#RAIN ALMOST ALWAYS COMES WITH A LIGHTSHOW AND A CONCERT HERE

[empressofthelibrary]

how the fuck do you have a whole region of the country where it doesn't storm

that doesn't make sense

weather doesn't do that

[sydneytorome]

‘Tis the season to be jolly

My dearest family, friends and readers

With the holidays coming up, what better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to share what December, the holiday month, is like down under? Spoiler alert: there’s no snow involved. Shocker.

On the first of December; my friends Stella and Peter, my teacher and I went surfing at Maroubra before class. Unfortunately, I faced a tiny little problem: I still didn’t find a new board and the surfshop wasn’t open - surfers usually aren’t that disciplined when it comes to time schedules. So I ended up sitting on the beach, watching the rest of them hit what looked like a few of the best waves I had ever seen here. Luckily, I had Stella’s mom to keep me company! We talked about yoga, school, life in Germany and Belgium, and about surfing. After a while, Stella and Peter gave us their boards so Stella’s mom (yes, she surfs!) and I could have a bit of fun in the water. 

They joined to swim with us, but after a few minutes we found ourselves stuck in a small rip. I let go of Stella’s board so we could both hang onto it and try to swim back, but as we were both feeling a little panicky, we stupidly tried to swim back straight to the shore instead of just paddling out away from the current. It didn’t take long before two lifeguards came to help us, so we made it to the beach safely in no time. At least I can tick that one off my bucket list!         Even though I had just been stuck in the rip for a good 5 minutes, it felt as if I had just ran a marathon. I treated myself to an avocado sandwich and kale-banana smoothie before making my way to class. Happy December, everyone!      

The next morning, on Friday, it was sweltering hot. No one had any energy to do something, so we went out for a healthy and refreshing breakfast at Calipress Surry Hills instead.

We chilled in a nearby park until the infamous gelateria Gelato Messina opened to have a scoop – in our case, a few scoops – of their to-die-for gelato. Is there any better way to fight the heat? In the evening, Froukje and I went to Hoyts Cinema to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. We’re both the biggest Harry Potter fans, so we were more than excited to see the new spin-off. I’m not going to share any spoilers, but I’ll give you this: it is absolutely amazing.

On Saturday, I had planned to go surfing with Stella and her mom in Manly. Unfortunately, I overslept a little and was in a bit of a hurry while making my breakfast, so I accidentally cut my thumb while I was slicing up my grapefuit. I’m going to spare you the gory details, but it was so bad that I literally felt how the colour drained from my face. I felt so sick afterwards that I decided to call it off and have a rest day in bed with lots of movies and some comfort food.

On Sunday, I took the ferry to Manly with Froukje and Noëlle. I had taken my board with me to see if I could find a place to sell it and find a new one, but no luck. We spent the day walking along the boardwalk, had a once again yummy lunch at Moo Burgers and enjoyed the sun on the beach.

In the mean time, I was browsing on Gumtree to see if there happened to be new ads selling surfboards. I got lucky! I found a girl from Denmark who lived in the Eastern Suburbs and left for Thailand in a week, so she had to sell her surfboard quickly. It came with fins, a leash, a board bag and extra wax. I immediately went over to her to have a look, and I’m not joking when I say the board looked brand new. She had taken so much care of it! Above all, it’s the perfect size for me, so I couldn’t be happier.

The next Monday, I crossed the Harbour Bridge to wander around North Sydney. We were actually looking for a peticular street in that area that’s known for its blossoming lilac jacaranda trees, but most of them had already lost its colour due to the windy weather of last weekend. We walked along the harbour pathway and passed the famous Luna Park and enjoyed the covered views on the harbour from Wendy’s Secret Garden.

We were back home just in time before one of the craziest thunderstorms I’d ever seen clattered over Sydney. Apparantly not only the animals in Australia want to kill you! That evening, I found a letter along with a big bar of dark almond chocolate on my pillowcase. Confused, I looked at Froukje, who was grinning ear to ear. Of course, it was the 5th of December and that’s when they celebrate Sinterklaas in the Netherlands! Yes, I know, you don’t have to remind me that those Dutchies have some weird customs. Anyway, I think it’s fair to say I had one of the sweetest Sinterklaas-presents this year.

On Tuesday, I visited the Queen Victoria Building, an outstandingly beautiful shopping centre that occupies a whole block. The whole building was beautifully decorated with the most exquisite Christmas decoration. We were lucky enough to come across a girls choir that was singing Christmas charols. It was the very first time I had a genuine Christmas feeling here! 

