I was feeling a little nervous getting to the airport, but I was pretty calm once I was on the plane. The first flight was from NYC to LA, about 5 hours. I had a middle seat and Ina had a window. It was a 747-400, and was the same plane that would take us from LA to Sydney.. We had a 1:30 layover in LA. I had a rolling carry on that was over the weight limit, which was not checked on the first leg. After transferring some stuff to my back pack they let me on. Of course both the backpack and rolling bag went into the over head bin.
I have to say that Qantas is the best way to fly, granted the only international flight I have ever been on (my flight to Costa Rica did not even have air vents). There is a TV in each seat with a lot of movie available. I watched Valentines Day, Invictus, Crazy Heart, The Men Who Stare at Goats, the first three episodes of The Pacific (over the Pacific), and a episode of The Simpsons. Something like 12 hours of TV. I managed to get a few naps in, between 30 min and 2 hours long each, for a total of about 6 hours.
The food on the flight was pretty good, I have nothing to compare it to, but I felt full after each of the three meals. Of course my stomach started acting up about half way to Sydney, and it took a while in the hotel before I felt 100%.
It took a little while to get through security because Ina and I were transporting gifts. We also each picked up a phone from Vodaphone in the airport. My number is: 0449858562 if you want to send a txt.
Our cab driver was very nice giving us whatever information we asked for. We had to take local streets because the highway was backed up. I asked about sports being in season, aside from the world cup, the Socceroos play on Saturday, rugby and AFL are in season. AFL is a cross between rugby and Gaelic football and is mostly played around Melborne. The attendance at most games is around 90,000, we plan on going to a match.
Our hotel had our room ready for us, now about 10am local. We moved in and went in search of the nearby HSBC and some food. We found the bank, in Chinatown, about 4 blocks away. Our hotel, The Mercure, is right by the central train station, and quite nice, ****’s. For lunch we stopped into an Asian cafe and got noodles, Ina’s favorite. We also had a small dish of pig ear, interesting, but not something I would go out of my way to get. We also stopped into Paddy’s Market. A giant indoor, multi floor bizarre, with tons of stalls selling everything you can imagine. www.paddysmarkets.com.au
Our plan was to buy shampoo, toothpaste, conditioner, face wash and body wash once we got here. All told it cost $60 for those items, ouch.
Again back at the hotel our body’s had no idea what time it was, we were in limbo. We went to the Powerhouse museum, www.powerhousemuseum.com . It bills itself as a museum of technology. There is a large focus on steam engines, there are planes hanging up, and some bicycles. There was also an exhibit on Sydney fashion week, women in Australia, and a collection of furniture, china, and dresses. I personally fell in love with a beautiful clear coated Colnago built up with 35th anniversary Campagnolo Record.
There was also a neat exhibit on the 80’s which included music, art, video games, fashion, and everything else pop culture. I have a new piece of vinyl to start hunting for:
The museum was pretty cheap and probably worth whatever we paid for a solid 2 hours.
We returned to the hotel and decided to take a nap, 4pm to 6pm. Our plan was to go get dinner at 6pm. At 6 we decided to have a late dinner after 8pm. At 8 we decided to skip dinner. at about midnight we both woke up and went back to sleep. At 4am we both woke up again, Ina started planning the day while I slept. Finally at 6:15am we got up to start day 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment