A sad city

As you would imagine, Sydney has been very somber this week. Returning to work on Tuesday was a surreal experience - the train was really quiet as was the station, which is unusual. A good bit of Martin Place was still closed off.

By Tuesday afternoon though, most of Martin Place had been reopened except for the areas still closed off by police. By the end of the day, there were hundreds of flowers laid down and the queue to buy them was 30 people long. But the whole area was just dead silent. It was one of the most incredible, moving things I'd ever seen. From our office, I could watch the pile of flowers grow over the day.

The spot of color in the center of the picture is the flower memorial

I went by to pay my respects, and on the way to the station, I couldn't walk 10 feet without seeing someone heading toward Martin Place, carrying their own flowers to lay.

On Wednesday, people spent their entire lunch hour queueing to buy flowers and then queueing again to lay them down. The line to pay respects snaked up and down the walkway.

The line to lay flowers

The vantage point from our office has been interesting. On Monday we were told to stay away from the windows, but everyone knew that we could look out and see where terrible things were happening. It was all anyone could think about - being so close yet so helpless. Through the rest of the week, it was somewhat comforting: any time I looked out the window I could see what felt like the entire city gathering to show their support and sorrow for the victims. It was surreal and amazing at the same time.

You can see people queued to buy flowers at the bottom of the picture

There has definitely been an increased police presence in the city. But more than that, people are being especially kind to one another and looking out for each other. People in my building (from other companies) ask how you're doing when you're in the lift together. The truth is that it could have been any one of us. So the best of Sydneysiders is on display, and people are going into the holiday season feeling grateful and so lucky that they can go home and hug the ones they love. Or maybe that's just me. =)

 

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Safe, sound, and grateful

Just a quick post to let all our faithful blog readers know that Toby and I are safely at home tonight after the sad and scary situation in the Sydney CBD today. Toby was safely at work in the northern beaches, but my office is quite close to the cafe where the hostages were taken. The office went into lockdown for the day, but we were allowed to leave from a back entrance toward the end of the day. Now we are home safely and so very grateful to be that way. Thank you to all our loved ones who checked on us today!

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Christmas is coming!

Just like the past two years, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all. We've had a few record-setting days of heat, so when you're sweating as soon as you wake up, it's hard to remember the holidays are right around the corner. But luckily the city decorators haven't forgotten!

The QVB looking Christmas-y

The lobby of the heritage Dymocks Building

In Kirribilli, a sidewalk chalk drawing of a Christmas tree has appeared. We can't figure out exactly where to stand to make it look right (since standing on the feet definitely doesn't seem to do it), but it's still really cool nonetheless! And it makes me happy to have it there!

 The giant tree is back in Martin Place!

And there are some lovely window displays going on. LIke this one at the BonBon chocolate store. 

Near this window is also a giant lego Christmas tree. And yes, it's made of Legos! It's pretty cool!

This weekend's Kirribilli markets had some Christmas trees for sale. We don't really have room for one, but I liked seeing the trees around!

Just 2 weeks til Christmas!!!!

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American Thanksgiving!

We were lucky this year to get to celebrate two Thanksgivings: after our very international one, we had an American-hosted Thanksgiving on the Sunday after.

But first, we skyped with the family at home:

Then we headed out to Glebe for a full-out American dinner! Tony and Rena arrived in Sydney in June, and they didn't let the challenge of finding the right ingredients stop them from making a great spread: turkey, rolls, broccoli casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry sauce!

Of course, it wasn't complete without dessert - banana pudding and pumpkin pie!

After skyping with Hudson, it was nice to be able to give some pats to a dog in person. Wilbur is a friendly little soul, and he was pretty happy about the Thanksgiving party!

We listened to Christmas music and talked about the holidays and our various traditions. It made us feel like we weren't so very far from home after all!