We enjoyed walking around Sydney and one of my favorite places was the Queen Victoria building that held floors and floors of shops and cafes. One of the rainy days, we walked over there and browsed the shops after we ate a delicious lunch. I really enjoyed all of the beautiful handiwork in the building and took pictures of the colorful flowers that were hanging down from the ceiling. I also loved the clock they had in one part of the building that was Tiffany blue and had fleur-de-lis. Outside the building were gorgeous beds of flowers to welcome in spring.
Another day, we walked down to another part of the city called "The Rocks" which is on the opposite side of Opera Quays. There is an old part filled with shops and corridors called Nurses Walk and Surgeons Court. We had seen the Sydney Hospital (with a boar statue out front) and the Nurses Walk was where the first hospital in Sydney was. Every weekend in the Rocks, they hold an open air market full of handmade trinkets and goodies, along with street food carts. Patrick and I enjoyed some Asian skewers and gyoza during one of our trips down there.
We met up with a couple who is living in Sydney now and had relocated from Atlanta and they introduced us to several awesome things in Sydney. One was this huge international food festival held each October in Hyde Park. They have tables set up everywhere and you can bring in blankets and dine after work. Most of the booths are some sort of Asian cuisine and it was all delicious and cheap! We actually ended up eating here twice (once I think on the first night we got to Sydney and the second time when we met up with one of Patrick's coworkers and her boyfriend who ended up meeting up with us in Sydney).
While in Sydney, we walked up the bridge for a tour. Ashley and Matthew (Patrick's coworker from Perth and her boyfriend) were actually doing the bridge tour as well, only at a different time, but we hailed a cab together and ended up getting on the same tour. It wasn't the clearest of days, but we did catch the sunset once we got up to the top of the bridge. I had to go first right behind the tour guide and besides not knowing how far "20 meters" was or whatever the guide would tell me to go, I enjoyed going first! It was amazing being able to see the entire city of Sydney. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and I just couldn't get over the views. I think that if you are ever in Sydney, you should definitely sign up for a tour because you just get to see so much of the city and it's awesome!! I also enjoyed being able to walk up the bridge during the day and come down at night (we did the dusk tour).
After we finished our climb, we walked back down to Opera Quays where we ate dinner at one of the cafes with Ashley and Matthew. We had impeccable timing because all of the restaurants at the Quays quickly filled up as soon as the show at the Opera house ended. It was a little cool at night, so we were glad we were able to sit under the heat lamps. It was also really cool to see the bridge that we had just climbed all the way to the top all lit up at night.
The other great place we went was in a different part of Sydney (I forget what it was called) past Hyde Park a ways (maybe a 10-15 minute walk). Our favorite place by far was called Messina, a fantastic gelato place. Oh man, was it good!! They have so many flavors and you pay by the scoop in cash and there is always a line out the door! Mmm, my mouth is watering now just thinking of it!! Each flavor is made fresh daily and they are very different and delicious! I, of course, went with two types of chocolate while Patrick branched out and chose different flavors each time. (We may have gone like 3 times while we were there?!) There was also a wonderful little bakery that is in the same area that we went to with Kathryn and Geoff. You choose whatever dessert you would like and they cut it with a spatula and weigh it out for the price. One of the guys said he would hire me if I go back to Australia! Ha! I'm sure this area is super expensive to live in, but it was such a great area with many different restaurants and hotels and one of the oldest, best public schools in Sydney. I think I only have one more post to go about our trip, but it's going to be a long one! See you soon!
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