Welcome to Sydney!

Currently Listening to: “I Am the Lion King” by Papa

I safely landed in Sydney early Monday morning at 6am. I had been expecting to land feeling exhausted, but the final descent into Sydney was beyond exciting. Most airports aren’t situated near the city center. When you fly into San Francisco, you don’t see the Golden Gate Bridge and when you fly into Paris you don’t see the Eiffel Tower on your flight in either, so I was both shocked and elated to see the harbor and the opera house as we moved closer to the airport. It was completely unexpected.

The view of Sydney Harbor as I was flying into Sydney

The Sydney Opera House

I landed and hit the ground running with my friend, Rachel. In a single day ,we walked about 12 miles. We went from her adorable town house in Surrey Hills out to the coast and made our way to Bondi.  That evening I walked with Rachel to her campus and wandered around what looks like Hogwarts. (Yes, I said that. If you know me, you know I don’t like Harry Potter, but I have seen a movie or two). Rachel made me a delicious fusion dish of kangaroo fajitas, and I was able to stay awake until 11 PM. That is definitely a victory against jet lag.

Day two found me walking for about an hour to The Rocks, a historical district in Sydney that was established just after the formation of the colony. I did some exploring, has lunch, and then took a fantastic tour of the Sydney Opera House. Another hour walk home and some relaxing, and then another friend from home made her way into Sydney and we had a delicious Argentine dinner, with lots of wine.

Today the plan is to take the ferry and see Manly, maybe eat a meat pie and continue enjoying the beauty of this city. The past two days have me still in shock about me being here. It’s a “David After Dentist” moment over and over again, where I find myself asking “Is this real life?”