On Wednesday evening, Stella intruced me to the world-renowed Jivamukti Yoga, which happens to have a studio in Newtown. It was literally the best yoga session I’ve ever had! The class was really intense and the whole atmosphere of the studio was already relaxing in itself. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at Lentil As Anything, a vegan non-profit restaurant and comminty centre that only works with volunteers from all over the world. You can only chose between 4 main dishes and they change daily, as they always have different chefs. The best thing? You pay after you’ve finished and it’s up to you how much you want to give. So cool! We walked around for a while and finished the lovely night by getting yummy and guilt-free vegan icecream at Gelato Blue. You’ve guessed it: Newtown is the more alternative suburb of Sydney. 

Thursday morning, we took a stroll around the Chinese Garden of Friendship. I had expected it to be all zen and quiet, but it’s actually quite touristic and sort of looks like an artifical version of Indonesia. We ate our lunch at Darling Quarter afterwards, one of my absolute favourite parts of the city by far!

On Friday afternoon, we had a class excursion to Cockatoo Island, a formal industrial site in the middle of Sydney harbour. Now, it just looks like a giant ghost town where you can go glamping. Oh, they also host the Ninja Warrior show there, some weird race where athletes have to pass all sorts of weird obstacles. I had never heard of it, but apparantly Australians tend to go crazy over it It did feel a little bit weird to call with my sister that afternoon. She had just woken up; I was looking over at the Harbour and I had to wish her a happy 21st birthday over the phone. Although I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now, I do miss having my family around on big days like these. In the evening, we went out to a club in the Rocks. Somehow – don’t ask me why – we got into the VIP section for free, so we got free drinks all night. I’m sort of going to ignore the fact that the manager was a little bit of a creep, but hey, at least we had a laugh.

On Saturday, we took the ferry up to North Head to walk along the North Head Heritage Trail. We immediately reached Collins Beach, which is famous for its cliffdiving and its yachts, so we decided to chill there for a while and do some people watching instead of really hiking any further. Unfortunately, we only found out about the cliffjumping when we got back home, otherwise we sure would have taken a dip!  

In the evening, I had dinner at Bodhi In The Park, a vegetarian dim sum restaurant right next to the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral. It was absolutely delicious! Afterwards, we watched the Christmas lightshow at the St Mary’s Cathedral.

On Sunday, we took the bus to Palm Beach, the most northern beach in Sydney and home to the famous Aussie TV-show Home And Away. We had to stand on the bus for 2 hours (!) straight as it was so incredibly packed. When we finally made it, we took a short but rather heavy walk through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park up to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse so we could enjoy the splendid view over the palmtree-shaped beaches. Of course, we couldn’t resist some excissive photoshooting! #whenwhitegirlsgotothebeach   

Afterwards, we layed on the beach and enjoyed the perfect temperatures. It was a perfect day to relax – somehow, the beach was almost empty. Quite the contrast with the ever so bustling Bondi.

I had my new board with me, so even though the waves weren’t that good, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Oh, happy Sunday!

The next Monday; Stella, Peter and I went to Bondi to have our last surfing session together. Stella is graduation by the end of this week. I’ll miss my little German sassy yoga-loving vegan surfqueen! It was my very first time surfing at Bondi and I can’t deny it felt pretty cool. Luckily, no lifeguard was needed this time. Although I wouldn’t mind coming across the infamous Bondi lifeguards, if you ask me. In the evening, as my entire body felt sore, I took a yoga class to stretch it all out. Tired, but satisfied!

On Wednesday, my friend Laura and I had lunch in The Domain, a huge park where they host sporting and music events. During lunchtime, the businesses around the CBD hold short soccer competitions here. Quite a funny sight to see! Afterwards, we visited the Art Gallery Of NSW. The building itself is already beautiful, but the art collection is even more amazing!

In the evening, I went to the Coldplay concert. I couldn’t believe my luck when scored some cheap tickets a couple of weeks ago! Coldplay has always been one of my favourite bands in the whole wide world, and to be able to see them live for the very first time in one of my favourite cities in the whole wide world, filled me with a feeling of undescribable joy. It was raining lightly when we got there, but even the rain couldn’t kill my good mood. We were also lucky enough to have the wonderful Lianne La Havas as a warm-up act. When Coldplay started playing, the rain magically stopped and the whole stadium lit up with flickering neon fairylights. I was shaking; I had goosebumps all over my body! All I could think of was how utterly happy and grateful I am to be, here, in Sydney. So, yes, in between the dancing and jumping and singing along, I did shed a few tears.

