Rainy Days

First and foremost, I would like to give a shout out to my readers in Switzerland and the Ukraine. Hello/bonjour/guten tag/buongiorno (sorry I don't know how to say "hi" in Ukranian)! According to the stats I can look up through google, I've had 21 views in Switzerland and 21 in the Ukraine. Who knew? I don't know who you are or why you have stumbled upon my blog, but I am happy that you have. 

Anyway, down here in the Southern Hemisphere we are halfway into a four day weekend. Not only is it Easter weekend, but it is also daylight savings, aka "fall back" time, This means that we will be an hour closer in time to our family back in the US. It might not seem like a significant change from 16 or 15 hours to 14 hours difference, but it does somehow make planning phone calls/video chats a tiny bit easier. 

It has pretty much been raining since Thursday night, when Michael and I went for a late night dinner (for him) and dessert (for me) at Micky's. I have watched Wild and American Sniper. I liked some aspects of Wild - I always like Reese Witherspoon - but it was kind of slow at times. I used to live not too far from the Bridge of the Gods and have traveled over it a few times, so (spoiler alert) it was nice to see it in the movie. As for American Sniper, I was kind of indifferent to it. I guess the point of it other than being a biopic was that snipers and soldiers have to make really tough decisions and it messes up their heads. Yes, that is true, but there are lots of war movies that get the same point across, so I did not particularly find it unique or thought-provoking. 

Yesterday we dusted off our shoes and harnesses and went climbing for the first time in a year. It was fun and I wasn't as out of climbing shape as I thought I would be. Since the last time we were there, the gym had opened an expansion. Included in the expansion was a little section called "The Caves" where you can climb around in tight spaces behind the climbing wall in the pitch black (although you can bring a light with you if you have one). The Caves are not for the faint of heart; they are quite claustrophobia-inducing. They are narrow enough in parts that Michael was worried about getting physically stuck. The first one is mostly a straight tunnel, but two and three involve moving vertically too. Michael hated them and never wants to do them again, but oddly enough I enjoyed them and would go again and try to do them without any light. Usually things would be the other way around. 

After working up our appetite we had lunch at Thai Pothong, where I hadn't been in several months. It was just as good as I remembered it - definitely the best Thai food I've had in Sydney. 

To follow up the best Thai food, today we tried the best pies in the Sydney area at Oatley Village Pie Shop. They have traditional flavors like steak and mushroom, as well as rarer ones like chick pea or chicken with mango and walnut. The crust is perfectly flakey. Their little apple pies are the best store bought ones I've ever had - almost as good as homemade. Almost. 

I've been quite happy for the rainy days since it's an excuse to do more low-key stuff. I do miss hiding the Easter eggs for the little ones in my family, but I suppose there's always next year.