So I just landed in Melbourne and got into my apt here….WAITTTTTT!!!! (skiddddd, crash, tumble, skinned knees, dust and rocks flying up from the pavement) What happened in Sydneyyyyy????  Well, brush yourself off and have a seat and I will try to recount my past 3 weeks in what I am now calling my favorite city.  Lol, yeah, you heard me correctly.  I realize I’m a New York/Jersey girl and maybe the old cliché ‘the grass is always greener” holds some weight, but there’s so much about Sydney that is just…well, me.  So in no particular order, here are all of my reasons for calling out Sydney as my fave.

First of all, it’s beautiful. Period.  I know beauty is subjective, and I might say that about a lot of places and believe it!  But it definitely is one of the prettiest cities because it’s surrounded by water – and not just ANY water – the magnificent harbor which traverses through Sydney’s many “fingers” and the OCEAN with it’s gorgeous sand beaches and cliffs. The ocean water here is not like the Jersey shore or the Hamptons – it’s clearer, and brighter and more blue.  There is no seaweed or jellyfish on the beaches, not even shells, really.  It’s incredibly clean.  Of course there is beauty in seaweed and all that stuff – particularly shells – but if I had a choice, I’d pick a clean white sand beach that has great waves that I can see right through to my feet over my childhood Jersey Atlantic – just saying. If I had to compare Sydney to a US city, San Francisco would probably be the closest, but Sydney is definitely much cleaner.

That’s my second reason.  Sydney is CLEAN.  I’m sure there are parts that aren’t, but I checked out many neighborhoods and I’m telling you, it’s just really clean!! The streets are clean, the buildings are very well maintained, there are lots of parks and trees and foliage everywhere…some homeless people, but they don’t litter the streets with their bodies or their stuff. The air feels good and the streets are wide and it’s just friggin clean.  Trust me.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park

Hyde Park

CBD

Martin’s Place

Third, the climate is to die for.  It never gets colder than the mid 40’s – the coldest temp on record is 41 – and although it can get hot (up to 100 but that’s also rare) the heat isn’t humid.  It’s not completely dry either, but it’s definitely bearable.  In my 21 days there, temps ranged anywhere from 72 – 93.  There is usually a nice breeze blowing off the water, and the skies are a gorgeous deep blue that seems to go on forever – it’s a very sunny, happy city.

Speaking of happy, the 4th reason Sydney is my favorite is that it’s very SAFE, and that feeling of walking around without looking over my shoulder makes me incredibly happy.  There is a good police presence here, and Sydneysiders seem to feel good about obeying their laws.  The gov’t is extremely strict on DUI’s, and the police set up many random “stops”, morning, noon and night, where they pull your car over and test you for alcohol use.  People I spoke to in Sydney do NOT drink and drive.  Ever.  They take taxis or walk.  They also wear seat belts, even in the back seat of a car.  You can get a $200 fine if you are caught without it.  They also seem not to jaywalk or even cross at the corner unless the green light is in their favor. I like that kind of respect!

The fifth reason Sydney is my favorite city is that it is WALKABLE.  It is small enough to have neighborhoods but large enough to still have a CBD (Central Business District), and all of this can be covered on foot!   In the CBD you have your tall buildings, your architectural  highlights, the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, the museums.  And just outside of that, within walking distance, are many of the neighborhoods that make up Sydney. My favorite, and the one I lived in, is Surry Hills.  It is adorable, with it’s cafe-lined streets and little shops mixed in with 2-3 story flats with New Orleans’ style porches and railings.  It has pubs and a modern library/community center, and the best ice cream shop in all of Sydney (fact!) named Messina, that at any given moment can have a queue 15 people long! It is mostly made up of young professionals, 20’s and 30’s, all beautiful.  Yeah, that’s another thing.  Australian’s are great to look at, especially the men!! They take great care of their bodies and they all work out – it’s very rare to see someone overweight or out of shape – it’s kinda shocking in a way, but still nice to admire!!  I also noticed that most people are white, or Asian.  Coming from Africa this was quite a jarring observation, and I did ask some people why they thought blacks or other ethnicities were not well represented here, and they really didn’t have an answer.  More research needed.

Messina – Ice Cream!!

Messina – Ice Cream!

