Sydney Tower Eye

Another thing to check off the bucket list! Went up to the Sydney Tower Eye today. It is 1,000 ft above ground and gives you a gorgeous view of the city. You start off with a 5 minute "4-D" movie introducing the great city of Sydney. I have absolutely no idea what makes 4-D different than 3-D, but it was awesome. You put on those ridiculous glasses and get a birds eye view of the city. It takes you over the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, through the ocean, where they actually sprinkle water on the audience, where you pass by sharks and jellyfish, etc. Then you get in the elevator and go all the way to the top to see the awesome view. You can do the Skywalk, which is where you get to walk around the outside of the top of the Tower, but we decided that wouldn't be worth it since we are about to embark on the insane bridge climb tomorrow (slightly anxious for that... considering the amount of rain that has been dumped on Sydney lately-but still so excited). The tower has a post office at the top, which is the highest working post office in the Southern Hemisphere. Our friend mailed a postcard to her family just for fun from up top. Hope it works! Naturally I was craving sweets (I am my father's daughter), so I bought an Australian candy bar to try. It was a grosser version than Twix... Guess I'll stick to the Nutella and Tim-Tam's. Honestly, what else would a girl ever need?

The Tower is in Westfield, which I soon discovered is the fancy shopping part of Sydney. Gucci, Prada, Mui Mui... Everything was GORGEOUS. We somehow made our way past the shops without going in any of them and wasting our money to Circular Quay. We were going to meet our friend's dad for dinner, since he is in town, but we had about an hour to kill. We walked around Hyde Park for a bit, which I think is Sydney's version of NYC's Central Park. It had a gorgeous fountain, church, walkway, etc.

We walked all the way around to the front of the Opera House, and I was SO excited to finally be up close and personal and go take a tour, when it started to POUR. So we all had to purchase umbrellas at the connivence store and go hide under a covering until her dad arrived. A man on the street was playing my family's favorite travel song, Botechelli's "Time to Say Goodbye," as we walked around the famous fancy district called The Rocks in the rain looking for a place to have dinner. We ate at a nice little Italian restaurant and had a great time exploring a new part of the city. I think I could be here for months and still not have done everything there is to do in Sydney-I can't believe how huge it is!

Other fun facts:

McDonald's, known as Macka's in Australia, is the COOL place to hang out and get late night food. I don't think I have eaten at a McDonald's since I was like 7... But a 50 cent ice cream cone? You can't get cheaper than that here.

Everything is measured using the Metric System. As in calories are in kilojoules. So forget that. I will be eating whatever I want, thank you very much. And the treadmill speed is measured in kilometers per hour. So I just have to guess which seems about right. All I could tell you is if I was walking or running. The dumbbells at the gym are in kilograms, so I am just not bothering to even deal with those and embarrass myself. Of course I could just learn the conversions... Or I could just be the stupid American and stick to my measurement system. Yeah, I'm going to do that.

Classes run a full hour. At SMU, if you have a class at 9:00, it ends at 9:50, giving you ten minutes to get to your next class, if need be. At UNSW, if you have a class at 9:00, it ends at 10:00, and your next class starts at 10:00. So yes, I SPRINT from one end of campus to the other to get to my classes. It makes no sense whatsoever and I look like such an idiot. Kids walk in late to class up till 30 minutes past when it starts, I swear. And some kids leave class up to a half hour early, just to make it to their next class on time. So people are constantly getting up and coming in and slamming the door and making more distractions than I can handle at one time, and the professors don't seem to mind one bit.

People think it is hip in Australia to wear old school NBA basketball jerseys... Not sure why. Can't quite figure that one out yet.

You are allowed to take the shopping cart home with you. I'm sorry, WHAT? You consistently see people rolling their grocery cart full of food down/up the hill to their house or apartment. You also see tons of barefoot people in the stores. Um, gross. My old flat mate, who is from Australia, described it to me like, "Well, if I am just running to the grocery store, why would I put on shoes?" I really don't even know how to respond to that one. Multiple reasons, actually. 

Ohhh Australia.... how I will never quite understand you, but oh how I love you. So so much.