I Love Sydney!

I freely admit that the thought of flying to Sydney, leaving the kids and Hubby for a week and having to deal with luggage, airports and hotels had me FREAKING out! But... it turns out that I can handle it all just fine. Who knew? Okay, well most everyone except me, apparently LOL.

First up, the hotel in Sydney sucked big time. Considering how much the rooms cost per night I was expecting something a little better - let's just say the wallpaper was peeling, the tv didn't work, the shower didn't work properly, the maintenance people had to be called twice before they came and fixed the shower and three times before the tv was fixed and my room service dinner order was wrong. Add to that two of the most uncomfortable beds on the face of the earth - one had lumps all through it while the other while the other sunk in the middle so that I could hardly get out of it - not enough blankets and no extras in the room and you have some idea of the level of crapiness.

But... the city of Sydney was fabulous, gorgeous, bustling, friendlier than I expected and just full of life. I can't say I'd want to live there but it was a terrific place to visit and I can't wait to go back.

Here's a small sample of some of the millions of photos I snapped.

A view of the city from the harbour












The Sydney Harbour Bridge, taken from Circular Quay

And the Harbour Bridge, from out in the middle of the harbour

The Sydney Opera House, on a gorgeously sunny day

And a closer look at the Opera House, on a cold and rainy day.

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to take this trip. It was a real learning experience, obviously from the work-side of things, but also personally. I stood on my own two feet, I found my way around a strange city (and yes, I did get lost but I found my way back to where I needed to be), I did some site-seeing, and I spent some time on my own. The last is a very rare luxury and I wasn't sure how I'd go with it. It can be quite daunting when you're used to being surrounded by people and are constantly putting their needs above your own. Not that I'm selfless and saintly by any means but anyone with kids knows what I mean, you get used to putting what you want at the bottom of the list and making time for yourself is something that doesn't happen very often. And do you know what I loved the most? That in the middle of a bustling, busy, modern city I found a space to be silent. There was no children's television, no radio blaring at me at 6am, no kids fighting/screeching/singing at the top of their lung, no phone ringing, no dog barking and it was bliss. They can all be joyful and joyous sounds but sometimes it's really nice to have a break from them.