I LOVE SYDNEY

So Friday night I had my first Australian movie theater experience. It's very similar to going to the movies in America but the snack section is so much cooler! It's all kind of "do it yourself" like. You can get your own popcorn and drinks and all that; the prices are very similar to American prices too so it didn't feel as bad spending $8 on a popcorn. Gotta live a little right? Oooh they also have assigned seats in the movies here, which I really don't like the idea of considering my friend Sam and I got stuck next to these obnoxious girls who wouldn't stop talking the entire movie, we saw The Hunger Games by the way. It was actually a lot better than I expected... might even read the books when I have time again (you didn't read that, shh).

The weather said it was supposed to be nice out Saturday so a few friends and I went to explore another beach, Palm Beach.

Though the trip took 2 hour by train and bus (with an extremely psychopath driver) the beach was absolutely gorgeous. The area kind of reminded me of Sunset Bay Beach back home, minus the drunks, bars, and about ten million times nicer. It was in a more secluded area which I love and the views were spectacular. There was also part of the beach that had tons of rocks that we climbed on too!

And of course once again I got a little sunburn. I swear the Australian sun hates my skin. No matter ho much sunscreen I put on, I still manage to burn. The good thing is that the burn eventually has been fading into a deeper tan :) By the time we got back home from the beach I was so exhausted that I showered, popped in a Sex & the City episode and went to sleep.

Today I went down to city with this girl Sue that I met at orientation. We went to The Rocks which is home to some of the oldest parts of Sydney and it's right on the main harbour too! While we were there we took pictures with some aboriginal people and even found this adorable market with like 100 vendors who were selling jewelery, clothing, photos, and a bunch of other neat things. It was like a classy flea market, and they have them every weekend so I'm definitely going to be going back!

While we were walking around Sue pointed out this cupcake stand which is supposed to have some of the best cupcakes in Sydney. So of course we tried them and they were sooooo yummy. I don't know what it is about them but Australians seem to make the best tasting cupcakes.

me and my cupcake!

After wandering around for another hour or so we got super hungry and decided to check out this pancake place we heard about called Pancakes On the Rocks, FINALLY A 24 HOUR RESTAURANT! It was super cute too, kinda had a country western theme to it which was odd for a restaurant that was known for its pancakes. There were so many pancakes we wanted to try so we decided to order 2 different dishes and share. We got Devil's Delight which were literally chocolate pancakes drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with strawberries and ice cream. Along with those we ordered The Ultimate which was cream cheese filled crepes in raspberry sauce with strawberries and ice cream.

OH MY GOD SO GOOD. It was like heaven on a plate. We couldn't even finish all of them because they were that sweet, it was more like having dessert instead of lunch but it was really filling too. Party in my tummy!

After lunch we decided to walk around the harbour and take pictures. We even spotted people climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which I want to do so badly! Its $200 that I really shouldn't be spending all in one shot so I'm hoping my wonderful sister Vicki can get my old laptop to sell so I can use that cash and do it (cough cough - love you!).

It was a really fun day! On another note, I still can't believe that I'm actually living in Australia. It doesn't feel like real life STILL and I've been saying that since I accepted the offer to study abroad... I'll probably still be saying it when I go home too. I'm extremely proud of myself for making it here and thankful for everything I've been able to experience this early in my travels!

til next time xoxoxo!