Melissa Solorzano, the Penn State School of Visual Arts Down Under marketing intern, writes:

On our second day in Sydney, we partnered up and were given a walking tour of the city by our fearless leader, Dallas Rogers, who showed us many fascinating locations. The weather was beautiful and we got to know the city a little better. There were many buildings, but also many trees, as if they built the city around the plants and trees instead of the other way around.

We walked through Chinatown, not knowing there was another Chinatown here just like in New York. We then went down to Circular Quay where I sat on the grass and drew a picture of a bird called the African Sacred Ibis. At first, it looked scary, but it was friendly and it had a long black beak which was unlike any other bird I had ever seen before.

After learning about Chinatown and Circular Quay we took a ferry over to Manly Beach. The ocean water was crystal clear. Stunning doesn’t begin to describe it. For lunch I had a delicious lamb sandwich. I had never tried lamb before, but I figured I should taste a variety of foods while in a new city.

At the end of the day, we met up with our instructors to talk about the places we visited and the meaning behind some of them. Did you know that Governor Arthur Phillip discovered Manly Beach in the year 1788? He decided to name it Manly after seeing its Indigenous people who he described as very strong and manly. Overall, this was one of my favorite days while visiting Australia and I will always remember how joyful and welcoming Sydney’s locals were.