A Gray Day in Sydney

My hotel was in the heart of the central business district, so a quick glance at a map showed that I could follow the cross street to the harbor to see the bridge and opera house. I set off confidently ...in the wrong direction. But I enjoyed the walk and realized my error after a few blocks. The city is lovely, with some stunning bits of Victorian architecture left over, and skyscrapers that aren't completely ugly (happy to not be looking at you, brutalist architecture). It was strange to be in a larger city and surrounded by so many people again - while I've been in bigger places, I'd definitely gotten used to Wellington's small town feel.

 It was a bit of a gray day, so I didn't take a lot of pictures, but the area down around the bridge was very cool.

I didn't go for one, but apparently there's a company that runs pirate themed cruises around the harbor with this ship.

Et voìla: the Sydney Bridge. I was tempted by the guided walks that go up and over the top, which had been highly recommended by my cousin. My lungs vetoed that idea.

Such an iconic building, it was sort of surreal to actually see it in person!

 

I realized I was near the place where my audition was going to be, so I went and found the building. It's a cool old converted warehouse on the pier, home to several rehearsal spaces and dance companies. It also houses the box office for the Sydney Theatre Company (which is run by Cate Blanchett's husband), so I picked up tickets to see Endgame later that night (starring Hugo Weaving!) and another show the following night. The box office girl was very sweet, and gave me the under-30 discount despite my recent stumble over that milestone.

I headed back to the hotel, which is near the Queen Victoria building, a grand old place that has been converted into an upscale shopping mall. I loved all of the intricate details. I found a really fantastic vintage inspired shop on the bottom floor, all original clothing made by a local designer. Sadly, they were mostly sold out of my size and nothing left quite wanted to come home with me.

That night I had dinner at the restaurant in my hotel, an ultra slick place that I didn't quite feel fancy enough to be in.

The food was incredible, though dinner went a little longer than anticipated and I was almost late to the theatre. I arrived with ten minutes to spare, fortunately. The cast was superb. There was some really fantastic physical work, and I would happily listen to Hugo Weaving read the phone book. I had read the script in college, and hated it, and was interested to see what it would be like in performance. I still hate it (while I can appreciate the art form and understand what the authors are going for, I am not a fan of absurdist theatre). Seeing it live did give me a better appreciation of it, though it was still a two hour show performed without intermission, which was a bit brutal - full confession, I almost fell asleep, even with the great performances. Still glad I went, though.

Then it was back to the hotel for a semi-early night, as I had booked a day trip to the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves for the next day and would need to be up early to catch the tour bus.