Olympic Pool, Casino, and Smoked Meat, oh my!

Yes we tried to jam pack our trip with everything in that book that we could do. In the morning, we went to a famous smoked meat restaurant, which was very similar to going to Carnegie Deli, line included. We got inside and there was nothing too special about it, INCLUDING the food. After eating it, we looked at each other and agreed that NYC has the BEST smoked meat, no bones about it. We enjoyed the meal, but if this is what Montreal considers its BEST smoked meats place, we might not be moving to Montreal anytime soon. (Yes, the picture's fuzzy! Damn it!)

I love seeing all the french and english throughout the city! Makes me want to get really good at french again! Le sigh, I wish I was more adamant about staying with it!

After lunch, we biked to the biodome, a domed shaped building that was used during the 1972 Olympics for the biking events. It now houses animals and is a sort of zoo. Unfortunately, when we got there, we learned that the workers were striking and the building was closed....so no penguins! Boo! I almost cried....ok, maybe not! Since we had biked all the way there, we noticed that the Olympic stadium had a tour. And we decided to do it, even though we were both expecting to be bored out of our minds. It was actually quite interesting. And I like that they use the stadium now for all kinds of things. The tour guide mentioned that outside in the courtyard area, there were flags waving from all the countries who had won a gold that year....and that Canada was not among them. There were also flags waving from countries that don't exist anymore, like the Soviet Union. Pretty cool!

In this picture, Aaron is in front of the Olympic Tower. It's such a weird shape/structure, but its purpose is to hold up the huge stadium's roof.

After the stadium, we biked to our hotel area, and then took a cab to the casino in Montreal. And we did well in roulette again! Who knew that we'd have good odds on a shitty game?!

Wait, what it is exactly that you DO in Montreal?! Nothing???

I got super confused as to what kind of city Montreal actually is. Here I am thinking that we're going on a great adventure with tons of monuments, beautiful sights, and lots of culture. We actually got in a fight because I was being fussy.

Stina- "So what exactly DO you do here?"

Aaron- "walk around. Bike. Eat."

Stina- "But you can do that ANYWHERE! Where's the equivalent to the statue of liberty?"

Aaron- "It's the Notre Dame."

Stina- "That's IT?!"

Aaron- "Next time, you're picking the tour book."

We visited the Notre Dame cathedral today and it was very pretty inside. This is the first trip where I've gotten to use my new

birthday

camera, my lumix! Check out the shot I took! No flash even! That's the sight you see the minute you walk in the place.

And what kind of traveler would I be if I didn't take shots of the catholic candles all lit up? Huh? Yeah, if you look at Paris' trip,

I have about a million and one shots of candles. I don't know why, I just like the flickering lights in the dark spaces. And I don't understand why churches are so dark when God and Jesus and the 3 kings and the camels are such HAPPY stories.

After the cathedral, we went to the Rue des Artistes, but we didn't buy anything. Nothing seemed too unique. We biked to the "best bakery in town" according to the tour book, and the chocolate croissants were delicious! Mm, also fresh bread was a plus. I love french food!

Oh, CANADA!!!!

For our anniversary this year, instead of going to somewhere exotic like Fiji or somewhere European and filled culture, we decided to go somewhere a lot closer to home; somewhere that didn't require an airplane ticket. Oh we also had to go a week early because SOMEONE got into a show and the rehearsal starts on our actual anniversary! (It's Dames at Sea!) Okay, back to the travel blog....

Yes, we DROVE to Canada. We decided on Montreal because it is french-esque. Yes, not really a word, but it fits, and you get the gist.

The absolute first thing we did when we arrived was get a "BIXI" ticket, or bicycle taxi. In short, it's another word for Velib! Woot, we love biking through foreign cities! We biked to dinner which was recommended from the tour book. It was the "best french bistro in town." "L'Bistro" was NOT the best bistro in town, let me tell you that. We were not overwhelmed, and not underwhelmed. Let's just say that we were 'whelmed.'

A Nice Day to be in the Harbour! (Yes, harbour spelled the Aussie way)

Today was nice because Aaron spent the entire day with me. Yes sir, he walked everywhere with me! After we did our run through the Botanical Gardens, we went to breakfast at this restaurant called Pancake on the Rocks. It was one of those places that specializes in fat with a side of ice cream. We both got to have ice cream with our breakfast. I know my mom would be shaking her head in shame.

