Better Than I Imagined (Day 8)

Daniil Medvedev (4) v. Stan Wawrinka (15)

I was super stoked to see Daniil Medvedev play Stan Wawrinka. I'd seen Daniil play a bunch already this tournament, but I hadn't seen Stan play before. I like Stan as a player and often think of him as an underdog, which makes me root for him.  He was on my list of players I was really hoping to see prior to coming to Australia. 

Honestly, I'm not sure who was on the court behind me in this first picture below. I think it might be Dominic Thiem. I took the picture as the post-match interview of the previous match was going on before I made it down to my seat below.

These pictures don't show it as much as I expected it to, but I noticed something "interesting" about Stan Wawrinka's body during this match.  Without getting too much into it, I tend to be attracted to pretty solid men. I like sturdy legs and booty on a man. Stan is a few inches taller than me, about six feet, and definitely has sturdy legs and a booty. As I talked about with Tennys Sandgren and Michael Mmoh, it makes sense that tennis players would have really developed quads and butts because that's where they get a lot of power.  They don't need big biceps because that's not what gives them the power for their forehands or backhands.  Their core, butt, and legs matter more. That being said, usually because these players are doing total body workouts they tend to still have muscles all over. Tennys Sandgren and Rafa Nadal come to mind.    What I noticed about Stan is that he is solid, some might even describe him as stocky, but his arms are quite small, disproportionately so. I couldn't not see it once I noticed it. I mean, whatever - it's clearly working for him and I don't mean to be insensitive. If I were reading a blog post picking apart my body I'd probably be in a heap on the floor crying.  I just found it weird that it's even possible for his body to develop like that. Maybe if I were face to face with him he would look different or I wouldn't even notice it.

Anyway, all of the pictures I took were of Stan because I hadn't seen him play yet.  I didn't take any Daniil because I had a bunch already and because they were all looking the same to me.  

I ate a MaxiBon bar almost every day if the tournament. They were so delicious. I really miss them already.  Something I love about traveling is that there are a set of food items that you can get in every country: Coke, Oreos, wafer cookies (vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate), Pringles, and Haribo gummie bears are the first time come to mind. You can also always find a variety of ice cream bars. I like to try different ice cream in each country and usually walk away with a favorite. This was definitely my favorite in Australia and I ate a lot of it. 

Unfortunately, Daniil Medvedev lost the match. I'd developed quite a selfish interest in his performance throughout the tournament because the more he won, the more I got to see tennis from amazing seats.  It was disappointing that he lost, but I couldn't complain. I was treated to so much and saw great players during the men's matches who I wouldn't have seen if I only attended with the tickets I purchased.  Beyond my own selfish interest I became a fan of Medvedev. He's fun to watch and it's impossible to not be invested in a player and their performance once you get to know some of his team and his support system.  I can confidently say that I will be following his career much more intently now.

Another pair of my jeans almost bit the dust on my way home that night. While I was wearing the second of my two new pairs of jeans I sat in gum on the train! What was really nuts about it is that while on the station platform I sat down and waited on a bench. I noticed a piece of gum and was super diligent about not getting it on me. Too bad I didn't see the gum on the patterned cloth seat on the actual train. Ugh!  I tried to get most of it off that night, but got frustrated and set my jeans aside to deal with later.  A few days later when I had an evening free I got my jeans wet, froze them, and sat on my couch scraping the hardened gum off with a steak knife and a pair of tweezers until I was able to salvage the pair. I've been wearing them happily since. :) 

Better Than I Imagined (Day 4)

Garbine Muguruza v. Ajla Tomljanovic

By day four I realized that all of my pictures were probably looking the same. I had the immense privilege of sitting in generally the same spot for most of the matches I attended, which meant that my vantage point was pretty much the same each time.  I also watched a lot of the same players play, which was cool, but didn't make for a lot of variety in pictures. I kept clicking away during the matches and then afterward when I got home I decided if they were good to look at or not.  It turns out I only took one decent photo during this match.  You can tell that I still had a killer seat, but to the left of the player's box because of the glass right in front of me. 

Daniil Medvedev (4) v. Pedro Martinez

I'd be lying if I told you I remembered anything about this match. 

D. Krawczyk/J.  Pegula v. I. Begu/ Kr. Pliskova

This was the first doubles match I watched.  I didn't take in as much doubles as I expected. The schedule wasn't always in my favor. When there were players I wanted to see I tended to be at other matches and when I had free time some of the matches were suspended due to weather.  Plus, I had already seen so much tennis. It's hard to keep your focus on matches you aren't that invested in. I did, however, make a point to go see Jessie Pegula play. I wanted to see her singles play, but wasn't able to.  

I remember being really tired at the end of this day, but also not wanting to go home.  I tried to find a cool place to eat dinner that was somewhat near my Airbnb. I knew that as I relaxed and really sank into how tired I was during dinner I would dread having a long haul home after I finished.  I failed in that most places near where I was staying were closed. Things ended up working out well for me though.

I landed upon this charcoal chicken place and planned to stay to eat in a little seating area they had outside, but there was some miscommunication between me and the owners of the shop. When I received my food it was already in a take away wrapper, so I just went with it. It worked out for the best because it was quite breezy and cooling down.  I took it home and ate.  Anyway, I ordered this sandwich - chopped chicken, tabouli, and french fries on a bun.  It sounds weird, and it kind of was, but it was also delicious. I remember devouring it on my couch while watching Nick Kyrgios play on tv. 