On Thursday, the weather wasn’t all that nice, so I decided to stay in bed the whole morning and relax a little. I was leaving for Brisbane the next day, so I wanted to feel energised enough for the weekend.         Later that day, I called with my cousin Ella, who turned 18. It just doesn’t feel the same to celebrate her birthday withouth actually being around her!    

On Friday, we had to be at the airport really, really early to catch our flight to Brisbane. Luckily, that meant we would arrive in Brisbane really early as well! We immefiately took a taxi from the airport to South Bank, where we enjoyed the most delicious açai bowls and cappucino’s with a few on the Brisbane letters and Ferris Wheel.

Afterwards, we made it to our AirBNB to quickly unpack our things, do some groceries and have a lunch on our terrace.

After lunch, we took an upstream ferry to the city for some sightseeing. We walked  along the Brisbane River, enjoyed the Royal Botanic Garden, did some window shopping at Queen Street Mall and strolled along the Christmas stalls at the Brisbane City Council square. 

I was one happy girl when I came along a food stall selling gluten free mini donuts ! We asked for four, one donut for each one of us, but we got 4 more for free as « an early Christmas surprise ». Christmas did come early this year – they were divine!

We walked back to the river to have a drink at the Riverbar, a really cool lounge bar and restaurant overlooking The Story Bridge and Kangaroo Point. Cheers to Brisbane!

In the evening, we went back to Southbank and walked around the parklands and pools. It was still so warm outside, so a lot of people were enjoying the water while watching a Christmas movie on a big in-water flatscreen. Some people were mindlessly strolling around the boardwalk; others were laying in the grass lazily. A whole different vibe than the ever so restless city centre of Sydney. This is by far my favourite part of Brisbane city!

Later on; we met up with Mathieu, a friend from Belgium who studies at EF Brisbane, and his friends Joop and Andreas. They took us to one of their favourite go-to restaurants where we exchanged stories and experiences. A really lovely evening!

On Saturday, we travelled to Surfer’s Paradise, the most well-known city of the Gold Coast, to have a little beach day. The weather was perfect, the waves unfortunately not really. Tanning it is! Luckily, and surprisingly, none of us got sunburnt.

Back home;  we made a big salad, toasted some bagels and opened a bottle of wine, enjoying the starry evening sky. If that makes us sound all grown-up, don’t worry: we’re still a bunch of kids that indulge on chips and chocolate after having a fancy dinner party. Later that evening, we met up with the guys from last night again to end up bowling. I used to absolutely hate bowling when I was younger, because I was terrible at it. Being the perfectionist that I was (and still am sometimes), I just very much disliked having to do something I wasn’t good at. But now, and that may come as much as a surprise to you than it came to me, I didn’t care at all. Not even a single bit. I was just having heaps of fun being around friends, and that’s really all that mattered at that exact moment. How happier I felt being able to laugh at my bowling « skills » instead of being unconscious about it! Who knew a simple bowling session would make me realise so much?

As Brisbane is rather small compared to Sydney, we had already seen pretty much everything about it by Sunday morning. So, we just chilled at the  Brisbane South Bank pools for a while. During lunch, I wanted to be all healthy and ordered an arugala salad instead of pasta. I ended up paying $15 for a plate of arugala with a teenie bit of balsamic glaze and a few tiny chunks of parmesan. I was even hungrier when I finished than when I had ordered! Life lesson learned: always order pasta. Wherever and whenever you can. At all costs. Appreciate the pasta. Luckily, I did have enough of an appetite to grab an açai smoothie at Kiss the Berry before we went to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, a famous Brisbane scenic look-out. A little dissapointing – I think it’d look better at night – but nice either way! Afterwards, we wanted to end our stay by having a few drinks somewhere in the city centre, but we had to hide from the sudden rain once we made it to Queen Street. Girls being girls, we walked in Love Stories, a lingerie store related to my all time favourite brand Maison Scotch. Nothing wrong with buying an early Christmas present for yourself! Our flight back to Sydney treated us to some wonderful views of the nightly sky!

