Once again my dear friend Lil' A have traveled across time zones to visit me on the other side of the world. The number of friends and family who have made this journey in the past few years makes me feel happy and blessed to have such truly amazing people in my life.
Yet again A and I find ourselves on sandy beaches, drinking cheap liquor and stirring it up with foreigners from around the world. I will now write retrospectively as Internet access was spotty at best along the way.
Sydney
I awoke with the sun on Sunday morning, something I hadn't done on purpose since teaching kindergarten in Vietnam, but instead of getting dirty finger prints and snotty noses all over my clothes I set off to get one of my nearest and dearest from the train station. I hopped out of bed like a kid on Christmas, threw on a sundress, and shoved two Red Bulls in my purse. After a 14 hour flight and a 6am wake up call I knew we would need them.
I ran to catch the train and got off at Central Station where I would wait for the better part of an hour for Lil' A's train to arrive. Finally, after several failed games of solitaire, I saw her little blond head and big bright smile shining through the train window. I jumped up and we greeted each other with your standard squealing Cali girl hug. Australia had no idea what it was in for.
A brought a small child in the form of a suitcase with her which we lovingly drug across town to my house. His name was Ricardo and would be a running joke throughout our trip.
Lil' A always brings me American amenities when she comes to visit and this time was no exception. I had her bring me an amazing fisheye camera with a waterproof submarine casing I have been lusting over for the better part of a year now. Stoked to start taking cheesy pics together we chugged our Red Bulls, I slapped on a fresh coat of red lipstick and loaded a roll of film (that's right, they still make cameras that use film), and we set out for Sydney's hot tourist spots.
By 12pm we had hit the Opera house, the Botanic Gardens, he Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, the CBD and The Rocks Market. We took shameless pictures alongside Asian and European tourists and I were even ushered into a Korean family shot by a camera happy papa. His wife was stoked to have her picture taken with a "real Aussie". Some things are better lost in translation, wouldn't want to burst her bubble.
After a roll of film and two more lattes we wandered back to Newtown for some Thai. Newtown on Sunday's dusk is my favorite time to stroll the streets. Everyone is moving at a sleepy pace, trying to soak up the last precious moments of the weekend. A perfect way to end a day which would start what would be an amazing holiday.
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