Sydney, Australia

Arrived in Sydney. It's good to be back to the Sydney Central YHA. It's almost like going home. It's a place I am familiar with and sort of know the neighborhood. At least I can walk out the door and get back to where I came from. I get a lot of blast emails from various sources telling me how much gratitude does for you and how easy it is to be nice. Since I still have a splint on my left wrist it is still a bit of a challenge to get up into the top bunk of bunk beds. Since I was the 4th person in this room, I thought I would ask the girls if they would be willing to swap. No one was! Oh well, the good news is that I can get in the top bunk.
I had a little bit of dinner, pumpkin soup and a vegetarian tart with salad. I am not getting enough vegetables in my food plan at the moment.
Sydney was really celebrating Christmas eve last night. I went to Darling Harbour where they were singing Christmas carols around the tree. Even though I said at the beginning I feel familiar to Sydney, it was the first time for me to go to Darling Harbour. I missed the carols but arrived for the fireworks. What a great fireworks show. Then there were some street performers doing juggling acts. They also have this huge playground there and I was totally amazed at the number of children who were there playing at 10 p.m. Why weren't they at home all snug in their beds waiting for santa to come? I didn't ask.
St. Andrews Anglican Cathedral was having an 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service and so I went to church. Quite impressive choir and orchestra. They had trombones and those circular metal horns as well as trumpets and quite a large turnout. We heard a message about the birth of Jesus as a baby and the birth of God and sang Christmas carols. As we were leaving the church they gave everyone there a couple of gingerbread cookies. I was impressed! On my way back to the hostel I stopped in at the gelato store and got a cone. When I get back to Dallas and am complaining about the weight gain I will have no one to blame but the gelato stores. It is tasty though and much easier to avoid in Dallas as I am not walking by.
There were still lots of people out on the street singing and greeting everyone with "Happy Christmas."
On my way to my room I passed the tv lounge and they were showing the Ray Charles movie so I stopped in to watch from the middle to the end. Thank goodness their midnight commercials aren't as many as the ones in the usa.
I know I am not in the usa because the department stores haven't been open late at night or early in the morning with christmas sales. I am going to my cousins for Christmas dinner. He has just called to tell me which train to take. I go across the road to the central station and buy a ticket on the north line and call when I get to Gordon and then his stop is Turramura. Should be interesting. I have no memory of meeting his 2nd wife. She was his first wife's caretaker when she was dying of cancer more than twelve years ago. Both of his children are in the USA for Christmas and I don't know where hers are. I am pretty sure he told me when I was here before that she also had children from a previous marriage. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.