Episode 15: Judy and Troy Get Down….Under

August 27, 2012

Producing a manuscript is not like, say, starting a business. In business you might procrastinate long enough for new online services to be invented that accelerate product creation, awareness, or sales. In producing a manuscript, if you’re not writing, your project is at a standstill. For me, 2011 opened with much of the same 2010 ended…writing, writing, and more writing. I wanted this project to be on a path to completion.

It had been 4 months since Judy and I had gone to Mendocino for our first trip together. By the time January came, we were desperately in need of another break. That break would come from an unexpected source—my day job. One of the guys in the Australia office was scheduled to take a month’s vacation in February. His position would need to be covered during his absence and I was on the shortlist to go for two of the four weeks…and Judy would be able to join me. Valentine’s Day in Sydney. Woohoo!

Imagine the sophistication of New York’s Fifth Avenue, San Francisco’s metropolitan ease, and Santa Cruz’s laidback beachtown feel, and that’s Sydney. Sydney has a uniqueness that sets it apart from other major cities. It feels, and is, a surfing town—the people friendly and inviting. At the same time, it’s a world capital that is a center for fashion, art, and food. With warm weather, great shopping, excellent food, welcoming people, and tremendous natural seaside beauty, Sydney promised to be an awesome, romantic getaway.

I arrived a week before Judy and prepared our North Sydney love nest. North Sydney, across the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge from downtown, is a business center that is nearly a ghost town after hours. Like San Francisco, it is incredibly steep. The land undulates, rising right out of the bay. From our love nest hotel room perched atop the hills, I could see the boardwalk amusement park below and across the bay, the famous Sydney skyline.

After picking Judy up from the airport, we fell right into tourist mode. Champagne outside at the Opera House Bar, sunset walks along the bay, dinners at sidewalk cafes. For some reason, Sydney is awash in Italian pizzerias. We had to try a bunch of them to see if they were better than our own Napoli-native Caruso’s in Capitola. We ate pizza! Compared crusts, cheeses, toppings, wine. It was a gastronomical experience with all the different places and pizza combinations. In the end, Capitola’s own Davide Caruso emerged victorious!