A few new Australian foods...

So today was rainy and cold. I was going to go to the botanical gardens but the weather just wasn't right. Instead I went to the mall to finally get a cell phone as well as a new bathing suit. In the afternoon I went to the little corner cafe, Organic Republic Bakery, to read my book and relax. At the cafe I tried two new foods, a meat pie (see photo below) and vegemite. The meat pie was very tasty. The pastry crust was just delicious and the filling, beef and mushroom, was nice and savory. I had the vegemite on bread with butter. There was only a bit of vegemite on the bread and it mostly tasted salty. It wasn't bad but I don't foresee myself ever wanting to eat it again. That's all for now folks. Later!

I also had a cappuccino at the cafe today as well. The photo below is from a few days ago but the same drink. Doesn't it look so cute?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone back in America! Kelsey, Phil and I just got done eating the thanksgiving feast we cooked for their family and friends. It was quite a treat putting on this traditional American meal for the Australians. They were all very excited to eat the meal and thoroughly enjoyed everything we made. I go lots of compliments on the three dished I made - the sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pecan pie - so that made me happy! I also carved the turkey, a skill I never new I had. Click here for a video tour of the meal.

Here's a few photos of the group:

Clockwise from bottom left: Kelsey, Phil, Andrew (Phil's cousin), Rose (Phil's sister), Anthony (friend),  Cheryl (friend), Patrick (Phil's brother), Popy (friend), Bec (Marc's fiance), Mark (Phil's cousin and Andy's brother). 

I'm in this photo instead of Rose.

That's all for tonight. I'm trying to get my cell phone figured out right now and I'm very confused. Plus it's almost midnight here and I've had a long day.

Best!

P.S. I added a feature to my blog so you can receive updates via e-mail when I post. Super convenient, right? Sign up towards the top of the blog and let me know if you have any questions!

Beach, Beach, and more Beach!

So today Adam took me on a tour of a few Sydney beaches. We went to Bondi Beach, Watson's Bay, and Coogee Beach. Before hand we got coffee at Le Paris cafe in Bondi. I had a cappuccino, which here in Australia comes with chocolate on top, see below Delicious!

Here's a few video links:

Bondi Beach

Watson's Bay

Here is a photo of Watson's Bay:

Watson's Bay is on the Sydney Harbor. Just behind Watson's Bay is The Gap which over looks the Pacific Ocean. Interesting but sad fact: The Gap is the number one place in Australia for committing suicide. Here's a few photos of that:

Below is a photo of the view of the city from The Gap with Watson's Bay in the forefront. Click here for a video panorama of the view.

No pictures form Coogee, sorry. Another time.

Anyways, we're off to the final show of the comedy competition soon to cheer on Jodi, our friend, who won in the semi-finals last week. Wish her luck!

Best!

Yoga on the Beach at Bronte

Tonight we went to yoga on the beach at Bronte beach, about 3 kilometers from where we're staying. The yoga was amazing. It was right at sunset and it was a nice easy, relaxing class. Before yoga, however, there was a killer cardio workout in the dry sand. I made it about 15 minutes into the 30 minute cardio workout. Never again. I'm on vacation to relax, not die. It was a great idea, for everyone else.

Here's a photo of me on the way to yoga. There's a beach walk that goes from Bondi to Bronte beach (and beyond). I'm standing along that walk here:

Night!

A very eventful afternoon in Paddington!

I finally made my first video of my world adventure!!! Watch it here. 

So today Kelsey and I went to a cute little neighborhood in Sydney called Paddington and spent out time drinking coffee, walking around the neighborhood, exploring the shops, and making new friends. We started our adventure at a cute little coffee shop, Tiger Mottle, enjoying coffee, tea and pastries and discussion our futures. Kelsey wants to go into writing, I am trying to find a way to finance a never ending world tour. Here's a few photos:

The delicious bakery case! 

My treat: dark chocolate and boysenberry jam bread pudding. 

A beautiful decaf latte.

