Blessings

---

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Sydney

Happy 30th Anniversary……….Our plan was to have a low key day and finish up some shopping for items I had eyed earlier in the week. We awoke around 8:00am and started packing. Ok, how come all this stuff fit in the bags when we left home?

Rich checked his email and had received an email from Larissa from GE saying that she would like to meet us for lunch at Darling Harbor. So we quickly got ourselves ready and headed out to meet Larissa. I was quite excited to meet her as I had heard so much about her from Rich and had traded emails with her about the best places to shop in Singapore.

We took a cab to Darling Harbor and Larissa arrived soon after us. We walked along the water way checking out all the neat outdoor café’s. They are lined up one after another; each one with a little different twist but all with great views, great food, great wine and sure to be great company. I knew right away I was going to like Larissa when the first thing she checked out was the wine list. She was my kind of gal, she loved expensive purses, expensive shoes, and wine! We ordered two bottles of wine from Australia one white and one red ---we did not want to discriminate and we were having fish and meat. We ordered an antipasto tray and a fish tray. Since spring had finally arrived in Australia people were milling all about. We spent upwards of three hours enjoying each other’s company, learning more about Australia and Larissa and of course ---we had to try one more bottle of wine. Are you following me here folks, three people three bottles of wine…….this was going to be the best anniversary yet. Thankfully none of us were driving and it had been over a long period of time so we all still knew our first and last names.

Larissa headed home on the train and Rich and I grabbed a cab to go finish up our shopping. I learned a very valuable lesson today: Next time I want to spend money on shopping have Rich indulge in lots of wine beforehand, makes for a much better experience that way. We finished up our last bit of shopping and walked back to the hotel for a needed rest before we headed out for our amazing dinner. A girl could get used to this.

After our rest we got dressed for a big anniversary dinner that had been arranged by our son and daughter in law at Bondi Beach. We caught a cab for the 20 minute ride to the beach and when we arrived once again we witnessed one of the most beautiful places on earth. Australia really is a slice of heaven, I fear if the secret got out the world would become lopsided. We walked into the restaurant and honestly it was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It was called Icebergs and you truly felt like you were on an iceberg looking out over the ocean. The walls were all glass and you basically were overlooking a large lap pool on the cliff looking out to the ocean.

We began our Anniversary dinner with a before dinner drink sitting in the lounge area. The furnishings are all light blues, greens, and glass. Our bar waitress was 20 years old and on a work visa for three months from Russia. We had a great conversation with her and then headed into the dinning room for our dinner.

Our table was right up against the glass looking out on the ocean. There were upwards of 100 surfers catching fairly good size waves as well as folks swimming in the lap pool on the cliff. We ordered our appetizers and a bottle of wine and perused the menu for our main entrée. Australian food is somewhat different then what we are used to in the US. They feature a wide variety of meats including kangaroo, emus etc. We selected a salad to share and each chose our main entrée’s which were absolutely wonderful. We spent a lot of time enjoying our dinner and reminiscing about our trip and discussing how fortunate we were to have had the chance to experience it.

Once we were finished with our dinner we asked to have an after dinner drink outside on the patio that was so close to the ocean you could feel the ocean spray. By this point in time it was quite dark outside so we sat with candle light over looking the ocean and viewing the skyline. We were the only two patrons outside enjoying this spectacular scene.

Rich and I talked a lot about how happy the last 30 years have been for us. I have always said that marriage is like a roller coaster and when you hit the high parts and the low parts you need to hang on to each other a little tighter. Rich and I plan on riding this roller coaster for quite sometime. We ended the evening with some tears of joy about how fortunate we have been and most importantly how wonderful and blessed we are with children that have grown into amazing young adults that make us proud every day of our lives. We are truly blessed with what is most important in life: Love, Health and Happiness.


."He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much."
—Bessie Anderson Stanley

---

Photos

Darling Harbor
Rich and Larissa

Lunch
Fish / Antipasto Tray

Bondi Beach
Gorgeous

Bondi Beach
Lap Pool Over looking Ocean

Before Dinner
What should I order to Drink now?

After Dinner
Happy 30th Anniversary!

Comments

[Paula DiGiovine]

Wonderful!
Andrea, You should be a travel writer. I am so happy for you both and look so foraward to reconnecting in a few weeks. You are a beautiful couple! lots of love, Paula

[Tom]

Congratulations on your 30th
It appears that your special night could not have been better. Thanks for including us on your journey.