The Sydney Opera House

On the day before Easter, Sylvia and I took a tour of the opera house which sits on a peninsula jutting into the harbor across from Sydney bridge and near the main ferry terminal.

In 1957 Jorn Utzon, a Danish architect, won an international architecture contest for his proposed design of the opera house.

Although his design was brilliant, engineers could not initially figure out how to build it. Eventually, the story goes, inspiration hit Mr. Utzon in the shape of an orange. He figured if he and the engineers thought of the building as segments of a sphere or orange, it could be built in pieces and then put together.

This model at the entrance to the opera house shows how the building's shapes related within a sphere:

The building was constructed with precast concrete ribs that were put together on site like a puzzle.

Here the ribs create a wall in a hallway. (That's a bench in the bottom right corner.) Quite beautiful, isn't it?

Mr. Utzon wanted the roof to be the color of clouds or sails above the water. Although the tiles on the opera house look white, they are actually both matte and shiny shades of tan, beige, and cream. (If they were actually white, they would be blinding in the sun). The tiles were made in Sweden and every time it rains, they self-clean.

Guess how many tiles are on the opera house roof.

Answer: 1,056,006 tiles form the roof of the Sydney Opera House.

Here you can see how the two main concert halls sit side by side. 

The audience faces away from the harbor, so that the lobbies look out over the water. 

(By the way, the carpet in the main concert hall lobby is deep, royal purple. In the opera theater, it is bright orange-red).

See how the lobby windows stick out like they do on a ship? 

They were designed this way so that spectators would be able to see the view at night and not their own reflections. The glass was made in France and is extra thick to keep the harbor noise out. 

Here's Sylvia looking out through the windows at the opera house during the day.

And here she is with her tour headphones on:

We had to wear headphones, so that we could hear the guide clearly as we traipsed about.

In addition to concrete, and often over the concrete, is a lot of beautiful wood, particularly in the concert halls. The types of wood were carefully chosen to create the best acoustics.

Don't these stairs look like an invitation to explore?

A few days after the tour, Sylvia and I went to see the ballet, Don Quixote at the opera house. No one is allowed to take photos inside the concert halls. But Sylvia and I can attest to the acoustic properties of the wood. When we clapped, it sounded like twenty people clapping.
















Here's Sylvia (with binoculars around her neck) on the balcony during "interval" or intermission. The audience wore everything from fancy outfits to jeans.

Just what you always wanted to see -- a photo of my foot, right? I decided to dress for the ballet with some Sydney flair added to my basic black -- fancy socks with sandals. (Besides actually wearing clothes, there are no fashion rules here. But that's another post).

One final note about the opera house: Construction began in 1959 and finished in 1973!! 

The government started a lottery which paid for the entire project.

For much more information and some really great photos, check out this site.

Happy Mother's Day!

I know, Mother's Day does not come after Good Friday, but we've been super busy here - both with a two-week holiday and with regular life. So my plan is to tell you about what we did yesterday for Mother's Day, and then go back and fill you in until we're current, okay?

Families at the beach:

Rick, Sylvia, and I took the bus to Coogee Beach. It's one of the endpoints of a 6K (3+ miles) five-beach walk along the coastline of the south eastern suburbs of Sydney. We probably averaged about one hour per kilometer because we got at least our feet wet in three beaches, stopped for a picnic, and otherwise enjoyed the sights.

Here's Sylvia happy to be back to the beach.

Although the water looked calm, an announcement was made that there were flash rip tides, and anyone who was not a strong swimmer should not go past where their feet could touch the bottom.

Much of the trail is near bluffs.

Fallen rocks. 

Nonetheless, there are areas where you can go safely off the trail. 

Okay, those of you who are currently studying rocks: what kind are these?

A little further down the trail was this sign:

Oh, that Aussie bluntness.

The next beach after Coogee was Clovelly. This beach was a narrow inlet that had no waves, so the water was full of serious swimmers and the shore had many toddlers.

Sylvia stalked some fish.

Rick with his catch.

To get to the third beach, Bronte beach, we passed a cemetery:

This really give you a sense of the "trail" (really a sidewalk) -- how crowded it can be, and how the path runs along a stretch of wildness between the well-developed suburbs and the sea.

Some of the graves are quite old. Waverley cemetary was established in 1877.

Bronte Beach:

Isn't it gorgeous? I love how one part of the beach is protected by rocks, and another has wild surf.

We were greeted by this sign when we got to the beach:

Rick and I thought it was interesting that there is a code of etiquette rather similar to car traffic rules.

Sylvia after wading in the sheltered area.

A lifeguard in a jet ski pulling an orange body-board patrolled the water. He drove around to the various groups of surfers and swimmers to make sure they were all okay.

And the usual crowd:

I don't think I'll ever get tired of silver gulls. They are so elegant with their polka-dot feathers and orange-red legs.

The beach after Bronte was Tamarama:

We did not go swimming, but I did get my feet wet. 

As we approached the final beach, Bondi, we saw this:

It almost looks like a sculpture rather than rock, right?

Here's Sylvia and I with Bondi in the background:

That's the last of the evening light behind us. It really is autumn here, and is completely dark by 5:30 PM.

As you get closer to Bondi, you can see all the surfers:

From the distance, they reminded me of waterbugs on a pond. 

By the time we got to Bondi, we were all so hungry that we went directly to dinner at a place called Alice & Gertrude Cafe Bookshop.

 It's a used bookstore with chairs and tables throughout which you share with others and read, write, and eat - comfy cozy with delicious, simple food!

We then took another bus back home to end our Mother's Day adventure.

BTW - Mother's Day is every bit as big of a deal here as it is in the States with lots of advertising.

Hoopla on Good Friday

Not an image you'd usually associate with Good Friday, is it?

It certainly wasn't for me. An Aussie who'd been to the States told me that Easter weekend here is like Thanksgiving because everyone travels and visits family. Actually, I think it's like Thanksgiving and Labor Day combined because there's a fervor about getting out, especially to the beach, before the weather changes. (And yep, I am getting "caught up" on blogging--only I don't think of it that way).

Many people have a four-day weekend. Almost everything that doesn't cater to tourists is closed on Good Friday - more so than on Easter Sunday. Sylvia and I went to the Hoopla Festival at Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor is a touristy area downtown that has the aquarium, National Maritime Museum, a great playground, lots of restaurants, etc. Here you can get a sense of the buildings around the harbor. (These acts are NOT using a safety net or pads, by the way!!)

The Hoopla Festival is an all-day, mostly free festival of circus performers from around the world. Some are outside and some are in "tops" of various sizes. My favorites were inside, and we could not take pictures. Sylvia and I saw one circus troupe that was only children ages 7-18. I thought the Solid State Circus was the best by far. Talk about absolutely incredible teamwork! Impressive.



This duo from France was Sylvia's favorite. They combined mime, music, juggling, acrobatics, and a pool! (It's hard to see, but there's a man playing the guitar up on those bars by the palms.)

This couple is from Ireland. I loved that their act was in front of an Oz poster.

                                                                     

Hoola hoops were a big deal.

And at the Botanical Garden, circus inspiration at work:

Random Moments of Happiness

1/13 Sylvia and the Sydney Bridge

1/13 Old Music Together friends reunited

2/13 At the Museum of Contemporary Art

2/13 On the south head

3/13 Reading at the public library

3/13 Behind the opera house

4/13 At Victoria Park playground