Monday evening, we went out for dinner and drinks in Newtown to celebrate Jana’s birthday. I can only imagine how weird yet special it must be to celebrate your birthday abroad!

On Tuesday, I went straight to Maroubra after school to go out surfing. The surf wasn’t all that good, so I was jumping over and diving under waves most of the time and only caught a few, short waves of my own. But, hey, at least the ocean always finds a way to make me happy!

On Wednesday, we decided there wasn’t any better way to contribute to the Christmas spirty than donating blood. My teached had told me about the Australian Red Cross Blood Donation centre a few weeks ago and it felt as if it was the perfect time to do it now! No one of us had ever done it back home, so we figured it was about time to finally do so. So, two of my friends and I headed to the bloodbank straight after school. The nurses who worked there found it rather amusing to see a group of international students coming straight from class to donate blood. All-in all, everything went very smoothly. We did feel a littly dizzy and empty afterwards, but we were really happy we went through with it. I’m definitely going to do this more often!

On Friday, we went out for drinks with my teacher and classmates. It was our last class together before the holidays and because he goes travelling, he wasn’t going to be able to see some of us as a few graduate before he comes back - including me, unfortunately! Now that our Christmas break has started, a lot of my friends go travelling or have their family coming over. You could sense how a lot of us were excited for the holidays, although we do have to agree that our life is somehow a permanent holiday right now. Nevertheless, it’s going to be weird not to see them 24/7 anymore for a few weeks! But I wasn’t complaining, because I was heading for the airport myself. This time I’d be waiting at the arrivals instead of the departures – the day had finally arrived for me to welcome my dear parents and sister into my home away from home! Finally reunited!

On Saturday, I helped them fight the jetlag by showing them all the highlights of the Sydney centre: from Hyde Park to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Town Hall, Queen Victoria Building, Darling Harbour, Central Park, Circular Quay, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the historic Rocks. Not too bad, huh? It feels really cool to be able to show them around a city I’ve been living in for quite some time and to be a little bit of a guide. I really hope they’ll be able to fall in love with it as much as I did!

In the evening, we were invited by a long-time friend and previous co-worker of my dad to enjoy their annual Christmas Eve dinner with their friends. A truly joyful evening! It was fun to see how the Christmas traditions are celebrated here and we met a lot of very lovely people. It was totally different than celebrating it back home, but what matters is that we felt more than welcome and appreciated. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about!

On Sunday, Christmas Day, we went to Bondi Beach for a relaxing  beach day. Who thought we would ever be spending Christmas on one of the most famous beaches in the whole wide world? As cliché as it sounds, it may be the best gift I’ve ever got. Merry Christmas, everybody!

This Monday, on Boxing Day, we fled the busy city to enjoy the nature of the Blue Mountains. I was as impressed by its beauty as I was the first time I went there, and it made me realise even more how time really flies by! We didn’t hike for that long, because we had also planned to visit the Featherdale Wildlife Park. It was my first time there as well, so I was excited to see all those crazy native animals. I seriously can’t believe how cute koala’s are!            

By the end of the day, all four of us were so tired. During dinner, my parents and sister were talking about how they don’t really know how they’d describe Sydney; or if they love it as much as everybody else seems to do. I could totally understand where they came from – it took me a little bit of time as well to fall in love with it. Because it’s only when you’ve got the chance to discover all its parts that you start to appreciate this city its preciousness!

On Tuesday, we enjoyed a rest day! We went to Balmoral Beach, a really lovely harbour beach in Mosman. Because of it’s quiet and shallow waters, it’s a little bit of a children’s paradise. Luckily we found a calm spot near some trees, so we had a very nice time. Even for me, although I’ve been looking at Sydney as a place where I simply live in, this felt like being on a holiday!        

On Wednesday, we travelled further up the north coast to Narrabeen beach, a stunning beach with reddish-orange sands and far too rough waters for me to surf on - too bad I had carried my board with me the whole bus ride.  

As it was getting a little bit too hot over there, we hurried for some shade at the Narrabeen Lagoon, where we picnicked on the grass and enjoyed the stunning lagoon. Feeling sporty, my mom and I decided to go stand-up paddle-boarding around the lake. A sense of calmness washed over me as I was quietly gliding over the lake, with nothing but the sound of birds and water surrounding me. Oh, and the sound of my mom occasionally falling into the lake. Luckily, she found it funny! I feel so happy when I see my family having such a great time! 

