An American Visitor

Again, apologies for not being more frequent in posting over the past several days, but we have been enjoying the Olympics and an American friend paid us a visit over the weekend.   Dorothy Lanier had been hiking through the bush over the past 35 days, and before flying home, decided to visit Sydney.  It just so happened that we were in the neighborhood, and so we spent most of the weekend seeing the sights with her.

Callie and Dorothy went to Bondi Beach, we visited the Australian Museum, we stumbled into a wedding-in-progress at St. Mary's Cathedral, we meandered through The Rocks and Darling Harbour, and toured the somewhat disappointing Australian Maritime Museum.  The weather was beautiful, however, and it was certainly nice to be with and talk to an old friend.  

Following Dorothy's departure on Sunday morning, Callie and I spent most of the day watching the Olympics, and if anyone can explain Judo, please let us know.  We did play tennis in the morning on an artificial turf surface, which rendered us temporarily incapable of keeping the ball in the court, and we attended a lovely dinner with the President of our host Rotary Club and several other Rotary couples.  Looking out over the evening skyline from above Greenwich Wharf, it was a privilege to be in the company of such gracious and welcoming Rotarians, an experience that again reinforced our initial impressions of Australian hospitality.

This week promises to be relatively normal:  Callie is working with chocolate and I have my first written assignment regarding the announcement of the new permanent Australian ambassador to the Vatican.  Needless to say, we will be enjoying American and Australian success in Beijing over the next few weeks as we anticipate the beginning of the games that are significantly more important . . . college football season.