On Tuesday, when we got to Sydney the first thing all us girls wanted to do was ditch our luggage and go explore. I walked out of the hotel room wearing my OSU shirt and the first thing I hear is “O..H...” So instinctively I yelled “I...O” back and looked around to see where this buckeye love was coming from. Some guy (a very good looking guy in a suit…haha) ran up to me. Turns out he is from Beavercreek and knows where Coldwater is…STRANGE! It’s truly a small world when the first person I meet in Sydney, Australia is from Beavercreek, Ohio. The girls and I began walking down the streets with one thing in mind: The Sydney Opera House. The moment I came in view of the opera house, I was in awe. All my life I have associated that view of the beautifully structured opera house with the harbor bridge in the background with Australia. When I think Australia: I think Sydney. It was incredible…I couldn’t believe I was actually standing there looking at it myself! After being an extreme tourist and taking about a hundred pictures, we walked down the street to the botanical gardens. Unlike in Melbourne, the gardens in Sydney had amazing flowers…and soooo many colors! The garden was so huge, we didn’t really get a chance to walk through all of it because of our grumbling hungry bellies. On the walk back to the hotel, I ducked into St. Mary’s Cathedral and yet again, my breath was taking away. It was so beautiful inside that it brought tears to my eyes. Across the street from the cathedral is Hyde Park, a beautiful park located in the heart of city... and we were staying about a block away from it all. Our hotel was on College Street, a block away from Oxford street, which a few nights before our arrival, was occupied by Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras in Sydney started as a Gay and Lesbian protest and now has become a big deal for the city (about a million people come out for it each year!) I’m disappointed we weren’t there to witness it all…I’m sure it was quite interesting! Oxford Street was still decorated with gay pride rainbow flags on every light post…and it was evident that it was the “gay district.” Our first night there we went out for a quick drink because at midnight it was Steph’s 21st birthday! We called it an early night so we could be rested for tomorrow's adventures.
Wednesday we all got up early to catch a train to the Olympic Park where the 2000 summer Olympic games were held. We paid for a tour where we could explore the huge stadium which held the opening ceremony and track and soccer (among many other sports.) The stadium is now used for rugby, soccer, net ball, and footy. The stadium is incredible…the engineering behind it is simply brilliant. The seats and other structures all move, conforming to the needs of whatever sport is being played. The field itself was designed to collect all rain water to have it filter through and reused. We got to check out the VIP booths where people paid 30,000 dollars to have these seats for like 32 years or something. When they opened the booths up for sale. ..they were all sold out in 5 minutes! We also got to go into the Aquatic Centre. Around the corner in a secluded area there was a shrine for Ian Thorpe, and I fell in love! I didn’t know why no one was around this area which also had the podiums that the medalist stood on to represent their country and get their awards. Since no one was around, us girls got a chance to take several silly pictures of us on the podiums. After the Olympic tour, we went out to eat for Steph’s birthday (which ironically, she found a huge cricket in her meal…gross!Happy Birthday to her, huh!) We met up with another group of BSU kids who were also in Sydney as we headed out to the bars to celebrate. (…and we did…too much haha)
Oh yea, I made the live band a the pub play Aerosmith…so they busted out Walk This Way..and the lead singer didn’t know all the words (but don’t worry…I did….)
Thursday, we were all moving a bit slow. We just kind of walked around the city and did some shopping. Later in the afternoon, Stacey and I had an appointment to climb the Harbour Bridge! It took about three hours total on our guided bridge climb. I have never really been afraid of heights but I was extremely nervous climbing up this tiny ladder, between busy traffic, attached to barely nothing! The view of the city at the top the bridge was…you guessed it…BREAK TAKING. Unfortunately we were not allowed to bring our cameras up the climb (which probably was a good thing, it would have taken me about 4 more hours to climb with all the picture stops!) Stacey and I did however, pay for the photos that the tour guide took of us. You’ll have to wait to see them - and the amazing outfits we had to climb it- we looked GREAT (hahah!) After the climb, Stacey and I walked around The Rocks, a classy district around the harbor. After a night stroll through Hyde Park (where MASSIVE bats are in the trees above!) we called it an early night.
Friday was our day of “super tourism.” We bought all day passes to ride a double-decker bus around the city. We were allowed to get on and off wherever a bus stop was so we could further explore all the stops. We made a stop at the aquarium which was soooo huge and awesome! That night, we got all dressed up for the opera. We ate a fancy meal right outside the opera house. It crazy to sit down and have a meal with the opera house in view! The opera was incredible! We saw Madame Butterfly, a tragic love story of a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American. We had seats all the way in the back, blocking the subtitles (it was all in Italian) so I really did not fully understand what was going on but the music and performers were amazing! It was a perfect end to my visit in Sydney!
Sydney really as it all: classy business districts, cheapy china town, warfs, parks, cafés, shops, monuments, museums, gardens…..and the list continues...I LOVE Sydney! It is truly is a city of it’s own being completely incomparable to any other city I’ve been to. I felt very comfortable and at home (which is strange for me to be comfortable in a big city!) it was so easy to get around. I felt like everything was in walking distance (or a cheap taxi ride away!) Walking down the streets, things looked recognizable and familiar. It was so weird that I could find myself around considering I still get lost in Muncie! There is so much to see and do in Sydney! I will get back to Sydney again…I don’t know when but I’ll be back.
Oh yea, I found the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Hay Street…coincidence? I think not…I think I belong in Sydney :)
(don’t worry mom, I’m coming home though!)
love
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