An Entertaining Dinner

We headed back to catch the ferry from Manly back to Circular.  On the way, we stopped for one of Maddy’s favorite foods whilst in Sydney – a gelato donut.  It’s as good as it sounds – they take a scoop of gelato, put it in the middle of a holeless donut, and then heat it up.  The donut is warm, the gelato does not melt much, and it’s quite the dining deliciousness.

Thank goodness it has not made its way to the States, because more than once would be too many.  It was fun to try once, but from a weight and sugar perspective, I sure do not need it available in Alexandria, for example.

 It’s a pretty good distance for the boat to travel from Manly back to Circular Quay.  The good news is, on the way back it was a direct ride.  We had dinner reservations for half past seven pm with Maddy and six of her friends down at Circular Quay, and we needed time to shower and get dressed at the hotel.

Dinner was at a place called “Wolfies” – Carol and I were treating.  It was right down on Circular Quay, across the water from the Opera House.  The cruise ship that would have blocked our view had pulled out that afternoon, so we had great views of the Opera House and the iconic Sydney Harbour bridge.

It turns out there is a reason Maddy isn’t a math major – seven of her friends joined us – five Americans and two Aussies.  The food was good, and the college budget girls don’t get to eat down at Circular Quay (read: expensive) restaurants, so they all enjoyed it.

I also did that thing where I ask everyone several questions.  For example, I asked the Americans what they liked most about being Australia, and I asked the Aussies what surprised them most about the Americans they had met at the University.  The 150 minute dinner passed by rather quickly.

The fun part was when the American women said they were expecting big tough Aussie men, but many of the men sport man buns.  There was also a complaint about the lack general graciousness from the men -- a few of the ladies had been pushed around at a concert the previous night.

Maya, Maddy, and Beth

Ashley, Sarah, and Tanaya

Tanaya, Kate, and Meg

Maya and Maddy

From left: Sarah, Maya, Ashley, Maddy,

Tanaya, Kate, Beth, and Meg

(Maddy will correct any spelling errors)

We then did the obligatory group photos with the Opera House in the background.  I was worried that the photos all came out fuzzy – they looked unfocused when I viewed them on the little camera window, but it turns out they were all good.

Maddy headed back to uni with her friends, while Carol and I walked back to the hotel through the still lively streets of the Rocks.