Sydney makes a great first impression. We flew in over the opera house and harbour bridge in the magnificent winter sunshine. After dropping bags at the hotel we went right down to the circular quay to see the city's most famous sites. The weather was amazing- sunny and warm, in the 60s. That's my kind of winter!! We had lunch along the wharf at an Italian restaurant and then walked through the Rocks, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Sydney. There were fun weekend markets going on with all kinds of souvenirs and hand crafts. We wandered aimlessly, going under the harbour bridge and then back towards the hotel so we could properly check in, shower, and change. It had been a long time since Boston!
Because it's winter, the sun sets early even though it's not too cold. Our hotel is best a pedestrian mall, which we walked up looking for dinner. It was mostly stores, but eventually we found a cafe overlooking city hall.
Day two we awoke early and had breakfast near the hotel. We caught the ferry to the Taronga Zoo, which was am amazing ride. I loved seeing the city from the water. The zoo itself had some terrific views back to the city. There's an easy route through the zoo that features lots of native Australian animals like koalas, kangaroos, and wallabys, as well as some usually zoo finds like giraffes and elephants. We even got to feed a giraffe!
In the afternoon we returned to Sydney and explored the botanical gardens next to the opera house. They were lovely and there were so many people out on the beautiful day. It appeared to be a big gathering place for people playing pokemon go, which is the new thing to do this summer.
For dinner we had to try the iconic Harry's meat pies. I had the tiger pie, with mashed potatoes and peas, and it was delicious! Peppery beef in the pie, steamy warm gravy, flaky crusty-- yum!!