Surry Hills Library/Community Center

Surry Hills, Crown Street

Surry Hills houses on Crown Street

Shops & Cafes on Crown Street, Surry Hills

So what did I do for all of those days?  Good question, and I’m happy to say…not much!!  I relaxed a lot.  I had rented a beautiful small one bedroom apt in Surry Hills through airbnb.com and it was such a pleasure to just hang in, that some days I found myself being lazy, cooking some breakfast or lunch, doing some laundry, surfing the web, and just “being”.  I spent a lot of time (and money) walking on Oxford Street in Paddington – great shopping. One store in particular, Capital L, is absolutely my favorite, because the owner, Chrysoula, is a true stylist and is brilliant at putting together pieces that look good on my body.  I also walked Queen Street in Woolhara which has some more shops and cafes and galleries.  There is a huge Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction, and they have a cool food market inside, but I’m not into malls – hell, don’t we have enough in the states?  I did see a movie there one night with a friend (well, she is my client’s sister but now I can call her my friend!) American Hustle – great flick.

My flat on Devonshire in Surry Hills

Me at home in Surry Hills!

I had delicious breakfasts/brunches/lunches at the cafe’s – Gnome in Surry Hills was a fave. Smoked salmon on toasted multigrain bread with ricotta, asparagus, rocket, avocado, and a poached egg.  Yum.  Gnome is tiny and just has a great vibe and great food.  Oh – getting iced coffee in Sydney is almost impossible. Gnome is one of the few places you can. But for the most part, it’s just not done.  They think an iced coffee is made with ice cream – if you ask for no ice cream, just ICE, they don’t know why you would want that, and many of the cafes don’t have ice so they can’t accommodate you. They do have Starbucks here, so you can get it there, but I’m not a fan so I wouldn’t choose to go there.  I also tried my first meat pie which was really amazing, I have to admit.  It’s exactly what you picture – a pastry crust and meat filling – although mine was brisket and it was deeeelishhh!!  I got it from Bourke Street Bakery – had been told it’s “the best” – can’t argue.

The Bar at the End of the Wharf

The Bar at the End of the Wharf

View from Bar at End of Wharf

I took myself to Bondi Beach a couple of times.  This is the beach Sydney is most famous for, but it is only one of many gorgeous beaches.  It has a pavilion on the beach with bars and stores so you can grab some drinks or lunch or whatever and hang there and people watch.  I ended up at The Bucket List with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay and met a few nice local guys – yes, adorable.  One of them I could easily have taken home.  Seriously, when they talk in that accent – who really cares what they say???

I visited the Museum of Sydney and learned that Aussies are constantly comparing themselves to the US – it’s so amazing to me, but it seems the world really does view us as the highest level to be compared to!  If I was reading about the Harbor Bridge, it was being compared to the GW Bridge in terms of height and another NY bridge in terms of width. If I was learning about Sydney architecture, it was being compared to American architects. I know we rock on many levels, and apparently the Aussies agree.

I spent a day walking and sitting in the Royal Botanical Gardens and writing my blog.  It was a gorgeous day and I sat on an elevated grassy area, under a tree, with clear views of the harbor and the Opera House.  If that’s not inspiring…

Absolutely the highlight of my stay in Sydney was when my bestie and her bf, Laurie and Jayson, came to visit.  There’s nothing like being with your best friends and I was soooo happy that they made this trip.  Jayson was actually born in Australia and moved to the states when he was young, so he still has a lot of family in Sydney.  Lucky for me, I was invited to go with them on Christmas Day up to Whale Beach and spend the night with his cousins!  They have a gorgeous home right on Whale Beach, and we were treated to an amazing Christmas Dinner and overflowing drinks and generosity and happiness and good cheer!  It’s hard to miss Xmas in New York when you’re on Whale Beach with this amazing family.  Thought about it a few times and then went right on celebrating where I was.

Whale Beach

The Whale? No, it’s a rock. 🙂

Laurie & Jayson

The Pank Family!

We went to the Opera Bar and enjoyed the view, and our drinks.

We spent New Year’s Eve together doing the most obvious touristy thing to do on NYE in Sydney – watching the fireworks over the Harbour!  Funny thing is, we had no plans and didn’t know what we were going to do so we just started following people in the direction of the Harbour.  All of a sudden, Laurie bends down and picks up a paper on the ground, and it happens to be 2 tickets to the NYE party on top of the Passenger Terminal on the Pier!  So up we go, and in we went… we got a little caught because the name on the tickets was something like “Wong” and Laurie just didn’t look like a Wong, and then they questioned why there were 3 of us but only 2 tickets – so we dished out some cash and all was good.

