Back in India...

Here we are, back home in Bangalore! It was a long day of travel... we left the hotel in Sydney at 9am on Saturday and arrived at our villa here just before midnight. The kids, once again, travelled like pros. Big props to Lauren, especially - I don't think there is a 3 year old around who could possibly have been any better, not just this trip, but for all of our adventures over the past 6 months, then she has!! She was really the wild card in all of this... we knew that as Lauren went, so would go the Patnodes. And she has surely stepped it up. I think she now has a mind that operates more efficiently than mine (ok, that is not saying much!)

Two weeks in a foreign country with 3 kids is much easier when they have already been living in a foreign country. I loved listening to the kids as they would strike up conversations with other folks in Australia. Hearing them talking of our travels really warmed my heart.

Walking into our villa was great. Sheela had washed all the windows and screens... dusted the ceiling fans... cleaned out the fridge... etc... She had the kids' pajamas laid out and their school uniforms for Monday pressed and ready. Sanjeev, the florist, had delivered a fresh arrangement. Raju had picked papayas from the yard and had them in the fruit basket. It's like a vacation, returning from vacation!!

A few Sydney observations...

Heading back to India tomorrow... wow, 2 weeks has flown right by!! It will be nice to be back in our own beds again. We never did adjust to the 6 hour time change, so that will be a breeze on the way back. I will post a few more Australia blogs when we return and can download the video we have. New Years Eve was just awesome here... more to come on that!

Before we go,...just a few observations... things that really stand out here in Sydney. I am not trying to make generalizations about Australia as a whole, just what we have noticed here in Sydney, having been here for these two weeks.

• Loads of smokers! It is like being in NY 20 years ago, truly. People, young and old smoking everywhere!
• Waaaaaayyyyyyy nice cars!! BMW, Mercedes, even Rolls Royce... $eriou$ car$ ... and absolutely NO MINIVANS!!!
• Remember the 80's, when guys in America were all pumped up?? Oh, yeah... but times 1000%. They all walk around in tank tops and can sometimes barely fit through doorways!! I don't think that the Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens coverage is very big here. From a tourist's point of view... not bad to look at!
• It's a 9 to 5 world. Virtually all stores and shops close up at 5pm everyday and are not open at all on Sundays. Even down at Darling Harbour, don't try to find an open store on Friday evening at 5:30... even the visitor's center is locked up tight!
• Family rates are available EVERYWHERE... the ferry, the monorail, Luna Park, museums... everywhere.... you pay for just 1 child.... the Chudys and the Dennetts would clean up here!!!
• The people are ridiculously nice... I don't think we came across a cranky person in all of Sydney.
• The flippin' accent is, by far, the coolest around!! I swear, I could listen to it all day. They use "bloody" and "no worries" like it's going out of style. Everybody is a "mate" or a "bloke" and "goodonya" is all one word, I think!! The accent goes well with the personalities here... very easy going.
• The currency, too... super cool factor. The $1 and $2 are small gold coins... fine. But the paper currency has the most amazing clear patch sewn right into the fabric of the small bills. And it is all so new and clean (maybe it's not fair to compare to the nasty old rupee bill in India!!)

So, these are just a few little tidbits. Again, more to come when we get back "home" this weekend.

Just doing nothing...

There's so much to do and see in Sydney. But some of the best parts of our trip we have spent just doing next to nothing!

Just walking the streets...

Having a picnic in the Botanic Gardens...

Watching a chess match under a shady tree in the park...

Playing tag in front of the Opera House...
Grabbing some fresh fruit to snack on ...

Resting on Mrs. Marqueries chair...

Playing games with a piece of string...

Running obstacle courses through Hyde Park...

Petting dogs...

Waching people swim in the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Public Pools (not a bad view from this rock... OR from the pools... these pools are heated saltwater!)

Ohhhhh, the food...

Our food situation, as you know, has been pretty pathetic over the past 6 months. There are so many great aspects of India... not many of them are edible! That said... take this food review as one coming from 5 little hungry bird beaks sitting in a nest!! Even a worm, if prepared the right way, would go over pretty big with us.

The food here in Sydney is quite diverse... You can get anything from sushi to pancakes, from nachos to shrimp on the bahhhhbie all within 1 city block.

Coffee is sold at little independent baristas absolutely EVERYWHERE in the city. There are a couple of Starbucks, although the locals won't be found dead there... just for tourists! They are serius about coffee here (LOVE IT!) ... they even have their very own coffee language. Order a "long black" which is a double shot of espresso poured over hot water. Or a flat white, which is much like we know a latte in America, except stronger. I pretty much order something from every barista I pass by. I think my coffee consumption is keeping the entire Australian economy afloat.

