Opera House and Ballet

 Very touristy day.  We did a bit more shopping, since stores that were closed on Easter were now open.  Fruit, sandwich makings, and a very Australian snack!


We have had beautiful weather, very sunny, but comfortably in the low 70s.  The trees around us seem to be thriving, and I was actually a bit startled by how green they are.  This one struck me as especially happy:


(I should learn Dave's trick for putting images side by side...).  This afternoon we made our way back to the Sydney Opera House on the T8 (Sydney Transport, roughly SEPTA regional rail equivalent).  It's clear that parts of the line are much older than others.  This is the station sign for a stop near the center of Sydney.  Very reminiscent of the London Tube.



This, on the other hand, is our stop, out near the airport. Actually carved into the wall.  


The harbor was again crowded, although not quite as bad as Sunday.  We had tickets for Don Quixote at 6:30, and we got to the harbor stop (Circular Quay) around 5, so time to eat but not a leisurely meal.  I wanted something sit-down, not takeout.  We ended up at Wahlburgers, which combined fast, not busy, and tables.  And hey. typical Australian, right?  Especially since we got our burgers "Make it an Aussie", which adds a pineapple slice, a beetroot slice, and a fried egg.  It was amazingly messy, delicious, and very filling.  The restaurant had an enormous screen on one wall, showing a rotation of Sydney videos.


The Opera House is (of course) beautiful.   I was a bit surprised that those sweeping white wings are actually composed of tiny diamond-shaped tiles.  The view from the deck, with the Harbor bridge in the background, was impressive, and the Joan Sutherland theater inside was appropriately ornate.






Three-hour performance, and by the time we got the train and got back to our room it was after 11.  Normally fine for us, but we've been on a much earlier schedule since we arrived and we were definitely ready for the day to be done!

Today (Tuesday) is a catchup day.   Our room includes a washer and dryer; the loads (small!) take about 2 hours to wash and 2 hours to dry, so a lot of time doing laundry.  And repacking, because tomorrow we meet our Insight Cruises tour group at the Four Seasons hotel in Sydney right by the harbor.   And blogging, and probably napping, and just going for a walk in the still gorgeous weather.  And maybe seeing if we can figure out why our ATM card keeps giving us "can't process"...  So far we have no Australian currency.  OTOH, we also seem to have no need for it.  So meh.  Onward!

Oh!  And the ballet was wonderful 😁!

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