I know that sounds harsh, but arriving in Sydney has really made us question some of our strong convictions for declaring SF to be our favorite city on earth. Now we’re certainly not abandoning that claim by any means at this point, since it’s just too early in our relationship with Sydney to make that claim. However, Sydney is really an amazing town and making us think long and hard about things.

Maybe it’s just the novelty of being in a new city, or the relief of having a solid internet connection in the place we’re staying, but something about Sydney is truly fascinating. For one, the weather couldn’t be better. It’s probably 80 F, and absolutely gorgeous which can always put the perspective of a city in much “lighter” terms. The restaurant scene here is really out of this world. We keep having freak out moments that we’re just barely going to be able to skim the surface of the foods this town has to offer. The harbors surrounding the city are sparkling and the town itself is very clean with little homelessness. There are tons of cool neighborhoods to explore, and the area we’re staying in is really hip.

When we first arrived here late two nights ago, it was quite difficult to assess where it was we were actually staying. At night time things tend to look a little “shady”. We actually are in somewhat of a shared accommodation style joint. Okay, it’s so not what you may be thinking. It’s basically a really nice house that everyone has their own rooms and bathrooms, and then a huge shared living area downstairs with kitchen, washer/dryer, plasma, etc. Jason doesn’t like the whole concept, so I think this may be our last night “slumming it”.

We spent our first day here wandering the streets from 9am to 10pm. Jason makes fun of how map obsessed I am – I guess I just like to know where I’m going. So here’s what we did in a nutshell. We checked out Darling Harbor and Jason had an ice coffee there (more like a milkshake) – we headed over to the Star Casino and Jason got a haircut - then walked to the Fish Market and had lunch - headed back to Darling Harbor - over to Paddies Market - meandered through China Town - headed down Oxford Terrace – Jason bought an Icebreakers shirt in a shop – we grabbed a beer at the Beer Garden Bar in Darlinghurst – came home for a bit – headed out to Stanley Street for an appetizer and drink at Vaigo Restaurant – walked to the Circular Quay – over to The Rocks – grabbed another beer at the Lush Inn – finally called it a night with a lean-burger at McDonalds and a cab ride home.

This city ROCKS . . .