Feb 1 arrived, and we were ready after a few days of bitterly cold weather in Pittsburgh (like below zero – truly!). There were a few flakes falling when we got up, but we were not concerned. We had decided to use Uber to get to the airport instead of the limousine service we usually used. I clicked into Uber and found they were using “surge pricing” and the cost of going to the airport was over $160 – for the smaller car, and $320 for a larger vehicle. We panicked, and I called Cosgroves to see if they might be able to take us to the airport. Happily, they agreed, and a few minutes later we were in John and Susan’s car scurrying to the airport. The scurrying didn’t last long though. Turns out that a lot more snow had fallen than “a few flakes,” and it was slow going. We did get to the airport (whew), but it took almost an hour, and John got back home again even though the traffic into town was REALLY slow going.
Our first leg was to Charlotte, NC. We got there a bit late and had to scurry (well, run) across the airport to get to the gate where our flight to Los Angeles was parked. We made it, and the flight to LA was uneventful as were our few hours at LAX. Around 10:00 pm, we boarded and got ourselves situated into our reasonably comfortable seats – wider, longer, footrests, TVs, food, free drinks, all that good stuff.
We slept okay after a huge meal which we didn’t need. It was fun to watch the path of our plane on our TV. Technology is quite advanced in the new Boeing 787. From our personal TV screens, we could look above us, below us, out to the right and out to the left. We could also see flight patterns and various other information, like it was 70 below out the window, we flew around 7500 miles at 550 mph and at 40,000 feet. The trip took about 14.5 hours. This was LA to Sydney, not the legs from Pittsburgh to Charlotte to LA.
What to do then? Explore, of course. We sent off on foot to look at the Finger Wharf area a couple of blocks from our place. We found a great restaurant in a long string of restaurants along the wharf. Fun area. It was Sunday which is apparently a “dress up fancy” time in Sydney. We were definitely underdressed. Not only that, but there was a “holiday charge” on the bill. – $10 on our bill and $15 on Gil and Deb’s bill. We asked about it and the owner said it was because there is a special fee to get a table on a Sunday. Sheesh. That’s about US $18 – a pretty hefty fee just to sit down.
We paid our bill and then did more exploring. Lots of wonderful large art sculptures, and a wonderful botanical gardens. We came across some sort of posh picnic where everyone was dressed finely, had beautiful flower wreaths in their hair, had bottles of wine chilling in silver water chilling containers, and were sitting on the ground on blankets. People in their 20s and 30s. It looked quite divine, but. . . We were definitely undressed (again).
This cute koala was at the Botanical Gardens (above)
The posh picnic at the Gardens (below)
These four large sculptures were a part of the Chinese Lunar Festival.
We checked out the information center, the Circular Quay, other tourist stuff, the customs house (beautiful opal chandeliers), the plethora of art relating to a Chinese Lunar Year celebration now going on in Sydney (see four last pics above), and a Jewish wedding.
Julie studying the under-glass map of Sydney
One of the highpoint was stopping at a little craft beer place. The server was Australian to his very core and was a delight as he talked with us “mateys.” We enjoyed the beer, talked some about craft beer in Australia (getting big here too), and then we shared a large rather phallic looking kangaroo sausage link. It tasted like – kangaroo, I guess.
The other excellent local experience was with our taxi driver who was from Nepal. He had been here 20 some years and owned his own taxi company (or at least a number of cars). He came for college (has an MBA) and never returned. Anyway, we talked with him (and with our Aussie craft beer person) about tipping. He said that no, it’s not necessary. They both indicated that they were paid well and thus, no need for tipping. Americans that we are – we tipped a bit anyway.
It was warm and we were getting really tired, so we found a wine store, bought some bottles, picked up some cheese, crackers, fruit, and salads and went back to our apartment to shower, hang out, eat at “home,” and chill for tonight.
Soon, we all headed to bed after lots of conversation about everything from Cuenca, Ecuadorian politics, US politics, family members, friends in common, and all kinds of other tidbits in between.
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