Clouds and Christmas Sparkle

We are spending five days in the largest city in Australia with cloudy weather (fortunately no smoke clouds) and around 23 degrees. Even though our hosts would have preferred to show us this interesting city in bright sunshine, we are not unhappy - we gladly take thousands of steps past old venerable buildings and wide harbor facilities in cool weather.

Sydney is proud of its 230-year tradition and history and happily presents St. Mary's Cathedral, built in 1821, as well as the Opera House, opened in 1973. But the botanical garden is also worth seeing, as is the Sydney Tower Eye, which offers a fantastic overview of the city at a height of 250 meters. We also enjoy a leisurely walk through the streets known as 'The Rocks', where old houses provide a perfect backdrop for the Christmas market and showmen present wonderful local art. A highlight is the ferry ride to Manly, where we admire the world-famous surf beach and visit stores where you can buy trendy Billabong surf clothing. Our guests also show us beautiful places outside the city center: the so-called 'Blue Mountains' (the eucalyptus forests shimmer blue in the distance) are just as much a must-see as Bondi Beach, where the beautiful and rich meet for surfing and shopping.

We not only enjoy walking around freely without having to look at the clock, but also being able to go to a nice house in the evening, enjoy Australian hospitality and learn card games from each other (with a lot of laughter). I don't know how many people can play Jass in Sydney, but now there are two more. We leave the Jass cards with them so that they are equipped accordingly.

In a few minutes, we will set off to the airport to start our journey back home. We do it satisfied and happy, knowing that we haven't seen everything, but - as our hosts said - more than some Australians.