Day One, Sydney: My Boots Were NOT Made For Walking

Quite the opposite in fact…they were made for sitting in the glorious Sydney sun, as I sip a chilled glass of Aussie Sauvignon Blanc at an outdoor cafe, looking like a super, chic native of Australia. However, this was not to be my first day in Sydney.

I arrived this MONDAY morning, having skipped over Sunday entirely, at 6:30 am, which was 4:30 pm EST. I made it through customs, but not without having to share which allergy medications I brought into the country first. I was then greeted by my fantastic and handsome CUBAN husband, in which I almost ran two Asians over trying to run to him with my luggage.

We headed for the taxi que (a.k.a. line) and were off to our hotel. Did I mention it was raining and dismal out? No worries though, I got at least six hours of sleep in my Economy Plus seat, and was feeling very chipper so I was not going to be detered by the dreary winter weather.

So we arrive at the Shangri-La Hotel. With plum and gold as the interior colors, it is Miami Art Deco chic meets the Ming Dynasty. I kidd, but the lobby was beautiful, and considering when I asked Zeus what the hotel was like two days earlier and he said you’ll have to wait to find out, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed and I wasn’t. (After all, if it was a crap hole, Zeus would have promtply found another hotel, or he wouldn’t have heard the end of it). Moving along, as we headed up to the room, I asked if we got a decent view and his response was “ehhh, it’s ok,” to which I promptly said “no worries, it’s not like we’ll be spending much time there, we have to much to do.” However… here’s what our view is…. the LITLE STINKER! He got us a room on the 22 floor overlooking Sydney Harbour, complete with the bridge and opera house! I couldn’t believe it… he done good!

After a quick shower, in the fabulous marble shower (and yes, the water does swirl backwards in the toilet for those of you wondering), I got dressed in cute jeans, a white sweater (from the Linda Taylor collection) and my fabulous brown boots… I mean, we were only going to do a little walking and we weren’t going too far. Besides, these boots are comfortable when I wear them around Orlando…where I drive everywhere or walk minimally! So, we headed for the Sydney Aquariam complete with sharks and fishies and manta rays from the Great Barrier Reef! How freakin cool! The shark exhibit was awesome, but no great white in captivity. I was really hoping to see JAWS up close and personal, but that’s ok… instead we saw one of the largest crayfish ever (shoutout to the Cajuns)! Not to mention, the largest freaking lobster that would take two people to break in half for cleaning and eating! You’ve got to check out our photos….

So, by now, my boots are kinda starting to hurt my feet… and I’m kinda getting hungry, so we head over to the Darling Harbour Harbourside shops, where we walked (more walking and its becoming more eveident by the step that that is not what my boots were made for) looking for a place to eat. While we passed numerous fun looking restaurants, none were open. COME ON SYDNEY… its past 11:30, you should be open! So, we moved along and walked more into Darling Harbour passing the National Maritime Museum and stopped to have lunch at Oscars. Cool and trendy with out door seating, but as previously stated, wet and dreary outside. No glorious sunshine to be soaked up. So we had lunch and while we had a beer and glass of wine, I couldn’t help but notice, the lunch crownd having aloholic beverages too! I couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t fathom getting to have a beer or glass of wine or something on the rocks and then returning to work! Are you kidding me!? But these Aussies do… and it’s perfectly acceptable. Its madness I tell you.

So, time to keep moving after lunch. My feet and boots got a little break, so they’re feling ok, as we start heading for the Pitt Street Shops. You see I had seen a jacket I wanted in a store at Habourside, but they didn’t have my size, so they sent us over to Pitt Street, along the way we ran into the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), a 19th century building with several orginal staircases and tiling turned into a mall with super high end shops! (See photos). It was fantastic! Again, I stumbled upon a local store that had something cute that I wanted, but not in my size. I’m starting to notice a trend here and it’s not going to sit well if this continues everyime I go shopping!

My boots are starting to hurt again and my feet are becoming increasingly angry with me for wearing them, but I’m a shopping soldier, so we trudge on, and finally stumble upon Pitt Street Mall, connected to Sydney Central Plaza (more shops) which was connected to QVB. I dragged my feet into a couple more shops. Its so bizarre to see winter cloths out now, however it’s kinda cool at the same time because I’ll be ahead on all my winter shopping for this year! OH and UGGS are everywhere! I can’t wait to buy a pair or two or three…you never know.

So to wrap this all up, it’s coming up on 4 as I hobble my way with the aide of Zeus back to the hotel, to write this novella. Even though our plans to climb the bridge this afternoon and see the sunset from the top fell through, we still had a good first day in the land down under.

The rain finally cleared, it warmed a little outside, and what little sunshine was trying to come out this afternoon, has now faded and the harbour is starting to glow with lights…enjoy the view and until next time…

Cheers Mates!

Sydney Day 1, Aquarium, Darling Harbour, & Queen Victoria Building