Modern Day Fairy Tale

Not far from my hotel room, maybe a 4 minute walk, is the Slip Inn. It is an Australian pub that at first glance, appears very much like every other pub in the city. It has a few pokies (slot machines), serves pub food, and has a nice outdoor terrace that most nights will be covered with men and women, in their business suits, imbibing in a few post-work pints.

You might think I'm telling you about this place because it, like so many other places in this city, has a name that could serve as a double entendre (or is that just my dirty mind?) but in actuality, it is because this was the commencement of what I consider to be one of the best modern day fairy tales that has occurred, and I absolutely love the story.

In 2000, the summer Olympics were held in Sydney. This naturally attracted many celebrities and royals along with an influx of regular, everyday people. Mary Donaldson, an Australian real estate agent, happened to be one of these regular people, just in town for the games. One evening she found herself at the Slip Inn. It was here that she ended up meeting a guy. Totally normal night out at the pub... except this guy happened to be the Prince of Denmark.

They dated long distance for over a year until she finally moved to Europe, where he eventually proposed. They are now married and have two beautiful children together.

So basically one night a girl went to a bar, and ended up becoming a princess. What I got from that is to repeat this process, I must go to as many bars as possible to increase the likelihood.

I've frequented this bar many times since I've been here. Partially due to its proximity to where I'm living. But when people ask why, I always tell them, of all of the bars in the city, if I'm going to go to a bar, I'm going to go to the one that has the highest success rate of turning girls into princesses. :)

Here is an old article about the Prince and (now) Princess, before they were married: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826529873.html