fabulous weekend!

This was definitely one of the best weekends I've had in Sydney so far. (ok, well, this time around!)

Thursday night I met my friend Rachel in an area called Liechardt (pronounced: Like-heart). It's known as the Italian part of the city and has a collection of fabulous restaurants! We grabbed a bottle of cheap wine and wandered over to the "Italian forum" -- a nice area resembling a piazza with restaurants all around the outside and apartments above it. We took a quick wander around, checking each menu and trying to decide on a place, when Joe, the friendly host at one of the restaurants, informed us that we shouldn't come into his place but should instead go across the piazza to the other place we were debating and tell them he sent us. Is it normal that the host of one restaurant told us to go to another because "it's better"... hmm, probly not. So, Dante's it was and it was definitely fabulous! We made friends with the host and waiters (of course!) and they had an entertaining time telling us jokes and providing deep insight and widsom on love and life. do i bring that out in people or something?? anyway, for the foodies out there, i had Tasmanian salmon drizzled with olive oil and served over couscous with raisins and almonds with sun dried tomatoes on top. SOOO yummy!

Friday night was the BBQ with Rachel and her friends. Nothing too crazy but Rachel was bent over a toilet by 1:30 after going shot for shot out of a whiskey bottle with her 20-year old brother. She spent the rest of the night apologizing to everyone for nothing and trying not to fall over... it was pretty funny:) I spent the night talking to her boyfriend, his friend, her brothers, and a couple of the girls. fabulous people and great conversation turned into 4:00am somehow! those nights are the best, don't ya think?:) plus, her boyfriend and i have organized a karaoke night for the musically challenged. i'm excited:)

Saturday was the Mardi Gras parade... i'm not talking mardi gras like beads and boobs in new orleans -- though i guess there are both in this one. Mardi gras in sydney is a gay and lesbian pride celebration. so, beads and boobs, but also thongs (i'm talking guys), drag queens, high heels (still talking about guys), butts (yeah, still guys), and lots of leather...
It was definitely a much bigger deal than 4 years ago and now they sell tickets to get a seat on the street along the parade route! The rest of the population of Sydney was stuck standing on milk crates trying to see over the fencing they put at the outside of the street. Needless to say, my basketball player stature (sarcasm) didn't allow me to get to see a ton, but i could hear it all! RuPaul was the kickoff act of the parade! "work, cover girl!" I wish i could try to describe the amounts of people dressed in drag and leather and do it justice, but you'll have to take my word that you've never seen anything like this! At one point I jumped on a nice guy's milk crate with him (does that sound weird to anyone else?) and could see a bit down the street. 4 lanes of street flooded with people, lights, fireworks, and bounded by multiple storied buildings with people packed on the balconies. I'm hoping the couple pictures i took will come out -- particularly the sign held by the gay Jews saying "Jews make the cut!" :) One of the girls in my program, Destiny, and I wandered down Oxford St. while the parade was finishing up and decided to join the rest of the population by stopping in the bottle shop, buying a bottle of wine, and pouring it out into Starbuck's cups to drink as we walked down the street. i love screw-top wine! and can you say ghetto superstars?:) She stopped to bum a smoke from a guy who we found out had just moved up to Sydney. We asked him how he was liking it. His response: "i've had sex twice today, went for a surf, and now i'm drunk... i love it!" sigh, i love australia:)
After the parade, in the middle of the mass exodus on Oxford st., we managed to find a friend of mine and a couple of his mates, and they took us to a great hiphop club!! yes, HIPHOP!! For those that don't understand the significance here, aussies don't do hiphop - only house music, which i hate. Alana and i tried to find a bar that played hiphop while she was here, and we lasted 3 songs before being completely scared of the guys that were getting closer and closer to us and running out of the bar... So you can imagine how overjoyed Destiny and I were at finding this place! Cloud 9:) We finally left at 3, exhausted and starving, and stopped at Hungry Jack's (Burger King, but for some reason not called that). Yes, i ate that. (scott, don't even think about making a comment...) They actually have healthy options here and i had a plain grilled chicken breast on a honey wheat roll. only i would still think about healthy options at 3am... anyway, finally got home and in my usual fashion, made it to the couch and passed out sitting upright. i'm such a rockstar sometimes:)

Sunday was spent having coffee and relaxing on coogee beach with my friend John (beach is pronounced Kuh-gee, not COO-gee...), and then an incredible night with Destiny and Chris (one of the guys from our program who was up for the weekend from canberra). We decided to take him to Bondi Beach and found a cute restaurant with outdoor seating (sidenote: i LOVE warm weather!). After a very tasty dinner and the two of them polishing off about a bottle of wine each, we were delivered the LARGEST bowl of gelato i've ever seen! (maybe we should have thought about the fact that the restaurant was called the "Gelato Bar Restaurant" when we ordered the large...details) A charming little old aussie man felt it was necessary to come over to our table as the bowl was being put down and tell me that i should be careful because that would make me fat (as he motions by pinching and pulling out on his sides). gee... thanks. so, just to spite him, we polished the whole thing off :) at that point, a ridiculous lightning storm was moving closer to us and we decided it would be a GREAT idea to go down to the beach and watch it -- and it was!! the three of us ran like little kids through the sand, chasing the seagulls, and frolicking in the water while shreaking in delight every time we saw a huge bolt of lightning shoot down :) talk about just enjoying your surroundings!! at midnight we finally decided it was time to catch the last bus back to the city...
:)