Day 3 - A Tourist in Sydney

The Harbour Bridge from the Royal Botanic Gardens

So today I got to be a tourist in Sydney and fortunately for me, it was a gorgeous day. Although I had already been here a day and a half, I hadn't seen Sydney's most famous sights yet. So I set off this morning to correct that. It's about a 20 minute walk from my hotel to the harbor, but it was such a crisp morning the walk felt good. I got my first glimpse of the famous Harbour Bridge through some skyscrapers near the water, but I went in search of a better view and found it in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was indeed a breathtaking view. The harbor was very busy with ferries making their way back and forth between both sides of the city.

From the same vantage point, I got my very first sight of the Sydney Opera House. For me, anyway, when I see an iconic building for the first time, a wave of both awe and satisfaction washes over me. This was certainly true this morning, but seeing it from the land side and back-lit by the morning sun was not the truly overwhelming experience I had expected. That was yet to come.

Because it was Saturday morning, (yes, dear reader, I am a day ahead of you) I wanted to see the weekly Market on the Rocks, a kind of crafts fair. On a street leading up to the base of the harbor bridge, both sides are lined with stalls of people selling the usual craftsy things. To be honest, it was a bit disappointing. Once one reached the top of the street, however, the reward was worth it. From a point jutting out into the harbor, one has a completely unobstructed view of the Opera House in all its glory! That's when I had the full-blown experience.

Sydney Opera House

I took way too many pictures, but I was so taken by the beauty of this building. As the architect hoped it would, one (or at least I did) has a feeling that the building and the land it sits on could, at any moment, break off from the mainland and begin sailing across the harbor. There's a nice park nearby and I just sat for a while and stared across the water at this marvel of architecture.

As you probably can guess, everything else I saw today never going to get the same reaction. Still, there were other sights to see! I next went to Darling Harbour, another branch of Sydney Harbor. There's a long promenade there and the water bustles with ferries and tour boats leave every few minutes. The promenade is lined with restaurants and one has the choice of countless cuisines. Because it is an immigrant city, Sydney's food scene is amazingly diverse. (More on that to come) One of the most prominent immigrant groups is the Greeks who came here in large numbers in the 50's and 60's. And, as Greeks invariably do, they open restaurants. So the visitor to Sydney who enjoys Greek food has a wide variety of options to choose from. That's why George's Mediterranean Cuisine called out to me like a Siren for a nice little lunch of grilled octopus and chick peas and a nice Greek salad. Lucky for you, my phone battery ran out at this point. Opa!

It's time to say a word about jet lag. The 20+ hour flight is grueling enough, but the jet lag may be even worse. I arrived feeling OK, not great, but I did get close to 8 hours sleep on the plane. The first night I literally passed out at 8:30 p.m., one minute I was watching TV, the next I was unconscious. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and could not fall back to sleep. I probably tossed and turned for a good two hours before I finally fell asleep again. I slept then until about 6:30, but then it was over. Because I had to be at Rosebank at 9:30, I didn't want to take a chance. The bottom line is, that by 2:00 in the afternoon, I was beat and needed a nap. That's pretty much been the pattern.

Our Visit to Rosebank College

The entrance to Rosebank College

When I arrived yesterday, I thought that maybe I had overpacked for "winter" in Australia. After a lashing rainstorm last night, this morning dawned sunny but a respectably chilly 41 degrees! Needless to say, I as grateful to have the extra gear I packed at the last minute. The main agenda item today was a visit to Rosebank College, a Benedictine school with whom we have had a partnership for five years.

I grabbed a cab and headed off to Rosebank  - a grade 7-12 coed school of about 1,300 students. Rosebank is about 30 minutes from the center of the city in morning traffic, which today was not too bad. I arrived a little earlier than expected but had a nice chat with the receptionist while waiting for the official welcome. I was also waiting for my Delbarton colleague, Dan Pieraccini, who was coming from a different part of Sydney.  Once Dan arrived, we began a series of meetings with Rosebank staff and students to talk specifically about how to maintain and strengthen the exchange program between our two schools. We also compared notes about the programs and curriculum in our schools as a way of promoting a better understanding of our schools. Of particular interest was the exchange of ideas of how we were attempting to inculcate our schools with Benedictine values, especially in staff formation.

