Sydney: A View From the Bridge

If you thought Melbourne sounded great, just wait til you get to Sydney! Now this place is alive! I loved Sydney, it had the urban feel I look for in a city, and yet, there was something very calming and peaceful about the place. I found Sydney especially easy to navigate, and it was a very walkable city, which I enjoy. There are harbors on every end of the city, which makes for nice outdoor dining or peaceful walks, or good places to write. Hyde park is awesome. It’s this giant patch of grass in the middle of the city, where men in business suits sit on the grass to eat lunch and women stretch out and sunbathe. I mean, don’t these people have jobs? (Of course, who am I to talk…)

It’s funny, cause everyone in Melbourne talks about Sydney like it’s a trash dump. (Actually, that’s one thing I liked about Melbourne is the city-pride and unity. Everyone who is from Melbourne is confident that it’s the best place in the world, and there’s something nice about that.) But those from Sydney are quite partial to Sydney too.

I stayed at a hotel called The Pensione. Every room had a Rothko print, and Rothko's lined the halls. The Pensione had a much better/more central location than the hotel I stayed at in Melbourne, which made my stay in Sydney more accessible. Actually, come to think about it, at The Albany, there was a print of Renoir’s, "The Boating Party," above my bed, which incidentally is one of my favorite paintings.

After arriving in Sydney, I decided to go for a walk and just explore for the first day. My hotel was on George St., and I walked down Liverpool all the way to the Darling Harbor (not very far). I was pleasantly surprised with stumbling upon the parks and the fountains and eventually the pier. I walked around the harbor, took lots of photos, and eventually sat down for a glass of wine at a harborside restaurant. This area was called Cockle Bay Wharf.

My second day in Sydney was lovely! I set out for the city with the goal of ultimately reaching the Opera House. A friend of mine gave me a suggested walking tour, which proved to be very useful. I started off with lunch at an outdoor café at the edge of Hyde Park. This is a big green spot with fountains and statues, and a world war two monument. Like I alluded to earlier, it amazed me at how many people were there grazing on the grass in the middle of the day. I took my time walking around the park, saw St. Mary’s Cathedral (apparently, there’s a public swimming pool underneath it); the Victoria Barracks; St. James’ Cathedral; The Supreme Court of New South Wales; The Mint; The Sydney Hospital; Parliament; The Library (all these were buildings along Macquerie St.). I then saw the Botanic Gardens, with some beautiful roses and a great view of Sydney. I then found my way to the Sydney Opera House via another lovely park, which had an incredible view of the Harbor; the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. I’m glad I went this way, because it was high up and not congested and a beautiful introduction to the iconic sights of Sydney. And then I made it. To the Sydney Opera House, and it is truly amazing feeling to be standing in front of this infamous structure. I remember studying it as a kid as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. (I’m guessing by now there are more than seven? Isn’t Dubai in itself a wonder?) Standing at this overwhelming sight, I kind of felt like my Mom and Dad did in Borneo: I never imagined I’d see the Sydney Opera House…in Australia! (I had never really heard of Borneo before coming to S.E. Asia, so I couldn’t quite have the same sentiment of: I never in my life imagined I’d end up in Borneo…cause I never in my life had heard of it. Sad, I know.)

I decided not to splurge on climbing the Harbor Bridge, but I did opt for the tour of the Opera House. And it was well worth it! We were taken through the loading/unloading dock where they store all the scenery; We saw one of the “smaller” theaters that houses plays, and it was one of the most impressive theater spaces I’ve ever seen! (Seats 500…yeah, this is small… and has a revolving floor, trap doors, mini orchestra pit, etc.) The stage was set for a Tom Stoppard play, Travesties. We were then taken through one of the main foyers, which had royal purple carpeting and a balcony that hosted a (yet again) beautiful view of the harbor. We were shown the Concert Hall, which was by far the most impressive aspect of the Opera House. The ceilings were amazing, there was an enormous pipe organ (pretty impractical though, especially since there are probably only 6 or 7 people in the world capable of playing it); and the seats in the concert hall absorb sound, so if it’s empty, it’ll still seem as though a body is in it, thus making for better acoustics. We were shown a couple of videos about the origin and construction of the Opera House, which took 18 years to built. They didn’t even know if it was even possible to construct their plans, once they started building. It was kind of a “don’t try this at home” kind of gig. They also showed us the theater that houses the Opera and the Ballet. (The National Opera is based in Sydney, whereas the National Ballet is based in Melbourne, but they swap for half the year, so that the ballet goes to Sydney and performs in the Opera House, and the Opera goes to Melbourne and performs in the Arts Center.) And actually, the opera theater was the least impressive of the three we saw.

I had some tea on the pier and enjoyed the view before I headed back to the Opera for the evening’s performance of (dun, dun dun…) Shostakovich’s Lady McBeth at Mtensk. (I always get stuck with the dark, depressing Operas! Remember Vienna? Standing room only for Schoenberg’s Moses un Aaron. Hahaha.) But, none-the-less, it was an incredible experience and a good production value. Afterwards, I had to rush back to my hotel to take a phone interview for an internship in DC; a 15 hour time difference.

On Day three in Sydney, I explored the ever-impressive Art Gallery of New South Wales. Another reason to move to Sydney. It was a fine institution. And free! After spending several hours at the art gallery, I walked down to (yet another) wharf and all the way to Potts Point and up to King’s Cross. (King’s Cross is considered to be a seedier/quirkier side of Sydney…you know, you stumble upon independent art studios, and second hand bookstores in between grungy bars and adult book stores. It’s great.) I ate lunch at a sidewalk café and walked a good chunk of the city back to my hotel.