This is my first try at this. As a request from Matthew...I am going to keep him informed about my travels by Blogging...I guess...welcome to the crazy internet world for me. I don't know why anyone would be interested in my thoughts on travel experiences...but a promise is a promise.
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| Brussels Grand Place at Night |
Matthew and I have now settled in much more. We came down to Sydney with Google - Matthew switched teams and found that he could really help a team that supports the stuff that he use to work on...the team is in Australia. It was not a pleasant transition (again (moving internationally with Google is quite painful)) but after all of the craziness... we moved down to Sydney for a 6 month assignment. Personally, I had quite a transition with a double international move - first from Brussels where I had been on assignment since Jan 2, 2011 and then to Sydney separated by 10 days in the US (split between KC and SF).
It was a very difficult decision but I decided to work only part time while down here and do some traveling and unwinding while here as the last 2 projects and the international moves have taken quite a toll on me.
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| The Nederlands Tulips in Spring |
Brussels was tough. It is not anywhere close to a favorite European city...I would not chose to go back...there are much nicer places in Belgium (of course I did not really choose to go there in the first place). There are some advantages to being in Europe in the spring time and I traveled every weekend while I was there. Anyway...I plan on relaying travel stories from Europe in this as well (as I was really bad about writing them down).
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| Vancouver Bridge |
Our adventure to Sydney started with our flight down. Our ticket was San Fransisco to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Sydney. We did this because it was a significantly cheaper ticket. Since we had to fly to Vancouver, we decided to plan in an extended layover so that we could explore the city. Thanks to United/Air Canada checking our bags straight through!
I was underwhelmed. The airport was incredible. People were so friendly and helpful. We stored our bags easily at the airport. A day ticket on the public transit for both of us was less than half of what I expected the taxi ride to be AND there is a train at the airport that took us straight into the city. It was SO nice and easy. Highly recommend the train. My research never mentioned this option and it was BY FAR the best to get to and from the Vancouver airport to downtown.
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| Stanley Park Rose Garden (with tulips) |
The Gastown was meant to be the historic area. It was...well....after walking though, I wondered if we had seen any of the "great" part. The walk from Gastown to Chinatown was scary...I found myself clutching my purse to my chest and wondering if the strap was going to be cut from behind if I was not clutching it. We decided to go back to the water. The seawalk along the water to Stanley Park was nice. The mountains and water make for nice scenery but there are much prettier places to see water and mountains.
Stanley Park is kind of fun. We walked around quite a bit. Saw the totem poles, to my disappointment, they are only replicas that have been made in my lifetime. I did like the pictures of real ones that were used as inspiration. It was a nice place to walk around.
My favorite thing about Vancouver was the airport and how friendly people were there. The train is defiantly the way to get to and from the airport! But the day pass and it is Way cheaper.
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