One of the most interesting things that happened to us in Sydney was that total strangers, both Australians touring in Sydney, and foreigners, kept asking us for directions! It was pretty funny to be asked where King George Street, Darling Harbor, and the Opera House were! And even better was that in some cases we actually knew! I guess a couple pushing two kids in a double stroller all over the city is something that seems crazy if you're not a local, because we were asked for directions at least five or six times in the course of our week stay in Sydney.
Upon arriving at the airport, we made our way to the hotel. We were able to check in right away, despite arriving an hour before check in. Right away we went to a local market and bought produce (grapes!), a pound of cheddar cheese (believe it or not, we actually had to buy another 8 ounces five days later!), crackers, some wine and chocolate. Thus stocked, we proceeded to take a walk to Darling Harbor and begin our tour of this amazingly kid-and-stroller-friendly city. Everywhere in Sydney there were ramps and play areas, baby changing rooms and free prices for kids under 4! It was a parents' dream come true. If it weren't so far from the States, I would recommend it to anyone.
Sunday we started our day by attending the ENORMOUS St Mary of the Cross Cathedral literally a few blocks away in Hyde Park. The girls were pretty good given that the Cathedral was so large and we were in the middle, they could barely see the altar. They both enjoyed seeing the two Nativity scenes set up at the church - both life sized, one indoor and one out. After Mass we changed and went to the local pool where Magdalena slept in the stroller for an hour, and Lucia got to swim and have fun on the slide in the kids' section. M woke up soon enough and got a turn too. Next, we walked down through the beautiful Botanical Gardens (where signs at the entrance invite you to "Please walk on the grass!") and made our way to the infamous Sydney Opera House. The locals kept offering to take our family's photo for us, since it was pretty obvious that we were struggling to get all four of us in the old one-arm-out stand-by. Seriously friendly people, those Aussies!
Monday we kept it local and went to the
Australian National Maritime Museum for the free
Planet Shark exhibit. The girls enjoyed walking around the plastic sharks and hammerhead shark videos, and the old boats and early Australia exhibit, and we learned that during WWII, many British kids were shipped off to Australia as their families worried about them at war. Some were just shipped off as orphans, and were raised by local convents or seminaries (not all so great). There was also the boat in which
Kay Cottee single-handedly circumnavigated the globe, making her the first woman to sail around the world alone (in 188 days nonstop!).
Lunch was at the delicious and posh
Sydney Fish Market - a local collection of restaurants and shops that have sprung out next to the Sydney Fish Market itself. The fish and chips was the best (fish portion, at least) that I have ever had, and the atmosphere was lively and upbeat. We walked along the bay back towards the hotel, getting caught in a downpour about 20 minutes from the hotel. Fortunately we had jackets for the girls, and an umbrella to stick over their awnings in the double stroller that extended all the way to their feet. Alex and I got more wet than them, but it was still fun!
The girls and I in Hyde Park across from our hotel on Saturday afternoon:
Inside St Mary of the Cross Cathedral (before we knew you were not supposed to take photos):
The indoor Nativity scene at Church:
The outdoor Nativity and the impressive Church itself in the background:
A cute little creature in a tree on the way to the pool:
Magdalena and I going down the slide:
Lucia on one of her hundred trips up those stairs to go down the slide herself:
Our family with the Opera House in the background (photo courtesy of a friendly local):
In front of the Opera House, again photo credits to a local:
The bridge behind the Opera House - if you look closely you can see the people walking on the trestle of the bridge!!! This is something you can pay to do, apparently.
Shout out to Alex's bro!
Ahhh!!! Shark!
Mmmmmm... Fish Market good!
Alex and the girls on the walk back from the Fish Market - same bridge as before from the other side (this was minutes before the torrential downpour!:
I'll write later about the next few days - this is getting long enough already!
Sounds like SO much fun! Everyone has great things to say about Australia and Sydney. Glad you guys took the chance to go. :)
ReplyDeleteMakes me want to go too!
ReplyDelete