By the end of the day, all four of us were feeling so completely relaxed. I was getting dressed to head back to the city and I quite stupidly sat on the back of my board. Little did I know that my fins were facing the grass... The minute I sat on my board, I heard the biggest crack of my life. I hurried over to take my board out of my bag, hoping there wouldn’t be a crack in the board itself. ‘Luckily’, it were just my fins that cracked over. Nothing to major, but it did gut me out completely.  In the evening, my parents went out for a fancy dinner with friends. Laurine and I went out for sushi together for some cosy sister-sister time! On Thursday, we had planned to go hiking in the Royal National Park, but the temperature rose up to almost 40°C that day. We decided to take it easy and wander around the city; sipping morning coffee at the Opera Bar, strolling around the Royal Botanical Garden and cooling off at the State Library of New South Wales.

We enjoyed a nice, quick lunch somewhere in the small streets of The Rocks before literally running away from the heat and relax at our apartment’s pool.

In the evening, we wanted to go have the dinner at the trendy Greek restaurant Appollo, but it was so packed we weren’t able to get in. Instead, we stranded at the Gazebo. We weren’t complaining at all - we enjoyed a truly great French-style dinner on a quiet terrace decorated with lights and exotic plants! 

On Friday, we woke up a little earlier as we were going on a road-trip down south all the way to Jervis Bay, a colourful beach town home to some of New South Wales’ most exquisite beaches. Dad was feeling a little nervous when we started our trip, because he wasn’t used to driving on the right-hand side of a car. And so, when he took a way too sharp left-turn, the side of the car hit the boardwalk and the left front-tire popped. We weren’t even driving for a full 15 minutes yet! All in all, we managed to stay calm and we were lucky enough to have a replacement car in little over an hour. Back on the road! 

In the afternoon, we had booked a boat trip around the several reefs around Jervis Bay to spot some dolphins. And we did!

After the tour, we took our time to buy some colourful Turkish hanmam towels in a local shop. The shop-owner was over the moon when he heard we were from Belgium, as he had recently watched The Broken Circle Breakdown. He gave us a discount on the towels and offered me a beautiful golden ring shaped into a gentle wave. I think this may be my best souvenir so far! In the late afternoon, we enjoyed the golden hour on Huskisson Beach and sought some refreshment in the water before snapping some pictures together. Laurine and I even took the time to recreate one of our favourite photographs of us!

In the evening, we drove back to Sydney with a quick food stop at Wollongong. We ended up having one of the nicest dinners ever, enjoying great food while overlooking the Wollongong harbour. For me, it felt as if we were back in Geneva!

On Saturday morning, New Year’s Eve day, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the famous Bills restaurant before taking the popular ferry ride to Manly. We chilled on the beach and I enjoyed a rather difficult surfing session before we headed back to the city to get ready for the New Year’s Eve of our dreams!

And boy, what a New Year’s it was! We had reserved seat in the Royal Botanical Garden, directly in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We enjoyed a really nice dinner with my dad’s friend/ex co-worker and his lovely wife, anxiously waiting for what ended up being the most beautiful set of fireworks we had ever seen. Oh, Sydney, you truly are magical. I can’t express how utterly grateful I am to have spent a major part of 2016 here in Sydney. I’m not going to bore you with a “new year, new me” cliché kind of talk, so I’ll leave it to this: Happy New Year everyone! Cheers to a warm, loving and adventurous 2017.

The staying up really late and the drinking a glass or two too much had completely shaken us up a bit. So, we pretty much spent the first day of the New Year catching up on some much needed rest. Hey, you can’t have it all, can you? I, for instance, was more than happy to have the time to reflect on the past week with my family. I hadn’t expected it to be so overwhelming! Having to adapt all over again, realising I had time within arms-reach again and realising what I had been missing all that time. But mostly, being around that familiarity made me realise how much I’ve changed already!  In the evening, we went out for drinks at the cosy bar/restaurant The Winery to have a drink on the new year before going out for dinner at an Italian place near Elizabeth Bay.  Cheers, everyone!

On Monday, we drove to Hunter Valley, the famous wine region of New South Wales. The valleys are absolutely stunning: rows and rows of hilly vineyards, accompanied by lakes and lush bushes!  We did some wine tasting, which was quite a funny sight to see. Let’s say wine tasting isn’t one of my best skills - yet.  Unfortunately, I had woken up feeling really, really sick. My stomach was bloated, I had zero appetite and my head was pounding. Was it because of the excess of garlic in my pasta last night, or did the restaurant accidentally forget to serve me gluten free paste instead? Hopefully it’s going to blow over soon!

