SydneyOct 31, 2009
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Approaching Sydney
The Sydney skyline
Opera House and the Coat Hanger
“The flowers that bloom in the spring…Tra-La…” - W.S. Gilbert, The MIKADO
It is definitely springtime in Southern Australia. The weather has been gloriously beautiful. We arrived early on Saturday morning with temperatures predicted to be about 80 degrees F, and that’s what happened…downright balmy. The city is alive with blooming violet colored jacaranda trees similar to those that populate areas of north side St. Petersburg.
How appropriate it was for us as we had booked tickets online last June for the Saturday matinee performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s THE MIKADO. Last year we took a walking tour through the magnificent iconic Sydney Opera House and always wanted to see a performance there. This year the opportunity presented itself and we jumped at the chance and ended up in seventh row center of the orchestra. The show was played for laughs (being a comedy in the first place) and the sets and costuming of the production were top notch. Although ostensibly a pseudo-Japanese story, the setting was Victorian with lots of Japan inspired motifs. The acoustics were perfect, the lead players milked all their lines with double-takes and the audience went wild. A wonderful afternoon.
When we arrived at our berth this morning, right downtown at Circular Quay, we got off the ship and walked a block and a half into the port neighborhood known as “The Rocks.” This is an old warehouse area that has been reclaimed since the sixties with pubs, boutiques, and shops and restaurants. On weekends many of the streets and alleys are closed to traffic and they hold what is known as The Rocks Markets, one of the best street markets I have ever attended, anywhere. We shopped and browsed and then hustled back on board the AMSTERDAM to change our clothes and then walk around Circular Quay to the Opera House.
Sydney is a very clean, modern, hip, city and there are many attractions that would satisfy anyone for days. Great museums, galleries, shops, water sports, a world class zoo, and aborigines on the pier playing their didgeridoos and selling their CD’s. Where else can you see that?
Two more days here, and we are just getting started. - RBM
