Sydney

Mom and I arrived in Sydney fairly early. We collected our bags and took the train to Circular Quay, near where our Marriott Hotel was. We were not able to check into the room right away, so we hung out in the executive lounge for a while waiting. Once we were able to check in, we realized that the hotel room seemed like a palace compared to the hostels we had been previously staying in. Luxury at its finest!! Once settled in, we decided to go explore the city a bit. We walked around on The Rocks, an area of town with lots of restaurants and shops and a street market. We stopped at a pub for lunch and talked for a while. Then, we headed back to the hotel. Mom fell asleep and was in for the rest of the night. I hung out with Matty and Layla later that night for a few hours, even though they were stayed down the street in a hostel.
The next day, Mom and I ate breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks, suggested to us by my good friend Nathan. It was a really good breakfast, and afterwards Mom and I headed out agian to explore some more. On our way to meet Matty and Layla at a supposed observation center, we got lost. We were walking along the well-known icon Bridge, but could not figure out how to cross it!! Eventually, a man let us know that we had walked too far and needed to backtrack in order to cross. So we did. Eventually, we found Matty and Layla and continued on to find the observation area. After about 20 minutes of walking around up and down hills, we discovered that the 'observation tower' was really just one of those towers for planes. We were bummed out and walked back, only to find that the REAL observation area was a park with a lousy view of nothing.
We continued walking through the city over towards the waterfront. We ended up stopping for some lunch at a small cafe. While Matty and Layla were ordering, Mom and I found cute little birds. They landed on the table literally 2 feet from where I was sitting!! They were clever little birds and ripped open a sugar packet and ate all the sugar and then took a second sugar packet with them for later!
Once Matty and Layla got their food, we sat on the waterfront so that they could eat. We then walked to the Sydney Opera house for some prime pictures. The Opera House is smaller than I would have imagined, but still magical!


***Will update later***