A Whole Day In Sydney

After we get a very early check-in, we go to our rooms, unload our bags, freshen up and get ready to see Sydney. I looked outside my window and realized that just to the left is the American Express building. Now, big whoop to most people, but my friend Tamara and her husband used to live in Sydney and she works for Amex.

We headed down towards the Quay and Rocks area. Sydney is just a very beautiful city. New buildings and old buildings and lots of parks. Totally was the typical tourist walking down the street gawking at everything. When we got down to the Quay, we started looking for some food. One of the "to see" places on Joe's list was Lord Nelsons. So, we bumble around for a while, but find Lord Nelsons. It is famous for being the oldest pub in Sydney. They also make their own beer. I had the Admiral's blood, a porter style beer. Sadly, they ran out of that, so I went with the lighter Old Admiral beer. It was fantastic as well. As luck would have it, they also had a bar menu. Let me say the fish and chips were out of this world. They listed a wasabi mayo side. The mayo was the lightest of green, sadly, I didn't taste any wasabi though. The curry dish smelled fantastic too!

Eventually, after many beers, we head out to amble and look at the shops. Not surprisingly, we found another pub. Another one that claims to be the oldest pub, The Fortune Of War. The bartender, Jennie, was a stunner. Tracy's comment later was, "Hell, I would have done her!" She was quite fun to chat with. She explained to us the basics of cricket. When asked, one of her recommendations for dinner was the Lowenbrau. Luckily, we had passed that on the way, so we headed out to amble and look at yet more shops on the way. We had a great dinner there, but it became pretty obvious that the long flight for Brett and more time changes for the rest of us was catching up FAST! Somehow walking, drinking and eating can really take it out of a group of jet lagged folks!

Let me just say that the bit of walking I did in preparation for this vacation sure helped. My feet were killing me after walking all day. If I hadn't done that prep walking, I am sure I would have been reduced to tears.

We slowly made our way back to the hotel and I know I was down for the count by 9 PM. All in all, a great first day in Sydney.