There's No Place Like Oz

Welcome to the first guest post on There’s No Place Like Oz! It is written by one of my best friends who recently came to visit me in Sydney for two weeks. We met in the summer of 2007 when she moved to Virginia to start a job in my office. Though she returned to New York a year later, we have kept in close touch and have traveled to Barcelona (summer 2008), Toronto (her 30th birthday) and Dublin (my 30th birthday) together.

I’ve never been in love, so I admit I have no real basis for comparison, but as I strolled through the Botanical Gardens for the first time, marveling at the beautiful backdrop created by Sydney Harbour and her awe-inspiring Opera House, I couldn’t help but swoon. I’m not usually so enthralled with nature, but it was as if there was a healing quality in the pure serenity of that place; I haven’t felt so at peace in a long time.

View of the Opera House & Harbour Bridge from the Botanical Gardens

It’s not just the magic of being in the backyard of such an iconic building that amazes me; even the simplest of experiences become a fascinating adventure in a foreign country. “Hi, how are you?” suddenly becomes “Hi, how ya goin’?” The greetings are so similar that I understand the meaning automatically, and it actually takes a moment for me to register the difference. And then, I have to stop and smile. I’ve just experienced first-hand a piece of Aussie culture…and she’s got me under her spell.

I could probably recount a dozen more moments like this during my recent two-week trip to Sydney. Perhaps one of the best things about travel is that you almost have to slow yourself down in order to properly take it all in. There’s no place you have to be except for right here, right now; nothing you need to do except for whatever you happen to find yourself doing at this moment. Time seems to stand impossibly still just long enough to *almost* make you believe it will never end.

“I Wish . . .” Statue at the Botanical Gardens

My childlike wonder at the world around me doesn’t seem to happen often enough in my daily life back home in the States. I suppose it could if I were to actively remind myself to “stop and smell the roses” once in a while and really, truly, pay attention to what’s right in front of me. Of course, most of us are so distracted by our efforts to keep up with the intense pace of our lives that we hardly have the time to sit, relax, reflect, and just be. I guess we also tend to take for granted what we already have right at our fingertips; we assume it will always be here, waiting for us. We forget that we are mortal, that eventually our time on this earth must come to an end. With travel, we more often recognize that our time is short, and this is the source of both our sorrow and our joy: so many new things, and too often, so little time in which to experience them.

Butterfly at Sydney Wildlife World

Landing in “The Land Down Under” felt to me a bit like Alice falling through the rabbit hole. I had never traveled such a great distance, and although I knew there would be some rather drastic changes in my surroundings, I was still caught a bit off guard. As I stepped off the plane, still a bit disoriented from the long flight, it was as if the world had turned itself upside down! Night became Day, Fall became Spring, and the cars drove on the other side of the road . . . which, by the way, made it slightly dangerous for me to cross the street with Heather . . . as she dodged cars like a native, I hung back, not yet trusting my ability to predict which direction they would be turning from! 😉

Amazingly, though, I felt a kinship with Sydney from the very start; I have no better way to describe it other than to simply say that I felt like I had come home. Not quite the same way that Buffalo, NY feels like home to me, and not exactly a déjà vu feeling either, as if I had been there once before. There was just something about the way that my body, mind, and spirit connected with the vibe of the city, as if I was meant to be there. I even remarked about the fact that I seemed not to experience much, if any, jetlag, despite a fourteen hour time difference. I’ve never been a morning person, and here I was getting up between 6:00-7:00 a.m. during my first week! Heather was amazed that I was able to function so well, too, but she eventually set me straight by pointing out the fact that my getting up so early *was* jetlag . . . we both had a good laugh about that one! As it turns out, I am not a morning person after all, even if you put me in another hemisphere, a day into the future, half a world away. Some things just don’t change. 😉

Since I returned home, family and friends have of course asked “What was the best thing about your trip?” Quite honestly, I’m not sure I have a good answer (or at least not *one* answer). Every day brought something good, not the least of which included delicious coffee and pastries . . . so many pastries that Heather & I began referring to my visit as our “no pastry left behind tour!”

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Muffin from Bourke Street Bakery

One day on a trip to Breadtop so that I could try their “Blue Mountain Coffee Bun,” Heather and I found ourselves a bit disappointed to find that this particular pastry was not available that morning. Trying to cheer me, Heather suggested other treats we could sample and we arbitrarily came to the conclusion that one Coffee Bun could only even *attempt* to be replaced by no less than three other pastries! The Green Tea/Red Paste Bun, Taro Bun, and Chocolate Horn were all divine . . . but don’t worry, we returned another day & we were ultimately successful in our quest to consume the coveted Bun! 😉 If you ever find yourself in Sydney, I highly recommend Breadtop for the softest, yummiest bread I have ever tasted!

Now, normally, right here is where I would insert a picture of said pastries, but I’m sorry to have to report that they looked SO good, we ended up tearing into them without any thought for our future blog posts. Alas, you’ll just have to take my word for it! 😉

Nicole fell hard for Sydney, and I enjoyed watching her love it as much as I do. Looking forward to my next adventure with her, wherever that may be!

At the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour