It’s a strange feeling to lose a day of your life…crossing the international dateline and January 18th never happened. Of course, you do get it back on the way back. Even more strange is to travel 20 hours to find yourself in a place that looks so familiar. No unintelligible languages, strange clothing or dark skinned people. It was like arriving in Seattle- good looking blondes with signs for products we know, people speaking English- with a charming accent.
We arrived in Sydney at 6:00 am on Wednesday feeling no worse for the wear. Our bags arrived; we got our luggage cart and headed to the shuttle area. Everything was working well. We got into a crowded shuttle and started our Sydney adventure. We were, of course, the last drop-off. Most of the other tourists were staying in the center of the city. We were staying in the Kings Cross area- known for it’s’ prostitutes and gays. Our hotel, Hotel 59, was a basic place, but the bed was large and the bathroom was clean. We felt remarkably good so we dumped our bags and got a bit of breakfast at the hotel café. It became one of our favorite breakfast places- with small tables out on the sidewalk and great breakfast sandwiches. We did have to learn about ordering coffee in Australia. You have to order color (black or white), a ‘tall’ or ‘short’ (big or small) and then an angle (flat or not). We learned quickly that the best of the options was something called a “tall flat white”, although we never did figure out what the ‘flat’ part was all about.
After a “flat white” and a sandwich, we were off to explore Sydney. We managed to find our way to the Quay and the Sydney Explorer bus (a hop on –off bus) for an introduction to the city.
We hopped off at The Rocks, the site of the first European settlement. It was historically a dangerous place- for convicts, prostitutes and street gangs. In the 1970’s, it was rediscovered and made into a historic tourist district- full of cobblestone lanes, colonial buildings and tourist shops. We found a quaint little pub with an outdoor café and stopped for our first Toohey’s, Sydney’s local beer.
With our handy guidebook, we set out to find a recommended Indian restaurant. On the way, we saw a sign for Korean food and we headed in for a wonderful dinner. We managed to get on a local bus to get us back to the hotel. The bus driving style was horrendous—heavy on the acceleration and slamming on the brakes. You definitely want to have a seat on these buses or you’ll find yourself sprawled in your neighbors lap. We made it back to the hotel at 7:00 pm and were asleep by 7:15.
We arrived in Sydney at 6:00 am on Wednesday feeling no worse for the wear. Our bags arrived; we got our luggage cart and headed to the shuttle area. Everything was working well. We got into a crowded shuttle and started our Sydney adventure. We were, of course, the last drop-off. Most of the other tourists were staying in the center of the city. We were staying in the Kings Cross area- known for it’s’ prostitutes and gays. Our hotel, Hotel 59, was a basic place, but the bed was large and the bathroom was clean. We felt remarkably good so we dumped our bags and got a bit of breakfast at the hotel café. It became one of our favorite breakfast places- with small tables out on the sidewalk and great breakfast sandwiches. We did have to learn about ordering coffee in Australia. You have to order color (black or white), a ‘tall’ or ‘short’ (big or small) and then an angle (flat or not). We learned quickly that the best of the options was something called a “tall flat white”, although we never did figure out what the ‘flat’ part was all about.
After a “flat white” and a sandwich, we were off to explore Sydney. We managed to find our way to the Quay and the Sydney Explorer bus (a hop on –off bus) for an introduction to the city.
We hopped off at The Rocks, the site of the first European settlement. It was historically a dangerous place- for convicts, prostitutes and street gangs. In the 1970’s, it was rediscovered and made into a historic tourist district- full of cobblestone lanes, colonial buildings and tourist shops. We found a quaint little pub with an outdoor café and stopped for our first Toohey’s, Sydney’s local beer.With our handy guidebook, we set out to find a recommended Indian restaurant. On the way, we saw a sign for Korean food and we headed in for a wonderful dinner. We managed to get on a local bus to get us back to the hotel. The bus driving style was horrendous—heavy on the acceleration and slamming on the brakes. You definitely want to have a seat on these buses or you’ll find yourself sprawled in your neighbors lap. We made it back to the hotel at 7:00 pm and were asleep by 7:15.
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