K+S In The City: Day 2- Sightseeing In Sydney

Saturday morning Kristin and I awoke to a beautiful, sunny day in Sydney. We threw on our clothes and wasted no time getting outside to see the iconic tourists sights of the city.


First Stop: The Royal Botanical Gardens


I took Kristin on the path that runs between the outskirts of the gardens and the ocean, the same path I run each morning when I go on my jogs. This path offers an incredible view of the Sydney Opera House and harbor. When we finished taking pictures galore, we headed into the gardens to explore the exotic wilderness within.

Second Stop: The Sydney Opera House

Third Stop: The Rocks Markets


Next we headed to the Rocks Markets, which are open on Saturdays only. We browsed the lanes of tents, ooo-ing and aaah-ing at the items for sale, mainly the jewelry. Kristin and I each spotted a piece of jewelry that we instantly fell in love: Kristin's was a bronzed (or gold?) spiraled snake ring with green gemstone eyes, mine was a colorful beaded necklace that had an aboriginal, summer vibe. Both, ironically, cost $35 and so we indulged- they were our Sydney souvenir purchases (I had a photo of them on my camera, hopefully I can post it later).

Fourth Stop: The Sydney Harbor Bridge


We wandered up the the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the afternoon which has a pedestrian walking path. The bridge was long, and after a jammed-packed morning of walking all over Sydney we hadn't the energy to cross the entire bridge so we settled for walking about a quarter of it. Still, we were still able to see an amazing view of Sydney Harbor and the Opera House.

I had to work Saturday evening, but first we met up with Aubrey and Sara so that they could meet Kristin. Both were so excited to meet her and had eagerly offered to hang out with Kristin when I was working. I love when my friends get along, and this proved to be no exception as the three of them got along grandly. Saturday happened to be Halloween eve, so after work the four of us went to a Halloween house party to celebrate one of our favorite American holidays. Halloween in Australia is no where near as big as it is in the states, but it is slowly starting to gain in popularity. Kristin and I bought our costumes at a $2 store: I was a devil (I was lacking originality this year) and she was a dark angel. Sara went as a flapper and Aubrey was a unicorn. We were the lightness and darkness, ying and yang. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

K+S In The City: Day 1- The Arrival & Summit

FINALLY! As many of you know, Miss Kristin Farris (my bestest friend from high school) flew all the way from New York to Sydney to visit me for 10 days (what a good friend, huh?). This is part of the reason why I have been m.i.a. for so long; that and my computer dying. I didn't want to retell our unforgettable adventures together without including photos. Fortunately, Kristin took a ton of her own photos which she shared with me, so now I can proceed with blogging about her trip.  Expect about ten blogs (one for each day) appearing over the next week. Get excited!


Day 1: The Arrival & Summit 

I woke at 6:00 am to go to the airport to meet Kristin after her longggg flight from New York to Sydney. I was so excited I could barely contain myself. I pushed my way through the crowd of people at the arrival gates and stood right against the front bar. I waited eagerly, looking attentively from side to side (passengers were exiting customs from both the left and right) for the glowing red hair, sparkling blue eyes and huge dimples of my best friend. For some reason I kept singing, "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes" over and over, hoping each time that the next person to round the bend would be Kristin. Twenty minutes or so passed and I was still waiting, now less patiently. I started to wonder whether I had missed her or, even worse, if she was perhaps stuck in customs for some outrageous reason. I started to become anxious. Where was she?! The anticipation was killing me. I strained my neck searching the sea of people for her, but I didn't see her. Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around me in a tight embrace. Thrown off-guard I looked to see Kristin embracing me. I was shocked that I didn't see her come down the ramp (I am still baffled by this. I literally did not take my eyes away from the exit) and THRILLED to see her! We hugged like long lost lovers who had been separated for decades, screaming and hugging and crying, making a ruckus in the middle of the airport (many of them were hugs from you Mom). It was better than airport reunions shown in the movies. After three months in Australia, it was surreal to actually see a loved one from home live and in person. I had to touch her repeatedly to convince myself that she was really there. I was overcome with happiness.

After our joyful reunion, Kristin and I made our way back to my apartment. We hopped the train from the airport into the city and then walked, lugging her two suitcases, through the city to my apartment. Unfortunately, I had to work a double at Summit that day (both the lunch and dinner shifts) but Kristin was a great sport about it. She accompanied me to work at 11:00 am and sat in the Orbit Lounge Bar for about two hours, rotating around with the restaurant and looking at the spectacular view of Sydney from above while sipping on some tea. This actually was the perfect morning activity for her: since she was jet lagged and tired from her long flight Kristin was able to sit and relax while still getting aquatinted with all of Sydney.  She also met some of my lovely co-workers and managers who of course adored her.

The Orbit Lounge at Summit

Kristin enjoying the view (jet lagged? psh, you coulda fooled me!)

Sydney Harbor from the Summit

Look Ma! Me Hostessing. This is where I work and what I look like when I'm working.

Hostessing from the back side

More of Sydney from above



The tea that was sipped (and more view)

During my break we grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then I sent Kristin back to my apartment to shower and rest while I returned to work for the evening. I came home around 11:00 pm to find Kristin passed out in my bed, which I expected considering the lengthy flight she had endured. We rested up to prepare for an exciting Day 2 which was dedicated to seeing the iconic sights of Sydney.

Daily Dose of Laughter

This was at the Newtown festival. I don't have a clue how it works, and I don't want to know. But you go girl!

