait.
We made our way back to the hostel to get settled in for the
night. I am reminded of my least favorite
part about traveling; hostel life, and by that I mean sleeping in the same room
and sharing bathroom facilities with strangers.
It can be less than ideal at times but I try to remember it is only
temporary and it is also dirt cheap. I
really cannot complain about $20 a night.
The lack of privacy and convenience makes me appreciate home so much
more. It also reminds me how blessed I
am to live such a comfortable life compared to most.
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