Landmarks and Pubs

Sydney is the capital of New South Wales with 5 million inhabitants. In 1788, 11 ships carrying convicts and wardens landed here to establish a penal colony. It was named after the then British Home Secretary Lord Sydney. The city of Sydney was officially founded in 1842, after it was prohibited to bring convicts to Australia.

Meanwhile, it is the largest city in Australia. It is home to major companies and banks, numerous hotels and fancy restaurants and bars, as well as abundant bays and dream beaches. Landmarks include the completed Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the 1970s. Statistically, the sun shines here 342 days a year, and we have already experienced one of the remaining 23 days on our arrival. We always have such luck. It never rains at Uluru either, only when the Wagners are there.

It's great to have a hotel with breakfast, no need to prepare or search. Just sit at the table and eat. Great.

After a hearty breakfast, we head towards the metro. Today we start with the Harbour Bridge. 

We ride the metro across the bridge and walk back on foot. 

A nice walk in the blazing sunshine. It's fun to watch the hustle and bustle in the harbor. It's incredible how much ship traffic there is here.

The Harbour Bridge, built between 1923 and 1932, is the most important connection between North and South Sydney. It has 2 railway lines, 8 car lanes, a bicycle path and a pedestrian walkway. 

We didn't see any bicycles, but countless joggers. So you could also turn it into a jogging path.

Such a walk definitely makes you thirsty. First stop, conveniently on the way, the Munich Brauhaus in Sydney. 

The beer was quite tasty. We took a slight detour to the harbor as we started to get hungry and stopped at one of the 4 oldest pubs. The Fortune of War Pub (where I had fish and chips and my honey had an Aussie burger).

And while we're at it, we also have to try the other 3. Next up was "The Australian Hotel".

To visit the 3rd pub, we had to change neighborhoods. So far, we had been in "the Rook", the oldest district. Now we had to move to the "Millers Point" neighborhood. Walking along Argyle Street through this tunnel 

The tunnel was carved out of massive stone by convicts. The 3rd pub, "The Hero of Waterloo Pub", was built using the carved stone blocks.

By the way, it is in dispute with our last pub, "The Lord Nelson Brewery", as to which one is older. 

The last pub was definitely the busiest.

On the way back, we quickly grabbed some sushi at Woolworths and happily fell into bed.