Hello Sydney!

I’m now in Sydney, which feels light years away from my time in SE Asia. The first difference is that I am settled into a very nice hotel (The Langham) for 8 whole nights, which feels luxurious and extremely slow compared to the 2 nights per place we averaged on the tour. I also had very little planned when I arrived, so it’s a wide open agenda. I do miss Asia, but this is great. I’m sleeping a lot, eating well, and exploring in the sunshine!

A few highlights so far.

Last night, I took myself to the opera house to see Madame Butterfly. The production was beautiful and I really enjoyed it. It is a really sad story, but the music is gorgeous and the venue iconic. What’s not to like!

I also splurged on pre-theatre dinner, eating at Bennelong, which is in the opera house itself with beautiful views of the sunset over the Harbor Bridge. The food and wine were outstanding. I started with yellow fin tuna tartare, with a main of roasted cod and a chocolate zabaione desert, accompanied by an excellent Hunter Valley Semillion. So beautiful, and tasted fantastic!

Had a wonderful seat and really enjoyed the whole evening.

Beautiful venue, and quite vibey!

Earlier in the day, I’d taken a walking tour of Sydney that covered a lot of ground. We saw many major landmarks, a lot of street art, and touched on the city’s history, from First Nations, to the British “experiment” of using Australia as a penal colony, to its current multicultural atmosphere. Very enjoyable morning with a small and fun group.

Some of the sights along the way:

And I’ve been eating well. Breakfasts at the hotel are fabulous. Look at this avocado toast - almost as good as Auntie Deb’s!

Had an excellent Italian meal sitting at the bar at Palazzo Salado my first night. Started with Straciatelli with anchovies, followed by house made pasta with spanner crab and Uni, and an Amaro nightcap recommended by one of the cute young Aussies tending bar. Excellent all around!

And I worked on this and other catching up blog posts while out and about today. First sitting in the botanical gardens, which is beautiful and full of unusual plants, trees and birds…with great views of the harbor.

Finished the afternoon at a harbor side French restaurant, where I feasted on oysters, anchovies with toasted baguette and salted butter, and a simple salad with a Hugo spritz. Heavenly place to finish up this post!

I have another great dinner reservation tonight, and have booked a day in the blue mountains tomorrow, so I’m pretty busy for someone with no plans!

More soon 😎