No Turkey For You, One Year: Sydney Day 4

As usual, this morning when we woke up was the day before in the US, but today that meant our families were gathering without us for Thanksgiving. I was sorry to miss this holiday – it is all about food, family, and football, three of my favorites. Thank goodness for Rupert Murdoch, though…he’s Australian, so Australian Fox Sports Network was showing the Packers/Bears game live in Sydney! So we got 1 out of 3 at least. While Gretchen went for a run, I took in Brett Favre et al. for a while. Then we both took some time to call our families. It was nice to talk to everyone. Of course, they threw it in my face that Mom’s filling (that’s “stuffing” to you non-YoCoers) was exceptionally good this year, and I got exactly none of it. Thanks, family! They also all agreed that family gatherings lack coherence when I am not there. It is nice to be appreciated. Gretchen talked to her whole family too. Then we went up to the hospitality suite for free breakfast.

My cold was at its worst today. I had a severe cough and sore throat, but John, the guy who mans the suite in the morning, made me a cup of hot tea with lemon and honey, and that felt great. We headed over to the Sydney Tower, our last stop before the airport. First we went on OzTrek, which was a good attraction with several movies about Australia. The highlight was a 180-degree movie that we watched in moving seats, so it felt like we were flying across the Outback. After OzTrek, we went up to the tower itself. I was a little disappointed, because from where the tower sits, the Opera House (yeah, it’s my favorite building, so what?) is behind another building. We did get a good look at the Harbour Bridge, though, and the view really gave us perspective on how huge Sydney Harbour is. It is an amazing place. Unfortunately, we had limited time on top of the tower because we had to catch a shuttle to the airport to leave Sydney. Oh, Sydney, I will miss your sprawling avenues and friendly ferries and flowering jacaranda trees and wild ibises in the park. I adored this city and I already know I want to come back someday. So it is goodbye but not farewell to Sydney.

Oh, Sydney, I will miss your sprawling avenues and friendly ferries and flowering jacaranda trees and wild ibises in the park.