A Sunny Day At The Newtown Festival

This Sunday Sara, Natasha (my friend from work who is coming back to the states with me in February!) and I went to the Newtown Festival, which fuses music, food, and art within grassroots community. Newtown reminds me slightly of Woodstock, NY- it has that hippie, tree-hugging vibe that is fun to immerse yourself in for a day. It was a wonderfully hot and sunny day, and we enjoyed roaming among the sea of people sampling foods and drinking cold beverages while admiring the endless amount of jewelry, hats, clothing and other "things" being sold.

The Newtown Festival

Natasha and I

Sara and I

One of the food novelties we tried were Chips-on-a-Stick. I've been to plenty of festivals and fairs back home, but I don't recall ever seeing or eating chips-on-a-stick. This is probably because in the states we prefer munching on buckets of french fries, but I assure you that chips-on-a-stick are just as if not more tasty than french fries. If I could I would ship you all some, but I don't think they would preserve too well over a few days; soggy chips-on-a-stick would be pretty awful. 

Sara enjoying her chips on a stick

After we had our fill of festival, Sara and I roamed the streets of Newtown exploring the neat shops that lined them. One of them was this massive book warehouse. It was stuffed with aisle after aisle of shelves overflowing with books. It was fun getting lost in the shop, discovering the books that existed there. 

The book warehouse. 

John McEnroe Did Not Yell At Me!

Yes, that is correct. John McEnroe, the US tennis "legend" known for throwing temper tantrums and lashing out at anyone in his path, did not yell at me! I know what you're wondering: "Under what such circumstances would this even be a possibility, Sarah? Where did you see John McEnroe? And why would he even yell at darling little you?" The answer, of course, is at the Summit which hosted a cocktail hour this past Wednesday for the Champions Downunder tennis tour. The Champions Tour, as the official program put it, "features some of the greatest, and most entertaining players in history", such as John McEnroe. You don't get much more entertaining then John and his outlashes. "Played out in a highly competitive atmosphere with a party twist, the tour reunites the top names from men's tennis to rekindle some of the most exciting rivalries." The other champions featured in this years tour, and who were also in attendance at the Summit event, were (for those of you tennis fans out there): Thomas Enqvist (Sweden),the super, Pat Rafter (Australia) (super, rediculously good looking), Henri Leconte (France), Wayne Ferreira (South Africa), Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia), Pat Cash (Australia), and Mats Wilander (Sweden).

I have always enjoyed watching tennis. Growing up, the big tennis tournaments were always playing on the television. Thus it was enjoyable for me to work this event and mingle with some tennis champs, even though I could only name Mr. McEnroe. I did recognize most of the players, but I hadn't the slightest idea what any of their names were until I picked up a copy of the program. Unfortunately, I have no exciting stories to tell from the evening. They pretty much came, drank, ate, mingled, chatted and left after two hours. It was very cordial and professional. So for me the most exciting thing to report was that John McEnroe did not yell at me. I was envisioning a replay of the time I spilled the pink lemonade on the little girl, only this time it ended up in an erruption that could be heard around the world. But my hands were sturdy and all beverages remained on the trays and in the glasses where they belonged. Game, set and match baby!

Roommate Remodeling

I have a new roommate. Norman, my Irish roomie, has left me to travel around Fiji. Consequentially, I have a new roommate- Luca. I have spoken about Luca before. He is the Italian (from Rome) who was none too pleased when I moved up to the third floor over him. After living with Norm who was an ideal roomie, I was a little hesitant about the type of roommate Luca would be. I had visions of him blasting his favorite Italian techno tunes all night long while I tried to sleep with earplugs. Fortunately, he is great!  We get along wonderfully and, just as with Norman, he is very respectful, friendly and fun. And bonus, he doesn't snore! Luca wants to improve his English and so he is also super pleased to have me as a roommate because he is able to practice with me. I decided that I want to try and learn Italian in return. I have no expectations of becoming fluent in Italian, but I would love to be able have a basic conversation. Right now I have mastered "Chow" (haha, correctly spelled Ciao), as in "goodbye." Also, one of Luca's female friends from Rome just moved to Sydney this week. Her name is Marta and I adore her. She too wants to improve her English as well, so we have been chatting a lot trying to get to know one another. Both have been so warm and friendly to me, inviting me with them out for dinner and drinks, etc.  Luca and Marta are looking to move in the next few weeks to a larger apartment with some other Italian friends, and they said anytime I need a place to stay I am more than welcome to stay there. I feel as if I have been adopted into a little Italian family. I'm looking forward to continuing to build our friendships, and hopefully soon I'll be conversing with you all in Italian. Ciao!

Back! Although With A Temporary Crisis (I Hope)

Hi All! After two weeks jammed packed with traveling, visitors (Kristin) and being a full-time tourist we are now back to our regularly scheduled blog updates. However, there is a slight problem. My computer has DIED! Noooooooooooo. Ok, well I'm not sure if it is officially dead, the doctor hasn't made the call yet, but it is definitely sitting on life support right now and I am devastated. First of all, I had just finished writing a lovely, lengthy blog about my camping trip to the Outback. That's gone. I had just uploaded ALL my photos from my 10 days with Kristin in Sydney. Gone. Then there's the other thousands of photos I had taken from my first three months in Sydney. Gone as well. Needless to say I may have a nervous breakdown, but I am hoping with every cell in my body that I can find someone, some computer geek hero, who can salvage my computer and/or retrieve all my photos! Asides from wanting them for myself, I want to be able to share them all with you. So let's all bow our heads in prayer together and pray for the health of my computer. Thank you!

With that said, I am going to omit the past two weeks of events and pick up my blog from the present point in time just so we are back on track. And the second that I get that data back (because I will! think positive thoughts) I will fill in the blanks and you will be 100% updates.