Scratch that. Sydney bound!

We spent Friday afternoon through Monday night in Sydney, and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. This is how the whole long weekend panned out:

Friday, Day 1:

We got to Sydney and took a taxi to Emily Mitchell's apartment at Coogee beach. She lives on the top of a small hill that overlooks the beach and is a 5 minute walk to her work at a coffee shop. Her roommie is great. They met while studying abroad together in London. After working for four months in Australia together, they're going to travel the whole country in addition to doing Thailand and some other great places. (Can you say jealous?)

Anyway, we went out that night to a restaurant at The Rocks. It's close to the Opera House. Naturally, we had to use the restroom, and what better first place to have a bathroom break in Sydney than the Opera house? It's beautiful in there! Every restaurant on The Rocks was crowded with the after work crowd drinking out of martini glasses for the late happy hours. Unfortunately, we can't afford anything that comes in a martini glass, so we picked up $10 of boxed wine, took it to the BYO restaurant where we ate, and had an awesome time! 

Later that night we met up with Emily's Aussie boyfriend in trendy suburb, Paddington, and hung out with him and his friends. We learned the rules of cricket and bonded over yet some more wine. 

Saturday, Day 2 

Before we left Em to head to our hotel, we hung out on Coogee beach and roamed the park for a bit because there was a fair that day. We got to our hotel around 4 p.m., then grabbed some dinner, then headed to the Sydney Harbour Bridge... for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!

This was a definite highlight of the trip. When you get to the bridge climb area, they give you a bridge climb protective jump suit and climbing gear. They harness you into the bridge with the group (10 of us) and there starts the 3.5 hour climb. 

Throughout the climb, our guide explains the history of the bridge. Similar to the Golden Gate bridge in size; 16 people died while making it; most people who worked on it were young boys; the bridge creates a "black rainbow shadow" that we saw in the sky; the opera house forms a sphere when all the pieces are put together; there were only 5 cars on the other side of the bridge in 1932 when it was built. While we were up there, 148 meters above the little ant-sized cars, it felt like we were on top of the world. Although we were up pretty high, it felt so safe, that there was just enough adrenaline pumping to make it fun and not scary. The guy from Las Vegas a few people in front of me might of felt different because he was doing to get over his fear of heights. More about him and his other Las Vegas friend: Jamie and I chatted a bit with them on the trek up about our trip and theirs. I also asked them if they happen to watch the weather in Las Vegas... They said they do and they also know my awesome, semi-famous cousin who is a meteorologist out there. Shout out to Gina, Vivek and beautiful Camilla for being awesome!

Sunday, Day 3 

After the bridge last night, we rewarded ourselves with Gelati. It was this day that we burned those calories plus some. We woke up and prepared for the day by arming ourselves with a camera in one hand and map in the other. From about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. we spent the day exploring Sydney's Darling Harbour, The Botanical Gardens, The Rocks Markets (found great x-mas gifts here!), The Ferry Ride to Balmain suburb, some shopping outlets and more. The day was exhausting. My 4 blisters prove the excessive walking and exploring! Later that night we relaxed out on the rooftop terrace of our hotel with a few James Squire Golden Ales. 

Monday, Day 4

We had to catch our shuttle to the airport at 5ish, so this gave us enough time to walk to another area of Sydney - Glebe. Glebe is lined with bookstores and cafes in additions to some authentic type candy stores. 

Sydney in a nutshell

Sydney actually reminds me a lot of NYC but without the snow. It was hot hot hot, and there were people everywhere. Nightlife was hopping; Sundays were hopping; everything was, well.. busy! Like a city that never sleeps... loved it!