After our morning coffee break we walked around paddington looking at the beautiful houses. Here's a few examples:

Just beautiful, aren't they?! The whole neighborhood is full of homes like this. They have cute little patios in the front and nice small yards in the back. I could definitely live in this neighborhood.

On our walk around Paddington, we stumbled across the cutest book store ever, Ampersand Cafe and Bookstore, on Oxford Street. Here's a video I made there and a few pictures of the basement level:

After we left the bookstore we walked over to Woollahra, a neighboring neighborhood. We were on a mission for macaroons and having trouble finding them and hoped we would have better luck there. We didn't find any macaroons in Woollahra but I did find myself a tour guide for tomorrow, a cute Australian guy named Adam. Kelsey is working tomorrow so he offered to show me around the city. Can't wait!

In other photos, here's a photo of the beautiful Plumeria (street name, Frangipani) flower that you see all over Sydney:

All in all, today turned out to be a beautiful day. It was chilly, cloudy, and windy this morning but by the afternoon it felt like we were in Hawaii. There are so many gorgeous and fragrant flowers growing in people's gardens in Paddington it smelled just like paradise! The sun was out, the air was warm, and the flowers were in bloom. I'm really starting to fall in love with Sydney, now I just need to find a reason to stay.

In other news, Kelsey and I have plans with Gardi, my friend from South Africa, for Saturday. We are going to see the Yoko Ono exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Sydney. I'll definitely let you know how it is!

I'm not sure my day is going to get any more exciting for today. If anything does happen I'll post again, if not I'll check back in tomorrow.

Best!

Mary's and My Sunburn

Morning!

So last night we went to Mary's, a Hamburger and Fried Chicken restaurant in the Newtown neighborhood in Sydney. The hamburgers were good, but I would by no means fly to Sydney to eat them. The fried chicken was decent. It tasted a little burnt and the breading didn't have much flavor. The chicken, however, was very moist and delicious! The Australians I was with all thought it was the best chicken they'd ever had in their life. Kelsey, the only other American, agreed more with me, however. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. (Funny, I am writing home about it anyways.)

On to my sunburn. So I've been talking about this sunburn for days so I figured I'd show you guys what my back looks like. The lightest areas are obviously what was covered. The lighter areas were where I had applied an ample amount of sunscreen (please note the partial hand print on the right side of my lower back). The darker brown/red areas are where I was/still am burnt. The back of my legs look somewhat similar to my back. I think I have the best looking tan lines on the beach! ;) Today and/or tomorrow I'm going to try to work on evening this out a bit so I don't look so funny for the next 3 months that I'm going to be spending in the sun. Moral of the story: when in Australia apply lots of sunscreen, reapply often, and bring someone with you who can apply it to your back!

Best!

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Afternoon!

This morning I went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. They offer a tour at 11am of the aboriginal art in the gallery. Here are a few of the pieces from the tour followed by the wall plaque for the piece:

The painting above is done by a female artist as an abstract painting of her homeland. This painting is done in dots, a style used by aboriginal artists from the central desert region of Australia.

Above, another painting of the artist's homeland. The darker areas just left of the center of the painting depict a clay basin where water gathers and can be stored for months. In the desert these areas are great sources of both water (obviously) and food. Again, this painting was done by a female artist from the desert region of Australia.

The painting above was done by a male artist. I don't remember the significance but it's quite pretty.

The painting above is done in natural tones. Again it is painted in the dot style of the desert residing aboriginal tribes. In traditional ceremonies, a similar painting to this one would be done on the earth. This painting is rather large and approximates the size of a real life work done by the tribe on the ground.

A few other facts to note from the tour:

- When white people first came to Australia there are believed to have been about 1 Million aboriginal people on the continent.
- There were at one time about 200 languages spoken amongst the aboriginal tribes. Today there are only about 20 left.
- When the white man first came to Australia, the natives believed they were women because of their clean shaven faces.

Other artwork from the museum:

This photo reminds me of something from my childhood but I'm not sure what. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

This is museum worthy art, apparently.