On Tuesday, we drove to Bundeena to start a part of the coastal hike around the ever so magnificent Royal National Park. We hiked up to the Wedding Cake Rock, where we had a little bit of an issue with some ignorant tourists that still jumped over the fenced Rock to snap an ‘Instagram-worthy’ picture even though all the signs clearly restrict it. It’s inevitable that the Rock will end up crumbling completely into the ocean and the constant stream of, excuse my French, complete idiotic people disrespecting the nature and risking their own lives over a couple of likes on social media isn’t doing the situation any good at all. I just wish more people had their priorities in order.  We continued our hike down to the stunning Marley Beach, where we enjoyed a picnic before the weather changed completely. As I was still feeling slightly miserable, we decided to hike back in the now drizzling rain. It made the Royal National Park look even more mystic than it already does! 

By the evening, I looked about 2 months pregnant. My stomach had never felt that sensitive and hard. My head kept pounding and my stomach felt completely disoriented. It had become more than obvious that I did have gluten, because all the symptoms were more than clear. So frustrating, because there is literally nothing I can do about it beside drinking tea, water and eating as normal as I possibly could at that moment.  Not gonna lie, I’m glad I’m feeling this sick with my parents and sister still around. There’s something about feeling bad that turns you into an emotional, cuddling little girl! On Wednesday, we drove up to Bilgola Beach to spend the last full day together with the four of us at the beach. We tanned on the beach, swam in the impressive natural pool and walked around the hot sand avoiding the stranded bottlenose jellyfishes. Come late afternoon, we enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the ocean. The only thing my stomach can cope with right now, is toast with marmalade and chamomile tea, which isn’t all too bad either. At least, only if I selectively ignore my sister’s yummy burger and dad’s ricotta pancakes. Those damn gluten-eating people. 

In the evening, I took them to my all time favourite restaurant in the city, Bodhi In The Park. Nibbling on dim sums, spring rolls and papadums; it all hit us how quickly these past two weeks went by. It felt like yesterday that I was able to hold them in my arms again for the first time in 3 and a half months! 

The next morning, we enjoyed a last breakfast at Bills together before my dad already had to leave for the airport to go to the States. Yes, I was back at it again with the toast and marmalade. I was already feeling better thanks to the medication I had been taking, but this time my lost for appetite could be blamed on the fact that I simply wasn’t able to fathom what it was going to be without the three of them around me. 

In the afternoon; my mom, sister and I did some last-minute shopping in the city before meeting up for lunch with my roommate Froukje. It was comforting to know that I was going to be back by her side in room n°10 soon, even though I was absolutely not looking forward to go back to Park Lodge. It truly felt as if I had to start all over again; as if I was a complete stranger in a city that I couldn’t call my home anymore.

Nevertheless, feeling sad to see my family leave doesn’t overshadow the fact that I’m so overjoyed I got lucky enough to spend the holidays with them and to let them experience Sydney the way I did in the beginning and to discover new places I hadn’t been yet with them! 

Turning my heart into stone, I bid my mom and Laurine goodbye half an hour before their taxi was scheduled to pick them up. Luckily, coming back to Park Lodge wasn’t as bad as I had expected. It did feel really strange at first, but I overall had a really cosy evening with my friends as we caught up over cups of green tea and chocolate.  It’s now finally starting to sink in I’m officially going into my final 3 weeks in Australia. Saying that I’m having mixed feelings, would be an understatement. One part of me screams to fly back immediately, the other wishes I still had 4,5 months to go. I’m also starting to feel a bit anxious about beginning all over again in Rome soon, but I’ve learned to hush that thought so that it doesn’t hinder me here in Sydney. Although I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again soon, I’m so not looking forward to saying goodbye to everyone here.  Today, I granted myself a day of doing absolutely nothing at all. So; I’ve been reading Harry Potter, drinking tea and finally finishing my blogpost! Oh, and I had another piece of toast. Yes, with marmalade. Yes, I know, it really is getting ridiculously out of hand. 

I don’t know what the weekend is going to bring yet - yes, shocker, Marie isn’t much more of a planner anymore - but I’ll probably end up at the beach. Hard-knock life. Anyway, sending you all some warm summer kisses to fight the cold! 

With love,

Marie