I'm Going Where?!: Tours, Trekking, and Talks

This morning, Sarah and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to take a tour of the Opera House! Because it’s the Queen’s birthday (kind of… it’s only celebrated today), there was NO traffic, and we got to Circular Quay in 15 minutes by bus. We arrived early and meandered around the building. The tour ended up being pretty good! We toured the drama stage, concert hall and dance hall and got some history behind the construction of the building. The view from the inside of the building was awesome, and I’m so glad I got that unique perspective. It was a really rainy day (the wettest in Sydney in the past five years!), so it was nice to spend the first hour indoors! After the tour, I got a discounted chai latte and brownie. Then, we headed out and did some shopping in The Rocks. I did some serious damage, but I’m really happy with all of my purchases! We went back to the Studio Café at the Opera House for discounted lunch, and it was delicious! I got a chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mustard mayo panino with a small salad and it really hit the spot! Afterwards, we headed to Pitt Street to do some more shopping. On the way there, two small parrots were chilling in an outdoor seating area of a restaurant. No one else seemed to make any deal of it, but Sarah and I were amazed! They let us so close that I was tempted to hold out my finger, but didn’t want to lose it in the process. A British family came by and held their fingers out, and they were bit… suppose I should’ve warned them, but they were fine! We went up Pitt Street and walked through Strand Arcade, which was gorgeous! There were very classy boutiques in there, and Sarah and I stopped into the oldest hat store in the country. There were dozens of jewelers and fashion boutiques as well! Afterwards, we got to the Westfield mall and then to the Queen Victoria Building, which was also beautiful! We browsed and finally made it to a toy store, which I’d been looking for! We didn’t get back until 4:30, so we had a really full day! Then, my group got together to finalize everything for our presentation on physical inactivity tomorrow. Afterwards, we watched The Voice Australia, and Rachael made it through to the finals!

We spoke with two Aussies today! The first was at the Opera Kitchen, where Sarah got her coffee and I got my chai and brownie. She asked where we were from and we told her Boston. She said she’s a huge Boston Eagles fan! Funny… I don’t even know what sport that is…? The second woman worked in the opal store that we stopped in for Sarah. We had a long conversation about Australia and the States. She asked me how I found Sydney, and what I was studying here and in Boston. I told her that Sydney’s expensive, and she said that her sister agrees! Her sister lives in Raleigh. We spoke about PT and Australian culture, and she said that since the American dollar became weaker a couple years back, fewer and fewer Americans were stopping in her store. She had some really beautiful items in there. One of the necklaces was going for AUD$12,000! I can’t imagine how anyone would pay that king of money for a rock!