We’ve spent the last three days in Sydney, exploring the city, and catching our fill of the iconic landmarks that have put it on the map. The two things I wanted to see while here were the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House (including tour). Mission accomplished! And so much fun!
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is higher than I had anticipated. Or maybe I just psyched myself out about it. I was trying to figure out if I really wanted to do the bridge climb or not … as it turned out, the pylon climb was all I could deal with. And there are still another 40 meters to go if you climb the bridge. And that’s on actual steel that moves when cars and trucks are driving past. The pylon is purely decorative … a politician from when the bridge was built in the 1920-30s insisted the pylons be added to the design to make the structure more impressive and more likely to put Sydney on the map. He also insisted they be granite, not mere concrete. There’s a great view from the top!
The Opera House! Oh, the Opera House! I get giddy when I see that building – it doesn’t matter how far away we are or what angle. Andrew gets a kick out of watching me realize that this building is actually REAL. It’s not part of a fairy tale. We went on the tour today and discovered that the tiles that make up the roof are even self-washing (assuming Sydney gets enough rain)! It was a treat to be inside such a famous theatre. We were hoping to see a show, but the ones we thought might be interesting were in the small spaces that don’t really give the feel of what the building is like, so we opted for the tour instead, and learned some interesting trivia (the inside of the building was designed by a team of Australian architects after the designer of the outside quit because they were putting time and money restrictions on him after 9 years, the concrete on the inside isn’t painted so that the patrons can see the artistry of the engineers and trades people who created the building).
