An incredible Sydney day

It's a bit strange being in Sydney as a visitor.  It still feels like my home, but I've now been away long enough for some of the familiarity to have faded.

I was staying with Sarah.  Her apartment is in Bondi.  We arrived back at her place late at night when it was dark and I crashed onto her couch almost straight away.  The next day, I was woken up by the light streaming in from the windows.  I got up and looked out.  Her views out towards the ocean were incredible.  I felt a definite twang of nostalgia, thinking back to what I used to have living in Coogee.  I didn't have a views like this, but I certainly missed the proximity to some of the best beaches in the world.

We went for a walk around the area.  It was all as I remembered it.  The air was fresh and I could smell the ocean.  I definitely missed it all.

Summer in Sydney is also a special time and place.  I can't think of many places in the world that have such an incredible combination of lovely weather, public holidays, and general upbeat holiday mood.  There is a confluence of a whole variety of different factors which just makes the whole city buzzing with a happiness.

Later that day, I went and met with Helena.  There was an AFL game on, and she got us tickets.  We sat in the stands, watched the game and chatted.  Hels was one of my oldest friends in Sydney.  We knew each other from back in our old Cirque du Soleil days.  The game itself didn't seem very important.  Just the simple act of spending the afternoon together was what we wanted.

Later that night, I went into the city.  Grainne and Shiral were waiting for me.  We went to the basement of No 1 Martin Place.  We ordered wine and a cheese platter.  We drank and ate, talking and laughing about random things happening in our lives.

Nothing particularly interesting had happened during the day.  There had been no big events.  No big stories or occurrences to remember.  But this was still an incredible day.

English Football

I had never been to a football game in the UK.  It seemed like a bucket list experience, so my brother arranged for us to go to a match.  Ashan wasn't doing anything, so he decided to come with us as well.

There wasn't a premier league game on nearby, and in any case we didn't want to pay the premier league level prices for tickets.  Instead, my brother found tickets to a game between Fulham and QPR.  Fulham had been relegated from the premier league, so this would be a Championship league game (with corresponding Championship league ticket prices).

It was a cold day out.

It was dreary and overcast, which made the experience feel all the more British.

The home ground of Fulham is Craven Cottage, which is a small boutique stadium next to the Thames River.  It was a tiny little stadium and there was a lovely in tight feel to sitting on the long wooden benches.  The Fulham fans are all quite "posh" relatively speaking, and there was a lot of polite clapping throughout.  The QPR fans on the other hand were chanting and screaming from behind the goal where they had been cordoned off from the other fans.

It was an enjoyable experience, even if I was freezing.

We left the ground after the match and walked straight to a pub where we warmed ourselves inside and had a beer.