Better Than I Imagined (Part I)

I wish I forced myself to blog every day of the Australian Open.  It didn’t do it because I was overwhelmed by my experiences, the days were long, and I was pretty sure 14 days of posting about tennis would be pretty tedious for everyone else.  Any tennis fan reading this blog would already be following the results of the competition anyway, at least casually. Anyone who isn’t a tennis fan would be bored out of their gourd reading about the minute details day in and day out.  Honestly, being tired probably weighed in the most here. 

My lack of good sleep hygiene has really made some days on this trip difficult for me. I’m really blessed in that I can managed my narcolepsy pretty well and haven’t had to change my medication or dosage since I was diagnosed almost 8 years ago.  When I’m actually managing my sleep routine I do fairly well. Changing my bedtime and my morning alarm regularly, being awful with screen time before bed, and having a diet where I throw caution to the wind because, “I’m on vacation!” and drink Cokes any time to the day or night really hasn’t helped my brain chemistry.  Just last night I was ready to go to bed at 10:00, but because I had a Coke with dinner I was exhausted and awake until 1:00 AM.  When I feel tired, like the reaaaallll narcolepsy tired, my medicine helps me function but my ability to read or write is severely impacted. The feeling I experience when I have to use my brain and concentrate is best described as pain,  but that’s also not quite accurate.  It’s this awful nagging right behind my eyes. I won’t delve into that right now, but I’ll circle back to my main point that sitting down to recap my day and all that I experienced while I was in Melbourne wasn’t in the cards for me.

Let me start by saying that Melbourne is a delight. I absolutely loved it.  I didn’t take advantage of anything except my immediate neighborhood, a few restaurants and shopping malls outside of my immediate neighborhood, and the Aussie Open.  I know that’s not enough to say I “know” Melbourne, but I feel like I got enough experiences with locals to know the vibe of the city.  My hippy uncle once told me that he believed that people and cities have wavelengths. It’s when those wavelengths match or when they are in direct opposition that we feel most at home because we’re either in direct alignment or we’re compliments. When the wavelengths are discordant by being off from each other just a little bit we tend to be unhappy, unfulfilled, and unsettled in that city and community.  This imagery works for me.  In Melbourne I felt like my wavelength matched its wavelength.

Melbourne was filled with super friendly people. I felt comfortable asking anyone for directions, help, or to take a picture for me.  The people were quite approachable and seemed to want to help.  Before traveling to Australia I hear that the people were a delight throughout.  This sentiment rang true for me in the Whitsundays and in Melbourne, but not so much in Sydney. For me, the people in Sydney were nice but I didn’t feel they were as approachable or seemed as genuine.  When I did the walking tour in Sydney the tour guide gave a brief history of how Canberra became the capital of Australia instead of Sydney or Melbourne. As part of this story he discussed the big rivalry between the two cities. I felt that dynamic in Sydney, but when I asked a few people about it in Melbourne they just sort of rolled their eyes and said that locals don’t really care about perpetuating that mentality.  As I reflect back it seemed like Sydney had an inferiority complex and that Melbourne was cool just doing its thing. 

One of the most delightful people in Melbourne was my Airbnb host, Jim.  Jim and I clicked as friends from the start.  He was super helpful and involved in my stay, but not overbearing.  His flat has lots of little touches that you wouldn’t necessarily think of prior to arrival, but were incredibly helpful and created a welcoming atmosphere. For example, there was a shelf in the living room that had leftover change and cards for public transportation. He had two laminated sheets of paper with lots of local tips and directions to important places like train stops, shopping centers, highly regarded cafes, and grocery stores. The kitchen had the basics like olive oil, salt and pepper, and sugar. The shower had shampoo, conditioner, and soap. There was a bookshelf with options across lots of topics. It was a great way to be able to get started.  The whole place had a feel of everyone who ever stayed there contributing to it – like the apartment got better and better with each visitor. The flat was attached to Jim’s house and he made it clear that he wanted to help in any way possible, but that he’d stay out of my hair if that’s what I wanted too. He even helped me out by dropping me at the train station a few times, including the day I departed at 5:45 AM when I feared I was going to miss my train and then miss my connecting bus to the airport. Jim is an incredibly generous man and made me feel welcome in both his home and his city. We chatted multiple times about life’s grand designs, but one of the best times was when we went to brunch together. I mean, who envisions going out to brunch with their Airbnb host and that being a highlight of their stay in a city? It wasn’t something I expected, but Jim was such an important contributor to my overall feelings about Melbourne and Australia.

In addition to great people, Melbourne had a very easy train system, despite it causing me problems.  I selected my Airbnb in part because it was near a train station that would take me into the city in about 20 minutes tops.  It was great! Well, it was great in week two when that actually happened. In week one the train route was under construction and I had two alternatives. 1) I could take the normal route, but about halfway there get rerouted to a bus that went into the city center.  This option was not ideal because I get motion sick on busses easily and because Melbourne traffic is a nightmare. The travel time was unpredictable.  The one and only time I used this option it took me about an hour and a half to get to the city center.  2) I could use a train station that was about a 10-minute Uber ride or a 30-minute walk from my flat. I ended up choosing this option a lot. I took the perspective that a 30-minute walk was good exercise for me.  In general it worked fine, but I was pigeonholed into paying for Ubers that I didn’t want to pay for when I arrived at the train station late on my way home and didn’t want to talk in the dark in a neighborhood I didn’t know very well.