I took a photo of the painting above because it reminds me of Dali's work. They had lots of things done in s similar style in this museum. It was fun to see these as it reminded me of my time in Spain.

After leaving the museum I stumbled upon a large christmas tree in downtown Sydney. Here's a photo. So weird to see a christmas tree next to regular trees with leaves on them, isn't it?

I met a very nice South African girl, Gardi, on the bus today on my way to the Museum. I sent her an email inviting her out for coffee/dinner/drinks sometime soon. Hopefully she'll want to go. I'm just having so much fun meeting new people every day! I can't wait to see how many friends/acquaintances I make on this trip.

For dinner tonight we are going to a place called Mary's here in Sydney. The do American food (hamburgers and fried chicken). It's not really my style to go to the other side of the world and eat food from America but I've gotten multiple recommendations to visit this place so I'm excited to try it and see how authentic it really is.

That's all for now, folks. I'll check back in tonight or tomorrow.

One last thing, I read my horoscope in the local Bonid Beach magazine today and it made me feel I'm definitely on the right path. Here it is:

Aquarius: There's an old African proverb that says, "If you want to go fast, go yourself. If you want to go far, go together." It's bullshit, go yourself.

Best!

Weekend Re-Cap and Some Commentary

So the weekend has been fun! Thursday and Friday were rainy so we didn't do too much during the day, plus I was still recovering from Jet Lag and my terrible sunburn. One morning, however, I did get out to the local bookstore, Gertrude & Alice, to purchase the book club book for this month, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, and have a coffee. (Yes, book club ladies, I am reading the book club book!) I met two really nice people there: one was a twenty something Australian girl who is currently living in LA and working as an actress in the movies, the other is a local yoga teacher who spent 4 years living in Japan studying Tai Chi.

Friday night we (Kelsey, Phil, Andy (Phil's Cousin), Scotty (Phil's friend/old roommate), and myself) went out in Bondi for drinks and fun. We went to two bars, Bad Mama/Mamasan and Beach Road Hotel. For those of you in Mpls, Bad Mama would be the equivalent of a cool sushi place, maybe Fuji Ya, and Beach Road Hotel feels kinda like 508 or The Pourhouse.

Saturday morning I went to breakfast with a couple of Phil and Kelsey's friends, Scotty and Popy, at Sun Cafe. I had a breakfast baguette which consisted of baguette bread stuffed with bacon, fried eggs, spinach, roasted tomatoes, and garlic aioli. Delicious! Saturday night Phil and Kelsey had a work party to go to so I hung out with Phil's sister, Rose, his brother, Patrick, and cousin Andy. We went out for Mexican food at a place on the beach, Beach Burrito, and then got ice cream at a local ice cream shop. The night was stunningly beautiful and we got to eat out burritos and ice cream with the South Pacific ocean in the background. It's just amazing, the beautiful weather and the sandy beaches. I can definitely see why people live here! It's kinda funny they are really into Mexican food here. I find this slightly amusing since there are very few Mexican people here and they are an ocean away from Mexico. The tacos I had were decently authentic, however, and very tasty.

Today, Sunday, I spent the morning at the beach (now that my sunburn is finally starting to heal, only 5 days after getting burnt) and browsing the local Bondi market. The market was cool but not what I was expecting. I thought it would be like a market in Eurpoe, with mounds of beautiful, fresh food. Instead the market was selling goods, such as clothing and jewelry. It was still a nice experience but I didn't buy anything. I did, however, find a great used book dealer that I can visit next weekend to get a cheap read for my time here. This afternoon I sat at a cute little cafe across the street from where I'm staying, Bondi Organic Republic Bakery, and spent my time watching the people and reading my book club book. The barista, Matt, suggested I get the chocolate cupcake to go with my latte but I wasn't in the mood for something so sweet. Instead I got a great little Portuguese muffin thing. I will be going back later for the chocolate muffin and I'll let you know how it is.