The hoarbour was all “abuzz” today because the 16 year old Aussie sailor that sailed across the ocean by herself was arriving today. I’ve been reading about her in the paper so it was pretty cool that we got to be here today.

There was a farmer’s market in the Rocks, so we bought lots of yummy souvenirs, specifically marshmallows, kangaroo jerky, and Aussie licorice. The licorice seller was having so much fun giving out free samples. I seriously felt like we got to sample every flavour!

And then, we got to do the amazing Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. (Picture of it later) They made us wear special jumpers and everything that we got to take up had to be clipped. Aaron wasn’t even allowed to wear his watch. The view was amazing, and looking down was pretty awesome. Since Jessica was sailing in, we got to see hundreds of boats. I would definitely recommend the climb to others too.

After the climb, we went to the Hotel Australia and got some kangaroo pizza as well as some saltie pizza(salt water crocodile). I preferred the roo, while Aaron liked the Saltie. Really, the roo tasted like cheap steak and the saltie tasted like tough chicken.

Relearning how to drive...

Today was filled with quite a large feat. We both drove! The cars here drive on the opposite side of the street, but if that weren’t hard enough, the driver ALSO sits on the wrong side of the car. So here we were in a car driving down the road, constantly wanting to turn onto the wrong side. Since I’m typing right now, you know that we’re ok and haven’t died in a horrible car crash.

I ALSO checked out the Police and Justice museum and got to see how forensics became a huge part of Sydney’s law enforcement. It was weird to see all these infamous criminals that I’d never heard about. I am sure that all the school children here learn about Ned Kelly, but for us Americans, it’s Jesse James all the way.I checked out the Rocks Discovery museum today and got to learn a little bit about the start of Sydney. I also go to check out the Cadman’s house which is the oldest building in all of Sydney. It used to be a place to hold convicts and was also a home to a married couple who were also convicts. The house was built in 1816. Really old!!!

Once I hooked back up with Aaron, we went to Luna Park which is an amusement park from the 1930’s. It has closed down multiple times, but they’ve reopened it in the same style as the 30’s. We went on this crazy old ride called the Crazy Mouse and man, did it freak the snot out of us?! We felt like we were going to jump the tracks every turn we encountered. The red cars we sat in were extra small too, so we definitely felt like we were too BIG to fit in it. Didn’t stop us from going on it a second time though. There was also an entire building titled “Coney Island” which looked like a fun house, but once we got inside, we saw that it was part of the 1930’s part of the park. It had indoor slides, as well as a fun ride called the “Turkey Trotter” and the “Barrel Roll”. One of the indoor slides was seriously a death drop. We did it because we could, but we were seriously freaking out on the climb up. Lastly, we had to take a photo with the famous clown mouth gate. It looked kind of scary, but also very iconic!

Toes in the Southern Hemisphere!

Today I went all by myself to Bondi Beach. The weather here is late fall so I didn’t bring my swimsuit. Once I got there though, someone “upstairs” decided that they should bring the sun out. WTF!?!?!?! Anyway, I walked on the beach which had the softest sand. I also pulled up my pant legs and enjoyed the water. I couldn’t believe that the water was actually warmer than the air. Guess I should have brought the bikini after all. Oh well, next time we come to Oz, we’ll be sure to come in Spring or Summer. It really was a spectacular beach.

After that, I headed back to Darling Harbour and went to the Chinese Friendship Garden. It was the weirdest feeling, but as I sat there and enjoyed the koi pond, I really felt proud to be half Chinese. Call me corny, but I really felt connected with my culture. Odd that it happened to be in Oz and not in Asia, but I’ll take what I can get. It reminded me a great deal of the Yu Yuan Gardens in Shanghai. There was a tourist photo booth where you could dress up in Ming dynasty clothes and have your photo taken in the garden. NO, I DIDN’T DO IT! But I did stand there looking at the photos for a long time. The dresser came out, pulled me into the booth and dressed me up. And did I look ridiculous? Does a cow have spots? I didn’t actually take the picture. He kept telling me that my Chinese mother would appreciate it….somehow I think my Chinese mother would just laugh with tears.

For lunch, I went to dim sum. They call it ‘yum cha’ here. I also checked out their Chinatown, Market City. I bought myself a leather bag. OMG, what a nightmare. After purchasing it and putting all my stuff into it (mind you, I was already far away from the market) the bag broke. I was able to return it and get a new one, but oh man, the whole way back to the stall, I was trying to pep myself up in case they tried to pull a fast one on me. Phew, glad I didn’t have to pull out any “NY” attitude.

