Sydney sucks. And so do babies.

I've only been to Sydney three times before the weekend, and I don't think I had any complaints about it. Now I do.

What the hell is wrong with Sydney on a weekend? Nothing was open! We tried walking around on Saturday to maybe do a bit of shopping, but most of the stores were closed (we were down near the opera house end). The only good thing about the day was that it was hot. Although I was still wearing a jacket. I don't think people realise just how hot it has to be before I think it's hot. It was apparently 33 degrees and I was still wearing jeans and a jumper. William thought I was mad.

That night, we tried to find somewhere to eat dinner. William was supposed to have booked us in to Aria, but being male had completely neglected to make reservations anywhere. I suggested we just find a nice, small restaurant to eat at. Like Italian or something. We checked on the internet at all of the places within a few blocks of the hotel, but most of them said they didn't open on Saturday nights (huh?) or didn't answer their phones when we called to see if they were open! We ended up having to eat in the hotel, and they charged us over $70 for a club sandwich, sweet potato soup, and two drinks. Ridiculous.

We then went to Cirque du Soleil. We got a cab, but it appears whoever organised for the show to be on that night had not informed whoever they were supposed to inform, because the police had blocked off all of the streets leading into the area where the Grand Chapiteau was, because of some stupid football game. The taxi driver didn't really know where he was going either. We ended up getting out of the cab and having to walk for nearly a kilometre to get to the show. Of course, I had gotten dressed and chosen shoes on the basis that I would be seated for most of the night, so I was practically crippled by the time we got there.

The show was good, but the crowd was shit. Now I understand why all bands that play in Brisbane comment on what a lively and enthusiastic crowd we are. The performers in the show were doing some very amazing things, and every time I've seen Cirque in Brisbane, the crowd claps after each amazing stunt and really gets into it. Not the Sydney crowd. They just sat there like stunned mullets, as if what the performers were doing wasn't completely fantastic and beyond the realms of what most normal people could do. They only clapped when the performers on stage really prompted them to. I thought it was exceptionally rude, and I felt really sorry for the performers. I was trying to clap where I thought it was appropriate, but when you're the only one showing any interest, and no one around you is joining in, you sort of have to stop before you look like an idiot. The lack of crowd enthusiasm really annoyed me, and the whole show seemed to suffer for it. I came away thinking the show hadn't been that good, and then I realised it was only because the crowd hadn't been clapping and really getting into it that I thought that, and the show had actually been fantastic and the stunts amazing. I think I'll stick to seeing Cirque in Brisbane from now on.

The next awful thing was that we exited the show, expecting to see a line up of cabs at the ready, as there would be in Brisbane. Nothing. We joined the line for cabs with about 80 people in front of us. It was at least 20 minutes before the first cab arrived, by which stage about 20 people had left, annoyed with the wait. The cabs were arriving very sporadically, however, so I tried to call the limo company we have an account with and book a sedan to take us back to the hotel instead. I was told there were only 3 cars out, as everyone else had gone home, and none of those cars wanted my job. They were all on other jobs and wanted to go home after that. What the fuck?! It's Saturday night! It was only 10.40pm! Why the fuck were there only 3 cars left out, and why the fuck were they refusing jobs?! Ridiculous! It was about 11.20 by the time we got a cab, and then we hit traffic! On a Saturday night at 11.20!! Traffic jams! What the fuck?! It took us a ridiculous amount of time to get back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we decided to go for another walk before we had to head back to Brisbane. We walked into the shopping area to again discover half the shops closed. What the hell is wrong with this town?? It was after 10. I know Brisbane might seem backwards to people from Melbourne and Sydney, but at least 80% of our shops aren't closed on the weekend! And at least our restaurants are open on Saturday nights, we have cabs waiting at the end of major events, and don't have traffic jams in the middle of the night.

We ended up going to the Apple store so William could get some accessories. For the record, I despise Iphones and Ipods, so I was not very excited by the place. To make it worse, they started playing Bob Dylan. I had to get out of there and go half a block up to get away from his awful voice. I cannot stand that man. I don't care if people think he's a genius. His voice makes me stabby. I swear if I was a spy, and had been caught by enemy forces, the only thing that would make me talk would be if they started playing Bob Dylan. I'd tell them everything within 2.5 seconds just to get them to turn off that awful noise. It sounds like someone standing on cats' tails. Waaah waaaah waaaahh!

I also wish they would ban children under 2 from travelling on planes. I think once you're 2, you're able to understand the command "shut up." Before that, probably not so much. At the very least, don't take your fucking newborn on a plane with you. We were stuck with two screaming babies on the flight to Sydney, and neither of their mothers appeared to be doing anything about it. The noise obviously doesn't bother them as much. But after an hour in an enclosed space with two screaming babies, I was ready to murder someone. I swear if I had been on that plane myself, I would have turned around and yelled at them to shut the fucking things up. But since I was with William, and he looked very anxious that I was about to do exactly that, which would have embarrassed him no end, I didn't. Surely babies can't cry non-stop for more than an hour normally? Surely they could stick a dummy or something in its mouth? Or rock it to sleep or something? They were both just sitting there with their children screaming in their laps, reading magazines! Argh!

Anyway. Going to see the travel agent tomorrow, where I will kick some butt. How hard is it to look through an itinerary and see if the train travel is compatible with a Eurail pass? I've already done all the work! Surely it's not that hard? Grr.

If you can't guess, I'm tired and cranky today.