All hail the queen

Hi friends! Missing everyone more and more each day although, Australia just keeps getting better. This weekend was a long weekend for me and my fellow American interns in Sydney. We always have Fridays off and Monday was a national holiday. Last Thursday after I wrapped up my first week at work, I went down town with my house mates to see Vivid Sydney (again). There was suppose to be a performance by Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am. which I saw in the paper. When we got there it had turned out he was just there for a photo shot. It was pretty lame but I got super close.

will.i.am Vivid Sydney

 After the disappointment we all went out to celebrate surviving our first week. First we stopped at Sydney's oldest pub- Fortune of War. Then we went to an outside bar to enjoy the light show and some drinks!

The crew at Sydney's oldest pub

Outside bar

Just a peak at the light show

 On Friday we all slept in and spent the morning lounging around the hotel. Our beloved orientation leader Todd made an appearance to give and orientation to our newest Park Lodge resident, Marie (from Philly- yea!!). Todd, being as amazing as he is, then took all of his intern students to Frames for a cuppa (Aussie slang for coffee). Afterwards we went down town to check out the Pitt Street mall and Chinatown. The mall was absolutley insane. It was like 5 miles combined into one. It had all sorts of food and drinks and every kind of store you could imagine. I think it 5 or 6 stories and went from one block to another. This mall made King of Prussia look like k-mart.

Street performers at the mall- they were actually really good

 At the mall our first stop was at famous chocolate restaurant with a fully loaded menu of treats- all made with chocolate in some way shape or form. It was really hard to choose between a chocolate milkshake, hot chocolate, chocolate fondue, chocolate brownie sundae and more. After a long time of mouth water contemplation, me and my best girl Kayla decided on a chocolate pizza.

 After a long day of chocolate, shopping and Chinatown, we all headed back to Park Lodge to get ready for a night out. We went to Kings Cross a crazy party district in Sydney. The group got separated when we had to split up for taxi's so Kayla, Patricia and I were on our own. We walked into the first club we saw and danced til we couldn't stand it any more. Then we headed out to look for a better one. Next we went to Kings Cross Hotel which was 6 stories high with a different themed bar on each floor. The top floor was an outside roof top bar with an amazing scenic view of the town. It was tons of fun mingling with a bunch of Aussies. One of the guys we met told us how much he loved our accents...

Lets get this party started!

Club @ King's Cross 

 Saturday was probably my most favorite day in Sydney so far. We spent the day in Beautiful Bondi! First we went to the beach. It was my favorite sight so far. The beach was backed by a huge lawn where people were picnicing, playing with their dogs, dancing and having fun. The beach was filled with surfers- Bondi is the ideal beach for surfers with rough tides and big waves. Huge cliffs surrounded the beach. We walked along the jagged coast line and overlooked the ocean from several different view points. It was absolutely beautiful.

Bondi Beach

Bondi Street Art

Bondi Icebergs Swim Club

 We stopped at the Icebergs swim club for cuppa... Check out the ocean side pool that gets filled with waves that rush over it!

The crew on the coast line from Bondi to Tamarama

Bondi Cliffs

 After a wonderful day at Bondi Beach, we went back to Bondi Junction (just inland) for a Sushi dinner. This was my favorite dinner so far. We went to the Sushi Train which is a small restaurant laid out like a bar, where every one sits on bar stools. But instead of drinks being served, a tight conveyor belt runs around the bar with all kinds of sushi options. Each serving is on a different colored plate that tells you the price of the option. The plates ran from 3.50-8$. Me and Kayla killed 12 plates of various sushi dishes and yes, we will return.....

On Sunday some of the girls and I went to a little market in the morning and then headed back to Frames cafe (where Todd took us) for lunch. Frames is my favorite cafe in Sydney so far. Then we sent the day inside watching movies and relaxing. By evening it was time to get ready to out to celebrate the Queens Birthday!!!! (public holiday). We all went to Cargo Bar at Byron Bay. Besides for the rain, it was tons of fun. I loved dancing all night long with my fellow Park Lodgers!

Danny, Cladio, me and Carlos

Mario from Italy and his American babes!

Me and my Swiss boys- Yves and Cladio

Salt n Pepper! <3

Monday was my wonderful day off but due to unfortunate weather, I spent the day in my pjs doing absolutely nothing, and I can't say I'm upset about it. I got to watch movies with my housemates and eat an authentic Italian dinner made by Mario... it was delicious! I made him promise to teach me. Today was the start of another work week. It was a long day but this week is short. It has been rainy but hopefully the weather clears up again soon.

Just want to give a shout out to my momma- today is her birthday! LOVE YOU MOM

Hope everyone is having an amazing summer so far.
lots of love
~mrlb