In one full week here, we have not eaten more than 1 meal in any given day... can you imagine that?? Our little India bellies just cannot handle the volume!! I will say that when we sit down to eat, it's like we are having our last supper, trust me we savor every bite. Check out Andrew eating chili nachos and pancakes with grilled bananas...

All the food has been awesome here! It's really a melting pot of ethnicities here... so, much like you find in NYC, the aussies are grilling everything (yes, even kangaroo!) , the Japanese are running the sushi bars... the Italians are making the pizza, the Chinese are whipping up the dim sum... and yes, although we will not eat it here... the Indians are shelling out the curry!!

Can you say BEACH CROWD???

We headed to Manly Beach in the afternoon... planning to just check it out... maybe watch the surfers for a bit and then head over to Darling Harbour for a nice dinner. When we arrived, well, can you say beach crowd???

I could see it in the kids' eyes. They were not leaving this beach without a swim. Lauren started the 'I am about to run into the water with my clothes on' wiggle straight off...

They all walked down to the water... within moments...

I was holding Andrew's hat, shirt and watch...
I am fairly certain this conversation went something like this... "Wow, that was fun! Can you believe Mom let us swim with our clothes on???"
The soaking wet clothes and sand in all the cracks on the ferry ride back to the Quay was worth it!

We did stop back at the hotel for a shower and change before heading over to Darling Harbour for dinner.

Loving Australia!

The Patnodes are loving Australia!! What's not to like?? It is summer here, so the weather is fantastic... warm sunny days and cool breezy nights. Sydney itself is very metropolitan... a good mix of beautiful old architecture and modern sky scrapers. The city it built around the harbour, so you get the most spectacular view of the bridge and the Opera House no matter where you are or what you are doing... amazing. The ferries cart you everywhere... right to the doorstep of the zoo, the aquarium, Manly Beach... whatever!

I love this shot of Andrew, taking a break at the foot of the stairs to the Opera House, just chilling out, checking the time on his new watch. I now call him Big Ben, because he is constantly reporting what time it is here, in India, in the US... how many minutes until the ferry arrives, how long we have been waiting for our food etc...

Today we went to "The Rocks" - just a short walk from the Quay... I love this place, because nearly every place has a witty rock related name... we dropped our laundry at "Wash on the Rocks" (on a side note... we brought just 2 checked bags for the 5 of us spending 2 weeks here-I even impressed myself with this feat!!)... thus the need to do laundry!! Anyway, you just drop off your duffel bag at Wash on the Rocks and they return it to your hotel the same day, all clean and folded!! We went straight from there to eat at "Pancakes on the Rocks" (seeing a theme here) and even came across a car-rock "meeting" in the middle of the road! We shopped at Rockhounds (jewelry) too!

Around the harbour, there are all sorts of street entertainers. And when they invite you to join them... well, you just have to go!

We went to the Taronga Zoo on Christmas Day. Wow, I am not really a fan of zoos... but I would say this is even tops the San Diego Zoo, which is saying alot!! I wont bore you with a bunch of animal photos... you know in Australia it is all about the koalas and the 'roos, right? Just steps from the entrance, in the kangaroo hop about, our day was made, with kangaroos hopping all around us! No fences, no gates, no barriers... just a bunch of kangaroos and us! This was my favorite little joey...

The koala encounter is terrific as well. This little baby boy koala had a thing for Lauren!!

I have so much more to talk about. More to come tomorrow... many people have asked about the food. I will devote an entire blog to food tomorrow!!! For now, I need to enjoy my latte... YUM!

Getting to Sydney... not a short trip!!

We left Bangalore on an 11pm flight which connected in Singapore. We were not sure how this would all pan out with the kids. They do call it a red eye for a reason!!

So, we got to the airport a full 4 hours before our flight and flew through the new "heightened" India security in about 5 minuteds!! The kids read a bit...

Andrew helped tag our luggage (this reading and writing thing is really paying off for us now!!)

And they played who can make who laugh first until their sides hurt!!

When we finally boarded the plane, I sat with the girls (good choice!!!)

Lauren was asleep before takeoff... and Taylor not far behind.

Andrew did not sleep a wink on either flight... not a surprise, since they bring endless supplies of food and he had video games at his seat! When we finally arrived in Sydney (after nearly 24 hours of travel!!)... he made it through dinner (barely) and promptly fell fast asleep in the restaurant!!

So, we are here, safe and sound. We all slept until noon our first 2 days (I joke you not!)... so can't say much about the breakfast food here :) I will try to post a blog every 2 days or so while we are here. So far... LOVE IT!!