Tourist in Australia - Day 14

Exploring Sydney - Day 1

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

We woke up around 7AM and went downstairs for our Continental breakfast. Too expensive for me! We later talked to the concierge for a map of the city. We had planned to walk to the Sydney Opera House first to purchase tickets for a program during our stay in town. We planned our walking path which took around 30 minutes. We started down Pitt Street and passed the Sydney Tower Eye. “Let’s go there tomorrow!” I said. 

We turned on Bridge Street to cross over Macquarie Street to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which we walked through passing the Government House on to the Opera House. 

We wanted by buy tickets for My Fair Lady. SOLD OUT. We were not interested in other programs available as some only had seats in the back rows of the theatre. 

We decided to buy tickets for the tour of the opera house. Fascinating! We also found out that the King and Queen of the Netherlands were in town. In one theatre, they were preparing for their visit that evening. 

After the tour, I found a photo book on the history of the building of the opera house. I did not want to forget its story. 

There were several restaurants at the exterior. We found a nice one which I had a delicious salad with prawns and avocado. Yum. 

Loved the patterns I started seeing around me, including the exterior of the buildings. 

We walked around the nearby Sydney Cove Circular Quay up to the Rocks. What a beautiful city! I also felt I was going back in time learning about the history of Sydney.

We walked through First Fleet Park where I found a historic map of the city. See first photo.

We walked on to The Rocks, the first historical area of Sydney. We passed Cadmans Cottage, the first building built in 1816 for use of the ships’ coxswains and their crews.

We walked up to The Rocks Square on Playfair Street, where I was impressed by this “First Impressions” sculpture by Bud Dumas. The three sided piece shared the first three groups of people who came to Australia from England: the convicts, the soldiers and the settlers who landed in Sydney in 1793.

 

 

 

We checked out the Nurses Walk where the first hospital was built by the convicts from the First Ship in 1788. It later became the town’s slum as it grew. Its history is preserved as exterior buildings were saved for modern shops, hotels and eateries. 

We headed back to our hotel on George St. This window caught my eye as a Beatles fan. Images from Abbey Road and Aerosmith’s song title Walk This Way. These two cooks are busy preparing items for dinner.

Later in the evening while writing in my travel journal, I found the name of this restaurant called INDU Dining with entrance around the corner on Angel Place.

Across the street a few blocks down, this caught my eye with Cuban heritage. Unfortunately, the place was closed.  

We arrived back to the hotel but decided to walk further down George St. and check out the shopping center across the street that was the new interior of the original Queen Victoria Building known locally as the QVB built in 1898 to house local tradespeople of the time. The building was refurbished and reopened in the 1980s. I loved the tiled floors.

We walked passed the Sydney Town Hall to St. Andrews Cathedral. I was so into taking photos of the external church planning to go inside, when Eileen was trying to get my attention. 

Mary, get over here!

Amazed by its beauty!

You could hear the beautiful music of the organ and a trumpet practicing for the Sunday service. Inside we went. The players finished their piece. I asked for permission for them to continue to play as I recorded. Here is what I saw and heard inside this beautiful sanctuary.

 Outside of the church, I noticed an underground entrance to more shopping and restaurants to the subways. We had dinner at the New York Metro which we enjoyed so much we were back for dinner the next night!