We arrived yesterday afternoon back to Sydney after our 2 week journey up the coast of Queensland.  What a shock coming back to a big, bustling city after being in small towns for a period of time.  We spent the afternoon wandering around trying to figure out a plan for the evening.  Oh yeah, Jason bought his 4 gig USB drive and I got a haircut.

When we got back to the room Jason checked his e-mail and there was a note that read: "Hi Jason, Franco has said that you and Joy will be in Sydney this weekend.  I don't know what your itinerary is like but if you have some free time I would be very happy to spend some time with you and Joy over breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner/drinks - what ever suits you. Julie" 

We had no idea who this person was, but if she was game to hang out with us we were down to hang out with her.  Jason wrote right back and we made a plan to meet her on The Opera House steps that evening.  Now there are a ton of people around the Opera House steps but her clue of 5'8'', blond hair and black pant suit helped narrow it down.  We saw what we thought was her to be approaching from far, but b/c we weren't sure if it was her we didn't want to pull that stupid wave, and the person not acknowledge us.  Anyway, it was her and right on time.

Julie Marcus turned out to be the nicest, sweetest person ever.  She was insistent on treating us to drinks and dinner at the Opera Bar, a lovely place to sit outside, view the Harbour Bridge and have great conversation.  The place was lively and bustling with tons and tons of people.  It was the perfect place to reacquaint ourselves with Sydney, especially since we would be climbing the Harbour bridge the following day, which we were staring out upon.

It was such a nice feeling having a total stranger welcome us to their city with such warm and open arms.  How did she know we weren't total freaks, and that the evening wouldn't be completely awkward?  I guess maybe it could have been any of those things for her, but we had a really nice time getting to know Julie. 

We certainly hope to reciprocate when our new found 26-year-old, very hard-working lawyer friend Julie, takes her retirement trip to SF (hopefully sooner then later!)