Sydney for beginners

Sitting here with round feet, I am writing a few lines about our first and very beautiful day in Sydney.

Today, we dawdled a bit as usual and got into a dilemma with breakfast and the Opal Card (that's what the Myki Card is called in Sydney) - buying and topping up.

Despite all the naysaying, we arrived at the meeting point with Tony 10 minutes early (including a detour to what we thought was the wrong stop, but turned out to be just one stop further than the one we should have taken).

The meeting with Tony was very nice and we kept him away from work for 30 minutes and had a delicious coffee together. It's been 36 years since he was in Biefenkopf with his choir (the Saint Mary's Cathedral, yes, THE Saint Mary's Cathedral) - unbelievable!

He gave us some valuable tips for our day, which we immediately put into action: walking through Hyde Park, then through The Domain (where we could observe many sport-crazy Sydneysiders boxing, playing football, soccer, frisbee, and of course jogging) and then doing the same thing through the Botanic Gardens, where we made acquaintance with Ibises (smelly, cheeky, and currently mating).

The abundance of ferns, palms, and so on really impressed us and the best part was that it was all for free - we couldn't believe it.

As a crowning conclusion to our sightseeing, we ended up at the Opera House: it was truly impressive to stand in front of this building that we have seen so many times on TV!

We then went home via the Pitt Street Mall (a HUGE, completely overwhelming, and quite expensive shopping complex that you don't have to see or experience, in my opinion).