Exploring Sydney

Aug 3rd:  Goran brought us muffins from a funky coffee shop/bookstore across the street.  He was the first one up and showered.  I was a little surprised.  Not that I thought I'd have to fight Sharie for the bathroom; but, I certainly didn't figure he'd be up before me.

I'd called the airport luggage handlers and found out that my suitcase had still not arrived.  Finding a pair of long pants would have to be a priority today.

Before heading out, Goran asked the cheerful desk clerk who had checked us in yesterday if we could move to another room, something away from the street side of the hotel.  This is a pattern I'd come to expect from travelling with Goran.  It's like that habit some people have of never taking the top newspaper on the rack, regardless of how crisp and flat it appears.  Goran (usually) does not want the first room offered.  The clerk morphed into his petulant snarky twin, claiming there were no other triples available and became cold and distant.  He seemed to take it personal, our opinion of his choice of rooms for us.

We shrugged it off and headed out to catch a Hop On - Hop Off bus to get an overview of the city.  We had some early confusion with direction (the whole driving on the left thing), but eventually found a hop-on spot at King's Cross station, an unsavory part of town.  After a man asking for directions was violently cursed by a unkempt local thug for even making eye contact, we were thankful for the short wait between buses.

We rode downtown to the Queen Victoria Building, hoping I could find something warmer to wear there.  It took about 10 stores to find something that would fit me.  It was just my luck to vacation in Australia during the season of the skinny legs for men.  I did't clue in until about the 3rd store, when I finally looked around and noticed that most casually dressed men wore pants that hugged their legs, but hosted an ass that looked like it had a bag of wet sand in them.

I wore the pants out of the store and we headed to the famous Opera House. 

Sydney Opera House from land

Sydney Opera House on Circle Bay from a water taxi

The Harbor Bridge with Opera House in the background

(Tours are available to walk along the sloped top of the bridge)

I mentioned it was winter in Australia, so by 5:30 it becomes dark.  We had an early dinner, then headed back to the hotel.  We went to the local Verona cinema and watched 'Inception' - for $17.50 Australian!