Jim was instrumental in helping me figure out this alternative route. Knowing the area quite well he was able to provide me with a variety of options from the quickest to the cheapest.  I was particularly thankful for his help because the day before we discussed transportation options there was a big storm that ravaged the AO. Everyone was soaked from head to toe, including myself, and the temperature dropped to about 60 degrees. The trains were overcrowded and delayed. I tried to figure out an alternative way home and failed. It took me two hours to get home while I was soaked and freezing. That was not an awesome night. At the very end of the first week the train routes re-opened and I was able to get in and out of the city center quite easily. Transportation was gravy from that point on.

Melbourne felt more cultured thank Sydney.  I know some people might balk at that, but my sense was that there were more museum and intellectual opportunities in Melbourne.  After I spent one full day seeing the sites in Sydney I felt like I had seen what there was to have seen. There were a few small museums and a different walking tour that I could have taken advantage of, but I was left with a “now what?” feeling. I didn’t explore this side of Melbourne, but I know there were several museums to check out – art and history. There were other tourist destinations like parks, a zoos, and public buildings that I could have seen. For example, I met two people at the tennis tournament that told me about a neighborhood with a pedestrian area filled with Greek shops and restaurants.  It turns out that it was near by where I was staying so I went on my last day there. I had one of the best meals and a great time wandering around all that it had to offer.  It’s not that Sydney didn’t have these things, but Melbourne seemed to have more with diversity in interest. I expressed to someone that Melbourne felt like there were so many more cultural attractions to check out and they agreed. They said that Melbourne tangibly had a lot more to do than Sydney did. I was bummed to miss out on all of these things, but it gives me a reason to go back. Sydney I could never go to again and not feel like I was missing out. Melbourne I would jump at the change to return to any time of the year. I’d love to experience more of what the city has to offer.  I just couldn’t not go to the tennis – and I got so much more tennis than I expected.

The tournament was… better than I imagined.  I was nervous about it because I’ve dreamed of going for so long and anyone who follows tennis knows that the Australian Open is known for being an awesome party and the “fun” grand slam.  My dreams of going turned in to actual plans back in October. That left me with three and a half months of waiting… and expecting. I was nervous that it couldn’t live up to my expectations, but it did. It did in more ways that I can count. When I arrived I was overcome with emotion. I remember walking onto the grounds, trying to get my bearings. Because I had grounds passes the first few days I got to float around the side and show courts. I entered a show court and before play started I had to leave because I had to gather myself. I started tearing up and I felt like the air was vibrating around me. It was pure magic. In that moment I knew exactly how lucky I was to be there and how I would never have that same experience again.

I’m always impressed by sports events that let you bring in food and beverage. I wish all organizations would adopt this model.  I can think of four instances off the top of my head in which I was able to do this – the Indy 500, two different NASCAR races, and the Australian Open.  All of them had great environments that felt like a party and at all of them I saw fans still laying down their money to buy concessions and merchandise. In the early days of the AO I packed my meals.  On long days I brought my lunch and a snack, but then bought dinner. It helped me make the experience much more affordable and put me in a position to buy when I wanted to buy and not feel like I had to watch my pennies every step of the way.  Some days I was more frugal than others, but it seemed to balance out in the end. The food options were varied – wraps, burgers, nachos, hot dogs, fried chicken, French fries, BBQ, salads - and I enjoyed most of it. It was quite fresh as while I named a lot of things we’d find at a typical sporting event in the US, they weren’t quite the same.  Delaware North was the primary concessionaire, but there were some local restaurants that had booths out in the grounds outside of the arenas. I didn’t try easily half of the options because I was trying to be somewhat healthy and cognizant of how much I was spending.  I had one bad experience with a pizza that wasn’t cooked properly and I blame that one on Delaware North being unrealistic about the traffic before major matches and the time needed to cook the pizzas thoroughly. All in all, I think the AO could serve as a model of how to do it right by allowing attendees the choice to bring their own food or buy. I think it makes me a more satisfied customer in the long run and I imagine that people are willing to buy a $50 grounds pass when they don’t have to worry about their actual cost of attendance being more like $100-150 for the day. It’s easier for locals to justify popping in for a day or two on a whim. I think it’s also easier for parents with young kids to manage too.

Something about the facilities I want to comment on relates to concession, but also to bathrooms and merchandise.  I’ve never been to a site quite like the AO grounds. I’m not sure if other grand slams operate like this, but it was new to me.  When you get a grounds ticket it gives you access to all of the grounds – the side courts, the show courts, all of the common spaces like the Grand Slam Oval, etc.  But what’s really cool is that you can also enter Melbourne Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and Rod Laver Arena.  A grounds pass doesn’t let you in to see the tennis in those facilities, but it does let you through the concourse.  MCA and RLA are actually linked so you can walk through the concourse and not realize that you’re technically transitioning from one arena to the next if you’re not paying attention.  Except for during the semifinals and the finals your ticket isn’t even checked until you enter the final doors that take you in to the seating area.  That means that once you are beyond the first entry point to the grounds you can access the concessions, merchandise, and the bathrooms in the arenas.  The concourses feel light and airy – not quite open air, but definitely not closed off. I think it’s awesome, particularly for the first week of play.  My go to spot for using the bathroom was in MCA because I was usually close by and the queue was never too long. Plus, the staff kept the restrooms pretty clean and stocked with all the necessities.

