In the recent years I have thought many times at visiting Australia but could never resolve to include it in my favorite destinations list. I believed it was so far that I would never get enough time and I also feared that I could be disillusioned.
Sydney Harbor
And then the time has come! My best friend, Stefano, was planning a trip to Brazil but had finally to give up because it would have cost him a fortune. He phoned me a couple of days before Christmas asking if I would be ready to make a trip with him and asking where we could go. We quickly agreed on Vietnam and Australia as possible destinations and made a quick check to see the prices of the flights. Then, on Christmas eve, while I was on the railway platform waiting for the train to Florence, we talked each other and decided in 15 minutes that we would go to Sydney. While I was jumping on the train, Stefano had already clicked to buy the flights. Departure on December 26 and back on January 9.
That was it! A crazy decision, but we felt thrilled.
Sydney Harbor Bridge
I confess, we were both a little worried by the long trip and the jet lag but things have been far better than expected. We traveled with Emirates via Dubai, the airline offering the cheapest tickets and the best timetable. It was our first experience with Emirates and we’ve both been impressed by service quality. Additionally, we were lucky enough to travel from Dubai to Sydney with the new Airbus A380. A great airplane indeed, far more comfortable. We slept a lot, thus the arrival in Sydney was not that traumatic despite the 10 hours difference.
Having decided so quickly, we had only planned to stay in Sydney until New Years’ Eve. We choose to stay at the Hilton Hotel because Stefano is traveling a lot for his job and thus can benefit from special benefits. I am not particularly keen of large hotel chains but I have to admit that Hilton is nice and most important very well located. Service is excellent with only one exception. There’s no Internet wireless connection and the cable connection in the rooms is awfully expensive. Apart from this, we really enjoyed our stay.
Our first day in Sydney was mainly dedicated to a rough recognition of the city. We felt a little bewildered and decided that the real discovery of Sydney would start the following day.
Funny to hear how you selected Sydney on such short notice! It’s a nice place, and the Aussies are wonderful folks.
Going to Vietnam on a whim would be a little more difficult, considering vaccination recommendations, malaria pills if needed, etc., so I think you chose well!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Well, one of the great things of this trip is that everything was so spontaneous. It was just 1-2-3 go!
I loved Sydney and most of all I loved Aussies. So nice and so cool!
It is my first trip to Australia as well. Next time you must see the Great Ocean Road! You can check out my pics here … http://nativefoodandwine.squarespace.com/features-journal/food-along-the-great-ocean-road.html
We are heading to Sydney next week.
Cheers!
Thank you for your comment, Amber.
I looked at your beautiful pictures and… indeed I’ll have to come back to Australia, see the Great Ocean Road and lots of other awesome places. I was really impressed by wine and food (and being Italian I guess you know what that means…), absolutely excellent. We spent a few days in Orange and surroundings and loved the hills and the wineyards. I’ll write a post on that part of the trip in the next days.
Say ‘Hello’ to Sydney from me.
Loved Australia!!! (and missing it…)
Ciao!
Fabulous! I love that kind of spontaneity! Enjoy! I’ve heard great things about Sydney. Many of our fellow blog catalogers live there.
Yes, it was somehow crazy buy I’m so happy I did it! Sydney is a fantastic city and the surrounding are awesome. I hope you will follow the forthcoming posts on that great trip. Cheers.