Us following the crowds on NYE

Where we goin on NYE??

Someone lost their ticket!

And we’ve secured a perfect perch for the fireworks!

On their last night in Sydney, the three of us hit the Opera House for a tour and a night of Beatles music – the show was put on by 16 musicians and 5 Australian singers who alternated singing the entire 2 albums, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road.  We sung every song at the top of our lungs and had a ball.

Inside the Opera House

Headphones on listening to the tour!

View from Opera House

Harbor Bridge with people on top!

There they are, the climbers!!

At the Beatles Back2Back show

Is there anything I DIDN’T love about Sydney?  Well, yeah, the one thing that was a constant observation for me is that it was extremely hard to meet people.  I thought it would be easy for me to meet people anywhere I went because I’m not shy, I’m not weird-looking (ok, I admit that’s debatable), I am actually friendly and in The States random strangers talk to me all the time!!  But in Sydney, people do not talk to people who are alone!!  Believe me, I tried. One of the challenges I found is that most bars don’t have bar stools at them!  At home, it’s easy to meet people sitting at a bar because naturally you would talk to people on either side of you.  But without a bar to sit at, you’re kinda stuck.  In Sydney, you walk up to a bar, order a drink, and then take it to a table.  They don’t even have table service in many places.  If you finish your drink, you go up and get another.  That goes for food too.  You order it, then they give you a number to take with you to a table and they will bring you your food.  But if you need utensils, napkins, ketchup…get up and get it yourself! If you’re alone, like me, it’s awkward to sit at your own table, and no one is going to approach you.  But I did it anyway I tried to figure out how to get around this.   I took myself out many times to bars/restaurants and tried to smile at people and look friendly, but they just weren’t biting!  Even at the Opera Bar, which has one long concrete but cushioned bench that goes on forever and people come and go from sitting there constantly, no one talks to that woman who is alone. Sydneysiders don’t go out alone.  So they probably think it’s weird that I do.  Last night, for example, I sat at a bar – yes, one of the few that you can sit at – and couples to my left and right came and went while I sat there and did not even receive an acknowledgement of my presence!  Not even a nod!  Thank god the bartender was happy to chat! Is it rude???  Snobby???  I don’t think it is….I think they are just unaware and culturally they keep to themselves.   Once in a rare while when I would get an opportunity to talk with someone, they are nice as can be!  It’s breaking that ice that is close to impossible.  So….best to have friends in Sydney or expect many lonely days and nights!  Good thing I’m ok with all that.

How I sometimes feel sitting by myself at a bar

And sometimes like this…

But usually I’m like this.

I also noticed that the music on the radio and the one particular fashion trend is about 20 years behind us.  Actually, Sydney is the most casual city I’ve ever seen, and I liked that.   Everyone wears little sundresses and flip flops. Or cute tight jeans and tanks and flip flops.  Or little shorts and flip flops.  Flip flops are a must.  One trend in particular stood out, and I really wanted to document it in pictures but I kinda forgot.  Women in Sydney match their shoes to their handbags or to their tops or some scarf or something that their wearing.  It’s awful!!  Jaryn – some kind of intervention needs to be done!! Seriously, I can’t tell you how many times I saw a turquoise top, black skirt, turquoise pumps.  A fuchsia scarf, white top, black skirt, fuchsia bag, black pumps with a fuchsia bow on them.  Helpppp!!!  They should get tickets for offensive dressing!  Didn’t we do that in the 80’s? Can you imagine shopping for shoes and finding that perfect shade of mint???  Glory be!!  Someone needs to tell them.  Why hasn’t word reached this beautiful land that – as Laurie would say – it’s just not right!!!

Well, everything else about Sydney IS right, so I guess if that’s the worst offense, we can let it slide.  They do pay enormously high taxes (10% sales tax, 40-50% income tax) but they also make much more money than we do, and a lot of that tax money is used for their socialized health care system that I happen to think is great and would love to see the US take the best of that system and make it work. Anyone who wants to have that conversation with me, message me.  It’s really interesting to me how it works.  I found out cab drivers make about 60-70k.  Really.  I like driving….hmmm.

So that’s about it – nothing over the top exciting, just consistently lovely every day!! But I’ve got some great stuff planned coming up – as I said, I just landed in Melbourne and I’ll be here for the weekend, but then I’m flying up to Byron Bay for 5 days to get Scuba Certified and then flying farther north up to the Great Barrier Reef!  And then off to New Zealand!!  Pinch me. 🙂