Sydney day one

 A much needed full night’s sleep. Thank God for earplugs. Amaris had already woken up for her hostel’s 10 am checkout time. Since I still had a room, she came by to stash her bags inside. I needed breakfast so we walked to a cafe close by while I hashed out a blog post. Gotta keep that #content coming.

After breakfast we popped over to the Sydney Opera House. Something our trip to the film lab betrayed is that the woman she entrusted to take a photo of her in front of the opera took a photo of her blocking the opera. Do-over success. With the botanical gardens nearby, it was only natural for us to wander over and explore it. The park is full of curious flora and fauna. Being an island, the only living things that look familiar here are either imported or humans. Everything else looks like it came from some uncanny valley of evolution. Great fun.

First opera house of the trip I don’t go inside

I can only relax in the grass for so long and suggested a cup of tea. Google betrayed a place serving up loose leaf nearby. The blessing and curse of being a tea drinker is that any city’s tea shops are always going to be drowned out in boba places. Sorting the places to be from the trash can be exhausting. We chose well. A cosy atmosphere conducive to sitting and relaxing melded perfectly with the tea and snacks that came with it. Maybe too well. At 3:45 Amaris realized that she should probably get going for her 5:00 flight to Melbourne. (She made it) I sat and finished the pot. The owner mentioned that I should follow up with a pot of chrysanthemum and never one to turn down good advice (not true) I agreed.

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I’m not going to sip decaf and doom scroll on my own so I had a little book shopping intermission. The last few bookstores I’ve been to have been okay but never gave me quite what I wanted. I found my book shopping expeditions after Greece to be long and difficult. Blissfully, I was in and out after 10 minutes with two choices. Outstanding. Back to the cafe for a pot and a read. Casino Royale pairs well with a hot chrysanthemum and charging your phone out of reach.

I thanked the cafe owners and asked for a favor, a dinner recommendation. When the proprietor of a Chinese emphasis tea shop send you to a dumpling place, you go. These are the rules. Naturally, dinner was fantastic. As promised, the juiciest dumplings I have ever had.

For a nightcap I went close by to a bar specializing in Japanese whisky. The bartender had great recommendations and was kind enough to point me in the direction of another bar with a deeper selection. Fantastic. I installed myself in a crowded basement and got back to work on Casino Royal. James has cleared out alt Ciffre and I’ve had a number of lovely local single malts.