Boxing Day and off to Melbourne

Today is Boxing Day in Australia, a national holiday and also known as one of the biggest shopping days of the year, similar to Black Friday after Thanksgiving in the states. We have planned a picnic at Manly dam and will be heading there within the hour.

Tonight Rose, Jess, and I are flying to Melbourne for a 10-day trip! We'll be spending the first few days with Annie and Aiden in the city, and then driving down to Mornington Peninsula where we rented a house on the beach for a few days.

I'm attending my first cricket match tomorrow, Australia vs. England! I've never seen a game of cricket played before and know nothing about the rules of the game, but have purchased some green and gold gear and face paint, so I'm sure I'll fit right in.

I won't be bringing my computer to Melbourne so may not get too much blogging in these next two weeks. Happy New Year to my family and friends back home! And a huge GOOD LUCK! and ON WISCONSIN! to my beloved Badgers playing in the Rose Bowl on January 1. Wherever I am that day, you can guarantee I'll be wearing red.

Christmas lunch

Christmas lunch!

Rose and her mom, Pam, having a laugh

Pavlova

Oscar wearing his present

Christmas

The Timmins' Christmas tree

Christmas today felt just like the movies. I woke up to Rose's brother, Ed, wishing everyone a merry Christmas, and within the hour we were all sitting around the tree still in our PJs exchanging gifts. Santa was very good to me this year! I got some clothing, a Sydney calendar, books, an Australian beach towel, which will come in handy over the next few weeks, and lots of chocolate.

And then we changed into our bathing suits and went for a swim, and that's when Christmas stopped feeling like the movies! The weather here is gorgeous, another cloudless sunny day, and after Rose's family arrived, including Grandma Rose who couldn't get enough of my accent, we had Christmas lunch out on the patio. I must say dessert was the highlight: Pavlova, an Australian delicacy created for the ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova when she visited Australia, made with meringue, whipped cream, and fruit.

In addition to family, Rose's good friend Mich and her sister, Julie, came for the day. Mich and I worked at Modin together in 2005, and she recently got engaged! It was so great to see her and catch up on her life and, of course, wedding details.

Day 1

My first official day in Sydney! Woke up around 4:30 a.m. Read Bill Byron's "In A Sunburned Country". Ate Weetabix for breakfast. Did last-minute Christmas shopping with Rose and Jess. Perused Australian Target and Kmart. Should be napping...

The shops were so packed today, and we learned some of the malls will be open through the night in preparation for Christmas tomorrow. Crazy! I spent the morning on the hunt for Tim Tams, these Australian chocolate biscuit-like cookies that are delicious and very dangerous.

Tonight is the annual (drunken) Christmas-eve celebration at a local bar in Rose's town, which is pretty much what everyone's been talking about since I arrived yesterday. Rose has talked it up quite a bit, and I'm curious to see how it holds up to my Wisconsin days.

Looking forward to the big Christmas feast tomorrow!

Bula!

Sydney! Is gorgeous and very sunny and full of beautiful people.

Try not to be too jealous, but within 4 hours of landing I was sitting poolside at Rose's house (sorry to brag, I know it's freezing in NY).

I can't believe after so much waiting and flying I am finally here! Rose and her sister Jess picked me up from the airport, drove me over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and took me to her parents' house where we'll be staying for the next few days celebrating the Christmas holiday. They have a huge golden retriever named Oscar! It is, I'm sure, the largest dog I have ever seen. And a vegetable patch overgrown with tomatoes, corn, and one very healthy-looking watermelon.

I'm shocked to be still awake and not too jet lag, and grateful my first night here will be spent in a warm home.

Sydney so soon!

I'm feeling quite anxious, mainly due to my fear of flying (can't I just teleport to Sydney?) and this storm in LA isn't helping!

Thoughts before my flight:

LA → Fiji → Sydney.
I hope my bags make it.
Saw a hilarious movie today, City Island. Great performance by Andy Garcia.
LAX international terminal eerily reminds me of the airport in Rome.
Sitting in row 28.
Eight is my lucky number.
[Safe flight safe flight safe flight]
I hope Hugh Jackman is sitting next to me.
If not Hugh, than a man who looks very much like him.
Appears to be a lot of families on my flight. Who takes their kids to Fiji for winter break?
Considered upgrading to business class so inquired at check-in: $750
So instead put on hot pink lipstick at the duty free. Feeling much more prepared for my flight.
I will never get to experience Dec. 22, 2010.
Please let there be good movies.
Please let the ambient kick in quickly.