I also made it to the Powerhouse museum. It had a great exhibit on the 80’s. Although I wasn’t really in the mood to read a million plaques, I did enjoy looking at all the ridiculous fashion statements as well as all the advancements in technology. It was hilarious to see an Atari and a gameboy behind glass. I can just imagine small school children going on a fieldtrip there and having the teacher explain what they were looking at.

After all this, we still had energy to do more…..we actually bought tickets to see a ballet at the Sydney Opera house. We had a small dinner at the Opera Bar which had great views of the harbour since it was right on the water. The ballet was called “Copelia” and was quite lovely. Aaron even liked it, and afterwards he claimed that we should see more ballets. I can’t believe I actually heard him say it. He could even tell which ballerinas were better than others. The story was good, although we both agreed that the 3^rd act was unnecessary.

I am no Sheila!

It boggles my mind that it’s still yesterday back in the states. But whatever, this is the closest thing mankind has to time travel.

This morning, Aaron and I did our run through Chinatown and in Darling Harbour. It’s so nice to see the area with very little people around. We ran by the Maritime museum and I am sure we’ll be going there while we’re here. Also, we are definitely going to check out the aquarium. Mom said it was a must. Also, before we even ran, we picked up breakfast at the Seven Eleven. OMG passion fruit yogurt, where have you been all my life?! I think Aaron said that he’s had yogurt every morning for breakfast since he got here. I can see why.

I checked out the shops nearby the apartment today. There are so many cute cafes here which reminds me of Paris. Perfect for people watching. That’s one thing that New York definitely does not have….cute cafes. There are a lot of specialty chocolate stores here. I want SO BADLY to taste each flavor, but I know that’ll break the scale.

Today was also Taronga Zoo day. Targona means ‘beautiful ocean view’ and is it ever true. You can see the entire harbour from the top of the zoo. I got to take a sky cable car to the entrance. It was all so fun. I also got to take a picture with a very active and hungry teenage male koala named Erwin. I wasn’t allowed to pet him though. Oh well, it’s not really necessary anyway.

I also got to see some Tasmanian devils, a wombat (again, cute!!!!), baby elephants, and even penguins that are native to Australia. I had the most fun looking at the native animals. We can’t see them in the states. It’s funny that they had a California seal there.

Tonight, we also got to have dinner with my ex roommate Kath, and her fiancé Justin. It was great to catch up. They took us to a restaurant called the Swimmer’s Pavilion. Very nice food. It was fun to talk weddings and differences between Aussie and American phrases.

G'day Mates!

Today is my first day in Sydney, Australia. It’s late fall here which is a nice change from the crazy unpredictable PMS weather in NYC right now. Aaron is here on business so most of these journal entries shall be of my own adventures.

I did however, meet up with Aaron for breakfast and he tried to order vegemite on his toast….I think I may have lost my husband in the week he was here alone.

I went for a jog this afternoon in the Royal Botanical Gardens. I like that it’s free. The one in Brooklyn charges $15 admission….it was beautiful!!! Not only were the plants different, but the birds walking around there were too. A lot of curved beaked guys walking around. On my job I got to pass both the Sydney Harbour Bridge AND the Sydney Opera House. Already, I feel like I have seen the Australia you see in pictures.

I also went to the Sydney Wildlife World today. The koalas were so frickin’ cute, I couldn’t stand it. They actually had a ton of animals there. I was expecting a little zoo and a little run down. The animals all looked very healthy and happy. They had this HUGE croc named Rex! When I say huge, I mean “he can go 12 months without eating” huge! I also learned that crocs hold all their fat in their tails…so instead of having waist issues like humans, lady crocs are probably self conscious about their fat ass tails! Also, the cutest animal ever is the wombat! Holy shit, that little fur ball waddles like a welsh corgi. How adorable. I just wanted to put a little bandana around its neck and make it talk with an Aussie accent.

We’re staying above a hotel in the heart of the city and we have a spectacular view of Sydney….the only thing that would make the view better is if we were facing the other direction. We can’t see the bridge or the opera house from here. But hey, you can’t have everything.

PS, check out the frickin' cute wombat! OMG, it looks A.DOR.ABLE! Yes, I really just wrote with periods like a teenager! It was necessary!