Birthday Weekend

Ray and I had a wonderful weekend together, celebrating both of our 26th birthdays. Friday night we had a typical night at home, heading to bed on-time since we were getting up at 8:30am to go into Sydney all day.
We caught the city bus to Paramatta, where we took the 12 o'clock ferry to Sydney harbor. We arrived in Paramatta around 11am, so we had time to grab some lunch at a local cafe. Ray enjoyed an enormous hamburger, and I had a salad with banana bread. Everything was very tasty. The ferry ride itself, was not very scenic until we arrived closer to the harbor. It was the perfect day to be out on the water, sunny and blue skies, 77 degrees. The day became interesting when a man decided to urinate on the deck of the ferry in front of everyone. Everyone around him watched in astonishment, and were thankful they were missed in the process!

On a different note, we had originally planned to go to Cockatoo Island, but the man in Paramatta who worked the ferry said it was not worth it, but that the ferry up to Manly was very beautiful. We decided to do that instead. We were glad we did, because we passed the Island, and the gentleman was right, there was not much there.

Ray has been greatly intrigued by the opera house since we've been here, so as we headed into the harbor it gave him a new perspective to take pictures. Once we arrived we figured out the time for the next ferry, and hopped aboard heading north to Manly. The ride was so relaxing. There were sailboats everywhere, and a different coastline wherever you looked-whether it was a coastline of houses, rock cliffs, or tall buildings. Once we arrived in Manly, we stayed on board, and headed back. We loved being on the water.

When we got back to the Wharfs at the harbor, we walked around and looked into taking a tour of the opera house. From there we took another ferry to Darling Harbor. I was a bit hesitant to get on this ferry, since the gentleman who urinated earlier, was going on board this ferry as well. I had to double check the water that hit my face as the ferry began moving!

Once to Darling Harbor we walked around, and watched a man do a live comedy show. He did a nice job making the audience laugh by picking on those who walked by, as well as doing tricks to capture our attention. Once all this was complete, dinner was calling our name.

We went to the Summit for dinner. The restaurant was on the 47th floor of the building, and revolved 360 degrees in one hour and forty-five minutes. We arrived in daylight, experienced the sunset, and then were amazed by Sydney at night. We spent three and half hours here, enjoying each other's company as well as the food! I would highly recommend this restaurant in case anyone is heading to Sydney. :) Ray ate a pepper steak, and I had the twice-baked pork belly. I even ate the crackle that came with it (pork skin), all those who know me well, should be proud!

Ray would also like me to include what a "classy" lady that I am. I was enjoying a margarita, and the lime fell in my face, and salt went all over my lap, Ray replied, "classy." Then I was trying to explain a drink to the waiter that I had seen earlier, that I wanted to know the name of...again Ray thought "classy." There were these tiny shavings left on the table that Ray and I were guessing what they were...I spilled them all over the table, and wandered if they were candle shavings. Apparently, it was high quality salt. Again, Ray thought "She's full of class!"

After a fabulous evening of the "dos and don'ts" of being in a fancy restaurant, we rolled home on the bus, arriving home at 11:30pm, completing an amazing day!

On Sunday, we had plans to ride on a promotional bus with a kid I work with. We waited at a bus stop downtown Sydney for almost three hours. If we were not waiting, we would have missed the man who was bleeding profusely from his arm, leaving a blood trail. Ray was so excited to finally see something he could 'track,' which he did, right back to the scene of the crime! The bus finally came two hours later, and we rode around Sydney and Bondi Beach. This was our first sighting of the most famous beach on the east coast. We were in a double-decker bus, listening to really loud music, watching people gawk at us as we rode by. The scenery was great at times, and the beach was insanely busy! We had a fun day, meeting new people, and getting to know others better.

Thank you to those who sent us birthday cards! We really enjoyed getting mail...at least I did! I was very excited to hear from home in our mailbox. :) Also, thank you for the birthday wishes on Skype, and facebook! :) We love you all!

Happy Birthday Erica!!!!