During the second week re-entering during the match became a bit cumbersome at times. Like in hockey, fans can’t enter and leave whenever they want. They need to wait for play to stop. Unlike in hockey, tennis play doesn’t stop as frequently.  Winning a point doesn’t count as play stopping. People are only allowed to enter or leave when the players switch sides after every odd game and when they have a rest at the end of each set. If I remember correctly the window of opportunity is only 1 minute while players switch court sides and 1 minutes 30 seconds between sets.  What kind of stinks is that if you need to go to the bathroom or want something to eat or drink, there’s no way to do it during a match without missing some of it.  Even if you can get out and get through a line quickly, there’s no way you’re going to make it back in time.  That means you have to wait in line outside of the door until you get the go ahead to enter again.  Twice when I went out to go to the bathroom and get my favorite ice cream bar I was surprised that I made it back before play started. That was only because one of the players went in for medical treatment or to go to the bathroom himself.  

The matches in the second week are higher stakes and fans take the matches more seriously, which also means that people get annoyed at how long it takes to get through a door. It also means that if it’s a big match with a lot of people coming and going, and subsequently desperate to get back in as fast as possible, it’s a little hairy.  The ushers try to “precheck” everyone’s ticket, but that’s near impossible. Everyone is trying to rush back in, but the ushers have to verify everyone’s ticket. During the Djokovic/ Federer match there were so many people trying to get back in and the line moved so slowly I got stuck outside for another handful of games until I could get back in. It can be really frustrating at times, but out of all the tennis I saw in two full weeks I only got held out one time. So I guess that percentage of success is pretty good, but it would only take one time at one match to really ruin someone’s experience, especially if they only attended one match.  If ticket taking was like it is in a regular arena you couldn’t even enter the concourse without a ticket and then they wouldn’t have to check your ticket each and every time.  If I were managing the event I probably wouldn’t change the way the system works because it somehow works the vast majority of the time, although it looked quite stressful for the ushers.  

Getting your ticket checked and getting back to your seat in the span of a minute can be a bit anxiety producing because NOBODY wants to be that person that the umpire makes a comment about. I also never wanted to be shushed by the umpire either. I can tell you that I checked that my phone was on silent no less than 20 times each match and that is not hyperbole. Ending up on ESPN with a red face was the last thing I wanted.  Tennis culture around getting to a seat was fascinating to witness.  It was also crystal clear who was new and who was an experienced tennis fan.  When play is about to resume, get your butt down as fast as possible even if that means sitting in a seat that isn’t yours or sitting in the aisle. Sitting in the aisle is clearly not preferred, but because no one is supposed to be moving between those breaks in play you’re not in anyone’s way. During one Daniil Medvedev match I was supposed to have a seat in the row behind the player’s box. More on this later, but we got down to the row there were two seats and three of us.  I was the last one in so I didn’t have a seat. I plopped my ass down in the aisle and watched three games that way. I was so nervous that someone would come yell at me, but they didn’t because it’s better to just get down than to be causing a disturbance. Even though I was with someone in the player’s box I didn’t want to cross a line and take one of those seats. Some players are quite particular about who is sitting in the box and even where people are sitting.  I ended up sitting in the box and everything worked out just fine. It was one of several moments when I had to find a seat and find it fast.

I need to give my new friend, Olli, a ton of credit for making my AO experience magnitudes greater than what it would have been on my own.  I think if I was truly alone in Melbourne I would have still had an amazing time and would still be sitting here writing that it was the time of my life, but Olli took it to another level.  I’m going to be a bit vague because I don’t want to blast Olli’s business across the internet, although I don’t think it’ll be hard for anyone who really wants to put the pieces together to do so.  Olli is a dear friend my department chair and friend Todd.  We met for the first time at the AO.  He works in player representation and is incredibly gracious and generous.  I wasn’t surprised to discover that Todd is one of the most generous people I’ve known my whole life and it took me no time to see how similar they are in many regards, generosity being one. Both men delight it making others happy and are willing and excited to pay forward all that they can. It sounds cheesy, but both men have pure hearts in this regard and get so excited for others to be excited and happy.  Before Olli and I had even met face to face he invited me to a “BBQ” at house where other employees at the agency were staying.  I put BBQ in quotes because it wasn’t a backyard BBQ like you and I might regularly attend. It was a bit more high class than that. LOL. I definitely stepped into a different world. 

After completely stressing out about what I was going to wear and how to present myself like I wasn’t living out of a suitcase for eight months, I entered the house and I was greeted with champagne.  I had to walk through an area that was being set up for some sort of an interview with a player. As I searched for Olli with my heart thumping, feeling like a total imposter.  I saw Nick Kyrgios on my right, Madison Keys on my left, and Serena Williams’ manager in the back. Yup, I was definitely out of my league. I was also determined to fake it and act like I belonged there. After all, if I was invited didn’t that mean that I belonged there?  I found Olli, he introduced me to his wife, and a few coworkers. We enjoyed some champagne and some food. After what seemed like an hour, Olli decided to leave, but told me to stay and enjoy myself. Stay and enjoy myself?? I don’t know anyone!  I hitched up my big girl panties and was determined to chat with the people that I had met and feel it out.  I stayed for maybe 30 minutes more then decided to leave.  It turned out that those who I had met were incredibly nice and easy to talk to.  I left when I did because I didn’t want to over stay or make anyone feel obligated to hang out with me. Oh, did I mention that before Olli left he invited me to another party the following day?  You know, the party that last year was covered by Vogue Australia? I also had instructions to “wear something hip”.  Ok, cool. So, um, absolutely nothing I packed fit into that category. 