This afternoon Kelsey and I walked around Bondi a bit and had a drink a happening little cafe/bar on Hall Street, Cafe Bikini. The vibe there was really cool and the place was nice and chill. This evening we went out for a few drinks at a local bar here in Bondi, Ravesis Hotel. This place feels kinda like Seven in Mpls but not as busy, at least not on a Sunday night. Over all nice chill day. Tomorrow I am finally going to start the sightseeing part of my trip and hopefully continue with this for the rest of my time here in Sydney.

Now for a bit of commentary on Sydney/Australia in general:

This country is super expensive. Here are a few examples: a bottle of water at a casual dining place, $3.50; a hamburger at a casual dining place, $20; a normal sized bottle of sunscreen, $15; paperback book, $20. If the exchange rate was good for Americans this wouldn't be such a big deal but it's almost 1:1. With this, I've had to be a bit carful about my spending. It would be nice to eat more meals out but I just can't afford to be spending $25-$30 on each meal every day. If I can manage to control my spending while I'm here in Australia I know this trip will go okay. Fingers crossed!

There are tons of foreigners here. I have already met people from all over the world and I've only been here a few days. It is so fun and inspiring to see how ofter people from other countries travel and where they've been to. It's also cool how many foreigners live here in Bondi. I'm sure there are places in America like this, probably NYC, Miami, LA, but in Minneapolis most people are born in MN, live in MN, and have little/no intention of ever leaving MN. I actually met people in MN who didn't understand why I'd feel the need to go on this trip because "Minnesota is the best place in the world." I would agree that MN is very nice, but there are just too many places to see in this world to stay there forever.

Okay, I'm going to now abruptly end this blog post. I will try to get back to this tomorrow and improve this blog post so maybe check back here again later for updates/corrections. I'm going to bed now, chat soon!

Days 1 & 2

So I've spent two full days in Sydney now. The first day, Wednesday, I spent most of the day at the beach. This was great until Wednesday night when I realized how sun burnt I was. I'm still red today (Friday) but I can tell it's starting to heal. Wednesday night we went to a comedy show/competition that one of Kelsey and Phil's friends was performing in. There were 12 comedians in total at the competition competing for a $1000 cash prize. Their friend, Jodie, won the competition so that was really cool. Even better, however, was the most of the comedians were funny. I'd say I enjoyed 9 of the 12 comedians so it was a fun night. Since Jodie won this semi-final competition we will be attending the final competition this coming Wednesday to support her again. Can't wait!

Yesterday, Thursday, Kelsey and I went into the mall at Bondi Junction to do some shopping. Kelsey and Phil are attending a work party on Saturday night for Phil's company and Kelsey needed a new dress. The mall was really nice a cross between Galleria and Southdale. Lots of high-end shopping (Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc.) and lots of affordable stores as well. Something weird, the grocery store is in the mall. It was strange to be walking through a shopping mall carrying bags of groceries but it was quiet convenient.

Today we don't have much on the calendar. It's supposed to rain most of today so we might just hang out around the house or go back to the mall. Tonight, however, we are likely going to head into town to meet up with my other friend who is living here, Alejandra. I'll let you know how it all turns out tomorrow.

Goodbye Minnesota, Hello Australia!

First, I would like to apologize for not posting on my blog in forever. After leaving New Hampshire I stopped for a couple of nights in Cleveland and then went back to Minneapolis. Although for some of you what I'm doing in Mpls might be interesting, for more of you it would not be. I will mention a few of the highlights from the last 3 weeks and then talk about my journey to Sydney and my first 16 hours on the Australian continent.

So since my last blog post I made it to New Hampshire, where I met up with my mother and spent 4 days visiting the family. From there we drove to Cleveland where a friend of mine, Molly, lives and spent two nights with her. The three of us (myself, my mom, and Molly) then drove back to Minneapolis. From when I left Minnesota for Georgia on September 29th and when I arrived back in Minnesota on October 30th, I drove over 4,600 miles and went through 21 states, listed here:

Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Maryland
Pennsylvania
New York
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
Ohio
Indiana
Wisconsin

I drove by a few others, most of which I've been to, but a couple of which I haven't (Delaware, New Jersey, Michigan). Looks like I might have to go on another road trip next year.

