Opera House, Sydney

This very famous building is not only an opera, but it also houses a concerthall, 2 theatres, restaurants, cafes, giftshops and a library. At the front there are these huge superhuman stairs and a nice promenade to walk on.

We walked through this beautiful building by our own, but it's also possible to do this with a guide.

Unique Suggestions: Address:
Bennelong Point, Sydney 2000 New South Wales

Directions:
A bit north of the centre of the city, at the bay.

Daily Tours:
8.30am - 5.00pm Daily.
Closed Christmas Day & Good Friday

Fun Alternatives: Phone:
+61 2 9250 7111

Website:
www.sydneyoperahouse.com

Other Contact:
Email: infodesk@sydneyoperahouse.com

Right at the spot where there used to be a ruinous tram station rose the Sydney Opera House in 1973. It took them 16 years to built it! It's a very spectacular building designed by Jorn Utzon and the style is Expressionist Modern. The buildings organic shape and lack of decoration have made it both timeless and ageless.

When we sailed for the first time from the harbour of the suburb of Manly to Circular Quay, we passed the Sydney Opera House. It made us realize "We're there! We're in Australia! We're in Sydney!"

Unique Suggestions: Address:
Bennelong Point, Sydney 2000 New South Wales

Directions:
A bit north of the centre of the city, at the bay.

Daily Tours:
8.30am - 5.00pm Daily.
Closed Christmas Day & Good Friday

Fun Alternatives: Phone:
+61 2 9250 7111

Website:
www.sydneyoperahouse.com

Other Contact:
Email: infodesk@sydneyoperahouse.com

The complex curved shapes are very spectacular and are the symbol of Sydney and Australia. The shape is compared many times with bulged sailes and are covered with millions of Swedish tiles. It demonstrates how buildings can add to environmental experience rather than detract from it.

Despite so much richness, the building has had virtually no influence on the shape and form of Australian buildings which followed. It remains something of an enigma which crowns the silent collapse of Western Classical architecture from being the one language for great public buildings.

Unique Suggestions: Address:
Bennelong Point, Sydney 2000 New South Wales

Directions:
A bit north of the centre of the city, at the bay.

Daily Tours:
8.30am - 5.00pm Daily.
Closed Christmas Day & Good Friday

Fun Alternatives: Phone:
+61 2 9250 7111

Website:
www.sydneyoperahouse.com

Other Contact:
Email: infodesk@sydneyoperahouse.com

The fourth stop was the Sydney Opera House. Because I don't give a hoot in hell about opera, I refused to go in there with resolve equal to that which I refused to have my film x-rayed in Tahiti. I did it and got away with it by feigning a severe stomach ache. The truth is the lunch I took at the zoo didn't really agree with me, therefore it wasn't a complete shuck-and-jive.

Unique Suggestions: Wait outside. Tour guides aren't usually big and strong enough to make you go in.

Fun Alternatives: Getting "rocked" at the Rocks.

We bought tickets for the tour of the Opera House. They were not cheap. Since the brochure state that there are about 200 steps on this tour, we asked about that at the box office. We were told that the steps came in groups of about 5 or 10 with us being seated and lectured to in between.
We went with the group, led by Barbara, our guide. She started out as if she were shot from a cannon. We called out to her to slow down, but she wouldn't. By the time we got to seats in the theater, she had already begun her lecture.
We again told her that she was going too fast for us. We couldn't keep up. We left with the first of the group and went to the next theater, barely making it before she began to talk.
Again we asked her to please slow down to no avail.
When we left this theater and crossed a room to a door, she got way ahead of us. We went outside and couldn't see her. We wlked a ways and turned a corner, confronting a flight of what must have been at least 50 steps. We say some stragglers from our groups at the very top. We could not even attempt the climb. Besides, we were totally lost.
We wandered around and finally found a friendly couple who, although they did not know where the tour box office was, showed us how to get back to Circular Quay.
By this time we were totally exhausted, confused, and disgusted.
We decided we just wouldn't pay the bill for the tour when it came, but would instead explain what happened to the credit card company. Barbara knew she lost us, without any adoubt.
We wrote the tour off and went on a perfectly delightful Harbour Cruise instead.

The Opera House is a tourist trap, but still well worth the visit. It's a very impressive construction.