So long sweet USA, I'm all packed up and heading out!

More important than packing a bag full of money, pack a bag full of patience and curiosity; allow yourself – encourage yourself – to be sidetracked and to get lost. There’s no such thing as a bad trip, just good travel stories to tell back home. Always travel with a smile and remember that you’re the one with the strange customs visiting someone else’s country. Relying on the kindness of strangers isn’t naïve – there are good people where you go. And, finally, the more time you spend coming to understand the ways of others, the more you’ll understand yourself. The journey abroad reflects the one within – the most unknown and foreign and unmapped landscape of them all, the ultimate terra incognita. As Mr. Twain said, ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. Do throw of the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’

Patricia Schultz, 1,000 Places to See Before you Die

Front page of cnn.com: "heavy rain expected in soaked California" I hope my flight gets out tonight!

Gjelina

Tuscan kale salad with breadcrumbs, shaved radish, fennel, and ricotta

Smoked trout sandwich with caper aioli, roasted tomato, and arugula

My former co-worker and LA-native Sarah recommended this restaurant Gjelina in Venice. While I loved the food and space - wood walls, ceiling, and tables, funky lightbulb chandelier - it was the neighborhood I was most drawn to. I haven't been able to see much of LA due to the weather, but have spent some time (mostly driving) through LA's many neighborhoods: Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and finally, Venice. This area, with its many shops and restaurants, is eclectic and dynamic reminding me of the East Village, my former locale when I lived in New York. I'm told it has a fabulous ocean-front area, but that will have to wait for sunnier days.

LACMA

Balloon Dog (Blue) and Cracked Egg (Red) by Jeff Koons  

Michael Jackson and Bubbles by Jeff Koons 

Urban Light by Chris Burden. Two-hundred and two restored antique street lamps

Today Bobby and I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which houses more than 100,000 works of art, and in October opened a new Renzo Piano-designed space. 

Let it Rain!

It has been raining nonstop since I got to LA. What happened to the sun? I know I shouldn't be complaining as New York is freezing and snowy right now, but I didn't exactly pack for this weather. Not to mention all my grand plans for hiking and outdoor activities have been put on hold.

I am staying with my Aunt Susie for the few days I am here, and want to give a BIG congratulations to my cousin Lili for getting into her first college yesterday, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (sound familiar? Prince William and Kate met there). Though I don't know if my family will allow her to go so far away, I remember the relief of getting in my first school when applying to colleges. So congrats Lili!

Bobby, LA, and the Getty

view from the Getty 

 drinks at the Abbey

 Christian Louboutin on Robertson 

Shopping with Bobby in West Hollywood and a trip to the Getty. Look at that view of LA!

Sophie, I wish I could take you with me! 

(those small piles of clothes = all I'm packing. scary, I know.)

impending departure

Currently sitting at the kitchen table finishing off a bottle of Chianti and feeling remarkably calm about leaving home tomorrow for what will most likely be the greatest trip of my life. Back in May I found myself nearing the two year mark at my magazine job, frustrated, confused, and a mix of other emotions. Where am I going in my career? What am I doing with my life? Why is everything in NY so damn expensive? And how am I STILL single?

So I booked a one-way ticket to Australia.

Perhaps it was my line of work that inspired me (writing about travel for Travel + Leisure magazine from a cubicle in midtown Manhattan can only be satisfying for so long), or the semester I studied abroad in Rome that exposed me to so many great cities in Europe. It was this deep desire for change, and not just a new job or new apartment type of change, but something totally exciting and different.

Who knew I had it in me! I certainly didn't. But the more I realize how much this trip will be taking me out of my comfort zone the more confident I am that it's a great decision and necessary at this point in my life. Tomorrow I leave for LA for a few days to connect with family and friends, eat organic, local LA food, and do some last-minute shopping in the states before heading out west. Veryyyy west. Actually come to think of it, the farthest west I've ever been!

Bon Voyage to me!