I spend the bulk of the next day shopping at one of the fancy malls Jim recommended on his laminated info sheets. The mall was within walking distance and had high end stores, as well as some more affordable places. While I wanted to fit in at this party there was no way I was walking into Gucci or Chanel to buy my outfit for the evening. After several hours and a wee bit of freaking out, I found an outfit I felt was appropriate, something I was comfortable in, and something I imagined myself wearing in the future. Despite that I still swallowed the lump in my throat when I dropped a few hundred dollars on an outfit that I wore for just a few hours and has since been the bane of my existence when it comes to packing and luggage weight. I love the shoes, but damn if they haven’t caused me some problems.

Side note:  I can’t remember if I wrote this in a previous post, but my luggage broke when I arrived in Sydney, so I had to buy a new suitcase.  Looking back I wish I bought a backpack because it would have made my travel easier, but I didn’t because I have two backpacks at home. Why would I buy the same thing I already own? If I could do anything different, I would have traveled with either my travel or my camping packs from the start. I know I had a specific reason for not traveling with one of them but I can’t remember why. It was a mistake on a trip this long and through Asia. It was a real bitch in Malaysia when I couldn’t find my Airbnb and ended up having to carry a 45 pound bag up and down several flights of stairs in 95 degree temps. I like the new bag because it’s functional and bigger than the one I initially brought with me. The downside is that I had to throw out a bunch of stuff when leaving Melbourne because my luggage was overweight by 12 pounds!  It took me forever to figure out how that happened. I think the main culprits were the weight of the bag itself and the shoes I bought for the fancy party.

Back to the story – I went to the fancy party and had a good time. I got to chat with the people I met the previous night, as well as some others. Several of these people became my go to people during the tourney and I hope casual friends moving forward. We’re now connected through social media so you never know. Who knows – maybe even one of them is reading this post.  My hope is that I’ll be able to connect with them at future sporting events. One woman I met works in social media so I’m hoping to connect with her further for this book I’m planning/ supposedly working on right now. I was really thankful for making these connections early on because it gave me people to hang out with during the tourney.  I don’t mind traveling alone most of the time, but when I have really special experiences I miss getting to share them.  I was happy to have some friends, whether temporary or not, to share in the drama and the excitement of the matches. Aside from an accountant and the social media manager, I met a few agents who have well known clients, but I didn’t meet any current players. The players in attendance left well before I arrived.  I met Mark Knowles, a retired player who has a career slam in doubles. He was SUPER nice and really easy to talk with. He put me at ease whether he knew it or not. The high of the night for me came when I was part of a small group who was invited to leave the dwindling party to have some more champagne in the hotel. I drank a lot of champagne in the first few days of my time in Melbourne and it was EXCELLENT. The champagne wasn’t the highlight though.  While we were enjoying our drinks I saw David Lee walk into the room with a handful of people.

For those of you who don’t know, David Lee is a former NBA player and Caroline Wozniacki’s husband. Once I spotted him I immediate was like, “Caroline Wozniaki is about to walk in.” My two favorite female players are Madison Keys and Caroline Wozniacki. For the purposes of the AO, Caroline Wozniacki was the biggest draw for me because she announced she was retiring at the end of the tournament. (Side note: Unfortunately, I never got to see her play. She lost before I had tickets to the main courts.) I also had an amazing opportunity at the start of my trip to meet Madison Keys in the airport. As the group with David Lee walked through, Olli spoke to them and I realized it was Caroline’s family.  A few minutes later, Caroline Wozniacki was right there.  She said hello to the group and then sat in the area next to us. Olli could see my big eyes and excitement and offered to introduce me to her. I decline. He offered again and asked if I wanted a picture with her. I decline again. She was in a private area with her husband and her family just living life. I didn’t want to intrude. It’s a decision I still feel good about.  As the evening was wrapping up for us, she and her family came by and spoke with our group for maybe 15 minutes. I didn’t speak with her directly, but I got to be in a group conversation with her. It was cool. It was a really positive experience for me too because if I were talking with you now I’d say it was cool and shrug my shoulders.  I was proud of myself for not totally geeking out and being able to see that she is just a regular person.  Sure I was excited, but it was just like meeting anyone else I met from the agency group. I was proud of myself for not idolizing her and obsessing.  

The tournament hadn’t even started and I was already on cloud nine.  I felt like if for some dramatic reason I had to leave immediately I would have felt like I got a once-in-a-lifetime experience already. How could it get better than that? 

I’ll tell you how – amazing tennis, amazing seats, and feeling like I was exactly where I was supposed to be for those 14 days of my life.  It’s taken me three hours to write this post, so stay tuned for my next post for some pictures, some video, and some commentary about the matches I got to see while in Melbourne.

Yummy, Yummy in My Tummy!

I ate a few things in Sydney that are worth taking a moment to discuss.  Twice I went to an Italian joint called Pane e Vino Trattoria.  It is located on the Strand in Croydon, a suburb in Sydney's Inner West district where I stayed. I didn't see anything like this in the Whitsundays, and I've seen it few times in Melbourne, but Sydney is full of "strands". I gathered from my experiences that a strand is basically a thoroughfare with shops and sometimes restaurants. A quick internet search basically confirmed this, although it originated as the term for the bank along a river. "Strand" could be used in a general sense or as a proper noun.  Sydney was full of ally-type roads between buildings that are pedestrian malls full of shops.  Sometimes it took the form of the first floor or lower level of an entire city block and people used them to cut through popular areas.  Pane E Vino was located on The Strand (aka main street) in Croydon. In Croydon, it was a small series of shops, some open regularly and some seemingly never open, that took up about two city blocks. I walked up and down The Strand every day to get from my Airbnb to the Metro. 