Once I got back to MN I spent most of my time catching up with friends and family. Here area  few of the highlights from my last 3 weeks in MN:

- My cousin's surprise birthday party at WhirlyBall in Maple Grove. While there we played Laser Tag and I was the grand champion of the family. I go just over 10,000 points and the next highest player had somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do when I get back from my world tour but it looks like professional laser tag player may be an option.

- Dinner with the MoneyGram ladies at Olive Garden. I go together with my cube mates from MoneyGram, Stephanie, Kristine, and Tammy, for dinner at Olive Garden at West End and we all got to catch up on each others lives. Stephanie and I no longer work at MoneyGram and Tammy was recently moved to a new desk so now the entire quad has been broken up. Its sad that we are all doing our own things now but it's always fun to look back and think about all the fun we had together!

- Night out with the book club ladies. On Friday, November 15th the book club ladies and I went out on downtown for my last (well technically second to last) night in Mpls. We went to the Union and Cowboy Jacks and just had a blast. Here's a pic of a few us from that night.

Left to Right: Sarah, Anna, me, Allyson, Cristina. 

I am already looking forward to my welcome home party :)

-Thanksgiving Dinner. On Saturday, November 16th, we had a pre-thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. We had a few family members and a few family friends over. My mother and I (well mostly my mother) cooked everything from scratch except the dinner rolls. We have next personally cooked so much food for thanksgiving so it was a big undertaking, but it all turned out great! Except the first pecan pie but we threw that out and made another. The most popular dish was the Sweet Potatoes. Here's a link to the recipe. 

So now for my trip to Australia:

I left my house at 8:40 am on Sunday, November 17h (CST) and arrived Kelsey's apartment in Sydney at 8:30 pm on Monday, November 18th (CST). It took me almost exactly 36 hours to get from door to door. Here's how it happened:

Flight #1:
Minneapolis to Denver. Departed Minneapolis at 10:30am CST on 11/17 and Arrived in Denver at 11:20 am Mountain Time on 11/17.

90 minutes lay over

Flight #2:
Denver to Los Angeles. Departed Denver at 12:55pm Mountain Time on 11/17 and Arrived in LAX at 2:15 pm Pacific Time on 11/17.

8 hour lay over

Flight #3:
Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji. Departed Los Angeles at 10:30 pm Pacific Time on 11/17 and Arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 6:30 am Fiji Time on 11/19.

2.5 hour lay over

Flight #4:
Nadi, Fiji to Sydney. Departed Nadi, Fiji at 9:00 am Fiji Time on 11/19 and Arrived in Sydney at 11:30 am Sydney Time on 11/19.

It was a very long day with little rest but it's finally over and I'm finally here.

For a bit of commentary on the trip:

- LAX has an amazing international terminal. It's fully of high end stores and great food options. If you have the opportunity to fly through LAX's international terminal, get excited!

- Fiji Airways, which I took from LAX to Sydney, was amazing! The plane looked like it was brand new and the service was great. Plus, the flight I purchased from LAX to Sydney, one way, was only $575 so they are quite reasonable as well. If you are headed to the south pacific, I would highly recommend this airline!

So now I'm in Sydney. Kelsey took me for a brief walking tour of the Bondi Beach area (where she lives and where I'm staying for my first two weeks in town) and it's just beautiful. The weather is nice, in the 70s, and it's sunny. The days are long and the trees have green leaves on them. It is so nice to be here, where it's just transitioning to summer, over being in Minnesota with winter on the way.

Its Wednesday morning here right now (Tuesday afternoon in Mpls) and I think I'm going to spend my day at the beach. Tonight we are going to a comedy show where one of Kelseys' friends is performing so that'll be fun. Then on Saturday we are doing pictures with Santa on the beach.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to take a few pictures today and post them soon so you can see just how beautiful it is here.

Later!