31 Dec: Sydney (NSW).

Well I am just going to save the suspense and say that the New Year's celebrations here in Sydney were absolutely amazing. More on this later in the entry.

+Marc and I started off the day by making our way back to "Crossfit Ignite Sydney" to get a workout in. It was pretty warm as we were walking there from the train station, so I knew anything we did was going to be tough. Ben and the gang took "great care of us" by putting us through our paces for the workout, and then we went off for brunch.

We were a bit more prepared for the queues but fortunately we only had to wait about 15 minutes to snag a table at a cozy place in Surry Hills that Ben had recommended. And it was yummy. May have to go back there after our next workout at that Crossfit.

After brunch, we headed over to the Sydney Jewish Museum. We lucked out by arriving just as a tour kicked off, and it was really informative. Their main exhibit is about the Holocaust, and it never gets easier reading and hearing about the atrocities of what happened. What made this museum special was that many of the artifacts in the museum were donated by survivors of the ghettos and camps. And a number of these survivors actually volunteer at the museum (we actually met one of them). 

The museum was built in 1992 based on the local Jewish community coming together and saying they wanted to build something to honor Australia's connection to the Jewish people. We learned about Aboriginal protests about the Holocaust supporting the Jewish people, along with how Australia was one of the main places that displaced victims emigrated to after the war. Another powerful exhibit centered around all of the children (1.5 million) who were murdered during the Holocaust. Again very moving and powerful content, and glad we went.

After the museum, we walked back to the hotel to rest up for the New Year's festivities. Generally I am of the mindset that there is an inverse correlation between how much money you spend on NYE and the level of fun you have. Maybe it's due to overpaying for a bunch of parties in my mid-20s in NY, but that's how I felt. But I decided to splurge for us this year given our location.

Sydney does 2 sets of fireworks -- "little brother", as one of the Crossfit coaches called it, which kicks off at 9pm for the kids, and then "big brother", which is at midnight. Both were just epic because the organizers use the buildings around Circular Quay as a backdrop for the fireworks going off in the harbour and off of the bridge. 

As I am typing this, Marc is going through the 400 or 500 photos that we took. We had a regular camera that Marc was snapping shots with and then a "GoPro", which Marc had on a timer going off every couple of seconds. You can imagine how many pics were taken over the course of 20-25 minutes!! 

Circular Quay, one of many places where folks camp out, was packed but in a much more civilized way than in NY. People had picnics going, blankets, etc. Bands were playing outside of the restaurant, so it was actually a great atmosphere.

I should add that the food, wines served and the overall service of where we were at were just top notch. Sometimes places with a view like what we had rest on their laurels. Not this place. The sommelier assigned to our table answered a boatload of questions for us about Australian wines, and immediately adjusted the selections for the evening for Marc once she found out how passionate he was about Rhone styled wines. Our friend, +Erik, would be proud to have this woman in his ranks as she represented everything he talks about what makes a great "somm".

The best moment of the evening came as we were walking home and Marc said that he really enjoyed himself. I was worried he would find it all too formal or not his style, but I was happy to find out that was not the case. After last night's events, we are going to be spoiled going forward. 

Well played, Sydney. Well played.

And here is to a great 2013 for all of you and your families.