I initially stopped at Pane e Vino my second night in Sydney. Italian sounded good, but in Australia I've been presented with a LOT of Asian food options.  I've been avoiding them like crazy because after I leave Australia I'm going to be faced with a lot of Asian food. I was generally really good about making food at home and packing a lunch when I went out while visiting Sydney, but I did treat myself.  I am sooooo thankful I found Pane e Vino. It was AMAZING! I learned that Croydon is a bit of a weird melting pot in that it doesn't have a big mix of multiple ethnicities and races, but it is dominated by Chinese and Italian immigrants. My sense was that they were very "old world" is that most were speaking the native tongue.  I couldn't get a sense of how much there was interaction between the two groups, but it's not like I saw a Chinese-Italian fusion restaurant.  When I stumbled into Pane e Vino I really lucked out because it was all food made by actual Italians.

Both nights I visited I sat outside. The first night it was a little chilly and I knew I was in for a treat when I they left fleece blankets at each table so that you could stay warm while enjoying the ambience.

I had a really hard time picking out what to eat and I heard my mother's voice in my head when looking at the menu and considering getting spaghetti - "I'm not going out to eat and spending $15 on something I can make for $0.25 at home." As an adult, the sentiment now resonates with me even if I didn't really get it as a kid.  That being said, I decided to go with spaghetti bufalina. Let's be real, it was the idea of buffalo mozzarella that won me over. The be mild about it, I did NOT regret this decision. It was amazing and 100% hit the spot.

Something that really made the night was getting this bottle of red wine too. It was a perfect pairing! Although, I probably would have thought that about any bottle of wine if I'm being completely honest.  I wasn't going to get it, but when the waitress told me that I could take the remainder of what I didn't drink home with me I was sold. 

I forgot to take a good picture of it because I was just enjoying myself, but after a few bites I realized I really wanted some bread with my spaghetti because I clearly wasn't getting enough carbs. They didn't offer some basic Italian bread and butter, but they did offer some garlic bread that was TO DIE FOR.

Look at the actual garlic pieces on this toasted bread! My Pavlovian response has kicked in and I'm drooling as I write this.

A few days later I returned and took advantage of their pizza offerings.  I went with the gorgonzola pizza. Oh yeah. It had fior di latte mozzarella, gorgonzola dolce, baby spinach, and proscuitto. It wasn't exactly what I expected at first, but it was also amazing and completely hit the spot. You'll also notice that the same bottle of wine appears in this photo. No, I didn't drink two bottles of wine in less than a week on my own.  On my first visit I noticed that people were carrying in their own bottles. So, for my second visit I took what I had left with me. They had no problem with me drinking it with my meal.  I wasn't even charged a corking fee of any sort!

For desert on the second night I decided to get some ice cream from the small grocery just down the street.  I had lots of options, but I selected this Maxi Bon bar.  I'm a HUGE fan and - spoiler alert - I have had several at the Australian Open in Melbourne. I'll leave you with these ridiculous videos of me enjoying my first one after my pizza and a glass of wine. LOL

God Bless Airbnb

Simply put, I love Airbnb. It makes most of my travel possible. I can't imagine being able to afford this trip if I needed to stay in hotels along the way.  Even when I find inexpensive ones they are waaaay too expensive for a long trip.  To make my dollar stretch further, I'm perfectly fine with staying in hostels, but I prefer them for short periods of time and if I'm trying to cover a lot of ground throughout my travels. I don't love them for longer stays or if I'm looking for a more settled feeling along the way. I also prefer them if I'm traveling with someone else. Depending on the hostel and the room options I don't feel as safe as in a hotel or an Airbnb when I'm alone.  Additionally, there have been lots of times when I'm walking through a popular area and I pass hostels and I thought to myself, "Oh thank God I don't need to be around loud 20-somethings who are just interested in getting hammered and hooking up." In those moments I've also yelled at the kids to get off my lawn, even if there was no lawn around - just for posterity's sake.

Usually when I use Airbnb I book out entire apartments. I like knowing that I can use the space as I desire with little regard for others while I'm there. If my suitcase seems to have exploded in the living room - so be it! If I want to make a sandwich in the kitchen in my underwear - it's happening! If I my bathing suit and towel hang in the bathroom for three days straight - no one else is there to care!  My intention when planning the first stage of this trip was to book an entire apartment so that I could have that type of autonomy and privacy, but as the Whitsundays is a tourist area I couldn't reasonably afford to do so.  I decided to take a little bit of a risk at a new experience and rent a room in a house instead of an entire apartment. I was nervous doing so because as is with anything arranged over the internet, I was at the mercy of past reviewers.  I sought out a room in a house with a woman who had overwhelmingly positive reviews from past visitors and that was in a safe neighborhood.  I was pleased to find Renee (and her husband Marc), the host for my stay. She (and Marc) and the stay have been great so far. 

I'm staying in a house in a cute little hamlet of a little less than 2,000 residents called Jubilee Pocket.  It is about a 30-40 minute walk from the center of Airlie Beach and is surrounded by Conway National Park, which I have been told is actually a rain forest. Airlie Beach is on the Coral Sea. While the reef is not considered part of the Great Barrier Reef, it's fairly close. Looking at the map below you can see that Cairns is north of the Whitsundays. Cairns is where everyone goes when they want to go see the Great Barrier Reef. 

