christmas

Christmastime in Sydney isn't comparable to christmastime in Frankfurt.
It's so different, but at the same time so much better.

You wake up in the morning, hear all the birds tweeting, the sun is coming through your shutter and instead of going iceskating you go swimming at the beach on the weekend.

Of course it's not the same without hot chocolate, snow, parkas and furgloves, christmas markets and real christmastrees, but for some reason I fell in love with australian christmas.

Isn't decorating the christmastree with the whole family while listening to 'Jingle Bells', baking tons of cookies with the kids and grandma , watching a movie on christmas eve, having christmaslunch with the whole family and unwrapping all the presents what christmas is about?

With this in mind I wish all of you a delayed Merry Christmas and a wonderful time with your family!

Hugs and kisses

(C) Laura Schuetze, all rights reserved

halftime

Exactly this tuesday half a year ago I arrived in australia.

These 6 months have been so overwhelming. I met a lot of people from all around the world.
Canada, France, Brazil, Italy, Spain, America, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands and I could go on and on.
At this point I must say thank you, thank you to all those people who made my journey an incomparable and incredible experience.
It is sad that some of you who became real good friends of mine already left australia, but I'm sure we'll all meet again. somewhere. sometime.

In addition I'm so glad that I got the chance to see all these beautiful and unique places, beaches, suburbs of Sydney and other cities, but what I'm more excited about are all the other places of australia I haven't explored yet.

Cape Tribulation. Daintree Rainforest. Cairns. Great Barrier Reef. Whitsundays. Whiteheaven. Noose. Brisbane. Canberra. Tasmania. Jervis Bay and all the other places.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize that I'm living my dream. My dream of exploring the world. Everyday is different. Nothing is the same. It's too brilliant for words.

Sydney you have been good to me and I'm curious about what will come.

Kisses to all my friends around the world and of course to my family as well!

the entrée was too yummy, so that I couldn't take a photo before it was eaten.
main: lamb on quinoa and pumpkin

this is the exquisite restaurant my hostmum took me to to celebrate 

dessert: chocolate tart

(C) Laura Schuetze, all rights reserved

latergram: luna park

felt like a kid again.
rolleroaster. giant slides. autoscooter.
but the best was the ferris wheel. check out the view. isn't that amazing?

 

(C) Laura Schuetze, all rights reserved

horse race at royal randwick

Women in high heels with exclusive short dresses and expensive hats. Hair done, nails done. Their ears are covered in sparkling diamond earrings. Men in classic coats and ties. Their children all dressed up. I used to know this kind of people through TV. Now I see them first-hand.

I'm standing in front of the entrance of Royal Randwick Park, which is not for nothing Sydney's premium choice destination for events like this horse race which my 2 girl mates and I are going to see today.

This entrance is separated from the members entrance, which is of course more exclusive. But still, alle the people are dressed up. No surprise. Of course their is a dress code that tells you exaclty what to wear. It is really interesting, so I copied the rules.

Not acceptable:

Any form of the following footwear: joggers, sports shoes, track shoes, runners, thongs, dilapidated footwear, scuffs, gumboots or slippers
Jeans/denim, jodhpurs, shorts or untailored pants
Torn or ripped clothing
Garments which show midriff
Leggings worn as pants
Parkas, duffle coats, anoraks, windbreakers, tracksuit tops, denim jackets or jumpsuits

This is just the list for the women. The mens' list is way longer.

I'm wondering why they didn't  just simply make ​​a list for clothes you are allowed to wear. I bet this list would definitely be much shorter. High heels, dress, hat or other headgear. That's it!
But why make things simple when you can make them complicated?

We're now standing in front of the racecourse. From down here there is no chance to see the whole course. The members got three levels. The Grandstand Level Tree for example has floor-to-ceiling glass frontage that overlooks the whole of Royal Randwick. So to say the cream of the crop!

We're still quite happy with our toss-up. The finish line is right in front of us which is the most important anyway. Who cares about the start?

A race takes about a minute. The break during every race 20, which makes 3 races of 1 minute in an hour. I see the horses and their riders coming closer from far away. You can feel the energy and power these animals have when they rush past. The races are really interesting. Often there is not even a second between the first and second horse. The high-toned people turn into curser and crier. Everyone wants the horse they bet on to win.

I enjoy being here. Bitching about the women who slowly get drunk and wobble around in their luxurious dresses (kind of ironic, isn't it?), listening to the speaker who announces the winner of the last race and getting lost in another world.

The sun is warming up my skin and I never want to leave this wonderful piece of earth.
Sydney I'm in love with you!

 

 

 

 

 

(C) Laura Schuetze, all rights reserved

town hall christmas projections

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.



(C) Laura Schuetze, all rights reserved