In addition to talking, we also got to experience a bit of daily life at Rosebank. Dan and I were invited to a bi-weekly mid-morning tea for faculty, at which birthdays and other accomplishments are acknowledged. My impression that our colleagues at Rosebank enjoy each others' company, much in the same way that Delbarton's faculty does. We had a brief walking tour of the very extensive and handsome facilities. Rosebank is in a suburban neighborhood and quite land-locked compared to Delbarton. A highlight for me was our visit to the original cemetery of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, who founded the school some 150 years ago. What was moving was to see how young the majority of the sisters were when they died, many before the age of 30!. The pioneer days in Australia must have been very difficult indeed. We finished our visit with a light lunch and an exchange of gifts. Our colleagues at Rosebank showed us great Benedictine hospitality and we are most grateful.

Arrival in Sydney . . . at last

Well, I finally made it to Australia. The flight from LAX was long, but uneventful. Fortunately all Business Class seats on American Airlines were of the sleeping pod variety. Not only that, but they also came with a Casper mattress! By the time we finally took off- after midnight according to my body time- I was already wiped out. I declined a meal (mirabile auditū)in order to hit the hay. I was asleep shortly after take off and woke about an hour later. I was clearly puzzled by the operation of the controls that converted the seat into a bed and a kindly steward took pity on me and made up my pod. I snuggled in, took an Ambien and managed to sleep away 8 of the 14 hours of the flight. I watched two movies before we landed, but even with that it seemed an eternity. Customs and baggage claim went smoothly and I was soon in a taxi to my hotel. It was an overcast morning and it had obviously just rained, but by the time we reached downtown Sydney the sun was out. I checked in and had one of the most glorious hot showers I can remember. Then I set out to explore the area around the hotel on foot. I got back to the hotel around 2:30 ready for a nap . . .

Not sure what we are seeing here. A wedding dress made out of recyclable materials?

St.Andrew's Cathedral

At the airport . . . again

Well I made it to JFK in good time. Began the check in process but was told I had to have an eVisa to enter Australia. I was on the phone with Qantas yesterday morning about a similar issue and you think they could have said something! The information on their website was very confusing. Anyway, I managed to do it o my phone despite my fat fingers and the impenetrable directions, I mean how many ways are there to spell your family name? That's when I realized that the autofill function was providing too much information. Eventually I succeeded and was issued a boarding pass but without the TSA Pre that's supposed to come with Global Entry. Hmmmm. Another riddle to be solved when I get back. So I am waiting in the comfort of the Admiral's Lounge waiting to board . . . so civilized.  Now it's on to LAX and then Sydney. Next post hopefully from Down Under.

A little midnight snack at LAX

Sabbatical False Start!!!!! - I had a suspicion that something was not quite right when I arrived at the American Airlines check-in area. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of chaos, even for Newark Airport. There weren't nearly enough personnel to help people in economy check their bags, but not to worry, I am flying business class, so I can get in the priority line! Sounds good, right? That's why you pay the big bucks. Well, after about 15 minutes, the line hadn't moved at all. There seemed to be some major conversation going on between the three passengers at the desk and the agent. Finally, bags were loaded onto the belt and I breathed a sigh of relief. My relief was short-lived, however. The couple ahead of me were obviously booked on the same set of flights as I was: Newark- Dallas/Dallas- Sydney. Wait? What did I just hear the agent say? "I'm sorry, you are never going to make the connection in Dallas." Turns out that most flights out of Newark had substantial delays due to "air traffic volume". Argggghhhhh. Granted, there was never a lot of wiggle room in the original booking and I knew that there was a chance that I might spend the night in Dallas. So, I was good with that option. So much for that idea.
When I finally got to the harried agent she explained the situation. I could go to Dallas, as scheduled, but turns out there is no direct flight from Dallas on Tuesday, so I would have to fly on to LA, but there were no more business class seats on that flight, same for the flight out of San Francisco. I'm not flying in steerage, I said to myself. Then she said, I could get you a business class seat tomorrow on American, but you have to fly from JFK. A quick run-through of my options made it clear that if I didn't want to lose even more time in Australia, the thing to do was to bite the bullet and go to JFK. So that's the plan right now. Stay tuned!

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First stop Sydney!

Finally! After almost five years since we began discussing the possibility, I am going to visit Rosebank College, our partner school in Sydney. While the prospect of a 22 hour flight is daunting, I am excited to see what several of our boys have already experienced first-hand. If you want to learn more about Rosebank, click here: http://www.rosebank.nsw.edu.au/