When I booked my room in Jubilee Pocket it didn't seem like that big of a deal to be that far out from the main attractions in Airlie Beach; I was optimistic about getting at least an hour of walking in each day.  I thought it was be a good idea, particularly because of recovering from my back surgery two months ago.  Movement is good for me, but I don't need to be overdoing anything.  A nice leisurely stroll to the beach every day seemed great.

I took me right about 36 hours to get from my parents' house in New York to the house in Jubilee Pocket. I arrived on January 1 and was unexpectedly awake and feeling like I could tackle the day. I slept like a champ on the plane and it made all of the difference for having a good day 1. I knew that travel and the time change could catch up with me though, so I was cautiously optimistic and was going to be happy if I made it to 7 PM without a nap. After I was welcomed by Renee, I took a shower to clean up and then headed out into town.  I was excited to get the lay of the land for my next 10 days, but mostly I wanted to make sure I was up and moving for as long as possible before I crashed.

Oh, I also met Bruiser, my hosts' dog. She's a sweetheart who doesn't give two hoots about anyone unless you have food. Then, and only then, does she tolerate pets and attention.

I pictured the neighborhood as being much more rustic. The description in the Airbnb ad was a fair representation, but I had an image in my head of it being much more jungle-esque. I thought the walk into town would be on dirt/sandy paths, with tree canopy overhead, not through a neighborhood with sidewalks. It's fair to say the stay is close to nature, but it's not directly embedded into nature as I expected.  Because the neighborhood is surrounded by the forest there is almost constant chatter from all of the birds. It would be easy to imagine it as really annoying, but for me it's quite relaxing.  I don't even hear the birds while I'm sleeping - and trust me, they chatter all night and day. Check out this video that I recorded on my first walk:

And also this video from one night when I was about to go to sleep:

On my first day I came face to face with Australian summer real fast. LOL Walking 30-40 minutes is not a big deal, unless you do it in 86 degrees and 80% humidity. Fun fact: The Whitsundays are between the Topic of Capricorn and the Equator.  The suns rays are POTENT here.  Ninety-eight percent of all of the sunscreen available is SPF 50 because everyone needs that much protection.  I've been using it all day, every day since I've been here and I've still gotten pink in some spots.  Anyway, that first walk into town was a bit rough. I knew I was being dramatic but my self talk sounded a little something like, "I'm going to die. I can't stop walking. It's not an option. Stop being a wuss (censored for delicate readers). I can't die here. But I'm going to die." Once I got into the heart of the town, I immediately walked into a car rental place and investigated renting a car for the rest of my time here. Just as I was about to put my debit card into the salesman's hand I decided against it for two reasons: 1) It wasn't in my budget for this portion of the trip, and 2) There's a public bus.

I hadn't noticed the bus initially because I arrived on January 1, a national holiday in Australia.  The busses were running, but the schedule was limited.  I had completely forgotten that when I booked the Airbnb one of the selling points was the fact that there was affordable public transportation. I hightailed it out of the car rental place before I laid down a lot of money when it was unnecessary. I told myself that I'd try out the bus and see how it went. If it was awful I'd rent a car, but if it worked out, well, then I would use the bus.  I knocked around the town for the rest of the day visiting the beach front, the pharmacy, the grocery store, and basically got my bearings. Ultimately, I was just trying to keep myself busy until it was acceptable to go to sleep.  The good thing about traveling for such a long period of time is that there's no pressure to use every single minute of every single day. I know a lot of people can do that, but it is not sustainable for me. I need more of a balance than that. I'm ok with knowing that I saw what I could see and experienced what I could experience, even if that means that I don't see or experience everything I "should".

This is the very small beach front in central Airlie Beach.  I walked into the water a little bit and then noticed that most people were not in the water and it seemed strange to me. As I walked back up to the boardwalk, I noticed this sign (second picture).

I knew that swimming in the ocean in Australia was risky, but I'll admit I didn't get the degree of the risk.  I learned from locals that November to May is peak season for stingers and that the jellyfish are more prevalent near than coast than further out in the ocean.  I also learned that locals don't really swim in the ocean here, unless they go to one area that has nets to prevent the larger box jellyfish from swimming close to the shore.  That still doesn't prevent the super small, 1-cm version from sneaking through.   

So, instead of risking getting stung, I went to the man-made lagoon in the center of town to get some sun and to splash around a little. It's definitely not the same, but it's a pretty good alternative to not having a place to go swimming when you can look at the ocean constantly. I think it would kill me to be in the sun and heat and only be able to look at the ocean. 

The beginning of this sabbatical trip definitely feels more like vacation than anything else. Something that lends to that feeling is the fact that I haven't touched any work at all. LOL In due time... but I recognize that I can't spend like I'm on vacation so I'm focusing on finding that balance between taking advantage of seeing and experiencing things I may never have the opportunity to do again, and recognizing that I can't live an eight-month vacation. Part of that process is grocery shopping and cooking at "home".  Another benefit of staying so far out of the town is that it's not easy to get a meal real quick. It requires a bit more effort.  I suspect this will help me be a bit healthier too. I was really proud of myself for starting out making these tacos and eating at least two meals (breakfast and dinner or lunch) at "home" right off the bat.

That does it for me for now! Next time I'll post about my over-night experience at Paradise Cove. 

Happy New Year!

Happy new year, everyone! It's been quite a while since I posted on this blog and since I decided to spend the bulk of 2020 away from home I figured I'd revive it.  Similarly to when I've traveled in the past, I'm not promising anyone that I'll keep up with posting, but I'll try... at least for a little while. :) If you find yourself looking at some old posts, please give me a lot of grace while you do so.  I often posted from my phone and/ or while I was tired so typos and sentences that don't quite make sense are more common than is comfortable for me. I'm also entirely too lazy to go back and try to fix any of it.

