Nick & I had a lovely weekend away in Sydney. When we got married we decided that we would try and get away alone together at least twice a year. I think it is important for all married couples to make an effort to keep the romance alive and your friendship strong and there a lots of ways to do this but for us getting away together works. Nicholas our son, is from my first marriage and he lives with us 100% of the time. He may see his birth father for a week a year so Nick and I never had a time when it was just the two of us. We both look forward to our mini breaks so we can just hang out and not 'parent' for a few days.
Our favourite mini break destinations are Mudgee, The Southern Highlands and Sydney. They are all 2 - 4 hours drive from Orange and means we can get there easily in the morning and spend two days and nights away.
We both have family that live in Sydney so we visit often but when Nick and I go by ourselves we stay in the City and play tourists, something we don't do when we go to visit family.
This trip is the first time I can remember that I have been to the Royal Botanic Gardens. I think we will have to go again and spend a little longer wandering through them. We arrived at the gardens a little late and the gates shut at 5.30pm so we didn't get to explore as much of them as we would have liked.
On Saturday we walked from our apartment on Kent Street to Pitt Street Mall (have to shop a little), wandered through Martin Place, past the historic buildings including Sydney Hospital, the National Library and into the gardens. From the Gardens we meandered on to Circular Quay and around the opera house.
Watched the sunset over the harbour
Enjoyed the atmosphere along the quay, live music, tourists, wedding parties, there is certainly lots to look at.
Another first for both of us was a water taxi trip around to Darling Harbour
Somebody's feet were getting sore and this brought us back much closer to our apartment.
It is a spectacular harbour, so pretty when it is all lit up.
Later on we ventured out for dinner, only when we stay in Sydney do we find it normal to head out for dinner at 8.30pm :-)
On Friday night we ate in one of the restaurants along Darling Harbour Walk. It was nice but nothing spectacular. After dinner we had dessert at the Lindt Cafe, again nice but not spectacular.
On Saturday night we headed off to our tried and tested favourite. We seem to have a new tradition of dining at the Bavarian Bier Cafe on one of our evenings out, great meals and a fun atmosphere, it can get pretty noisy so not a good choice is you are after a quiet, intimate dinner.
We always eat too much and next time I need to say no to the pretzels before dinner. Fortunately Max Brenner's is a few blocks away and by the time we walk there I can fit in dessert. The photo doesn't do this justice at all but the waffles are sooooo good! Waffles with chocolate, ice cream, strawberries and bananas for two, delicious. Every time we visit Max we buy waffles and chocolate to take home and recreate this fantastic dessert.
How was your weekend? Did you do anything special?
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
xx