This year new year's eve was an interesting one for me in that I didn't really have one.  I departed Buffalo, NY on December 30 and arrived in Brisbane, Australia on January 1.  At what point in my travels it was December 31 and for how long I really don't know.  I asked a flight attendant if she knew when we'd actually hit midnight and she didn't know, but told me she'd find out. I promptly fell asleep after asking her about it and never revisited the topic except for during landing when she told me she'd stop at the bottle shop on the way home so that she could have a champagne breakfast. I felt like if we met under different circumstances we'd be friends.

All in all my travel to Australia went smoothly, but traveling across the world really kicks your ass no matter how well it plays out. Honestly, worse than the long flight across the Pacific were the domestic flights.  It took me about 11 hours to get to LAX from Buffalo via Atlanta. Ooooof. I was quite lucky to have a nice couple with an 11-month old baby sit next to me.  Henry nursed through take off and then passed out in a milk coma for the majority of the flight.

My layover in Atlanta was mostly summed up by me inhaling Shake Shack too fast and then feeling nauseous for about two hours. Why won't we have one of those in Rochester?? It's so delicious!  The real excitement of being in Atlanta was me realizing that one of my favorite tennis players, Madison Keys, was on the same fight path as me to Brisbane. I discovered this by looking at her Instagram story, which made me feel a little bit like a stalker. I'll admit I got a little giddy realizing that this professional athlete that I've followed for years was going to be in the same space I was.  It felt serendipitous and like some kind of surreal stamp of approval for my trip by the universe, seeing as my main motivation for coming to Australia was to go to the Australian Open.  I tried to avoid being a total spazz and respect her space, but a friend of a friend who knows her encouraged me to say hi and ask her for a picture if I saw her.  I didn't think that I would because I assumed that she was hanging out in the first class lounge, but after coming back from the bathroom and moving my seat I turned at the exact right moment and saw her walking by.  I cringe because I know I sounded like the exact person I didn't want to be,"Hi Madison, I'm sorry to bother you but I just wanted to let you know I'm a big fan..." Vomit. Of course she was super nice and took a picture with me. I'm clearly cheesing in this picture. I'm going to have to work on that.

When I arrived at LAX and was staring down a 14-hour flight I took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade to an exit row seat. When the cabin doors closed my seat mate and I were lucky enough to have an empty middle seat between us. We were also practically ecstatic when the pilot informed us that our documented flight time of 14 hours and 10 minutes was downgraded to 12 hours and 45 minutes. Don't ask me how that happened. They didn't even say they were making that time up in the air. It was as if we had the wrong estimated flight time from the beginning.

I can't complain about the long flight because I actually slept through most of it, which really surprised me. It seems that the extra leg room really made a difference - well, that, a new travel pillow, and a sleeping pill. (Side note: I cannot recommend the Trtl Travel Pillow enough, particularly for a girl like me who has a long neck and for whom traditional travel pillows do nothing.  You can check out a review of it here. I agree with the reviewer's comments about the downsides being packability and the pillow cumbersome when trying to wear headphones, but something he didn't say was how amazingly soft the fleece is.  It helped keep me warm on the cold, cold plane ride.) The last time I had a major flight like that was when I flew to Hong Kong and I remember being awake much more than this time. I legitimately think I slept for about 8 or 9 hours out of the trip and mainly in two chunks of about 3 to 4 hours at a time.  Sleeping this well really helped me be more rested for a full first day as well as keeping me from being super irritable.

After I landed I had another few hours of a layover and then was off to Prosperpine, which took about 1.5 hours. I slept through most of that flight, but managed to wake up for the snack. Weird that I would do that, huh? LOL Two notes about Virgin Australia: 1) The service was excellent. 2) The food was not. The two meals on the flight over the Pacific were gross. They aligned well with the stereotype of airline food being disgusting.  When I flew to Air China a few years ago their food was quite yummy so I probably had unrealistic expectations.  Something that was pretty cool was that on the long flight Virgin Australia had a little compartment in the bulkhead where they left water, juice, muesli bars, and fruit so that if you woke up during the flight and needed a little sustenance you could just go up and grab it. I'd never seen that before. On my flight from Brisbane to Prosperpine they offered a snack of a muesli bar or chickpea salt and vinegar bites.  I took the salt and vinegar bites.  They were really interesting in that I didn't love them, but I can imagine slowly becoming addicted to them. They definitely grew on me the more I ate.  I don't know if this was a move motivated by improving healthy decision-making, but I was also offered water, coffee, tea, or juice on this flight. I desperately wanted a Coke, but it was $4! So I passed and had water instead. I was pretty proud of myself because throughout the entire trip I did a really good job of mainly drinking water.  I only had ginger ale on one flight because my stomach was feeling unsettled.

As always seems to happen, my plan was to write about my entire first day in Australia, but it's 7:42 PM and I'm finding it difficult to keep my eyes open.  Spoiler alert: I did a great job staying up yesterday and didn't go to sleep at all until about 8:30 PM. I slept through the night like a rock and woke up a 5:30 AM ready to go. Of course, I told myself to F off and made myself go back to sleep for a few hours. My stimulant for my narcolepsy helps me adjust to the time change much better than if I had to deal with the jet lag 100% naturally, but it still seems to be creeping up on me. Days 1 and 2 will have to wait until next time. G'night!