Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 15:21:49 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hmmmm... the 2nd-prettiest? hard to say....
Paris. San Francisco. Sydney.
or...
Paris. Sydney. San Francisco.
With Venice, Washington DC, Vancouver not too far behind..... (not including
Rome in that list -- that has a different kind of beauty)
Last night was the first day of the new year, and my last day in Sydney (so
far). I got there after waking up at noon, and got off a couple of stations
before the usual "Circular Quay" station. This one was "Museum" station -- next
to the Anzac War Memorial -- memorial to all the soldiers who've served in
Australian wars overseas. It's simple... elegant, with a reflecting pool
outside... and has a beautiful dome on top, with 120,000 small gold stars
lining the inside of the dome -- 1 star for every soldier who served in World
War I. And there are small "momentos" brought back from WW2, Vietnam, and the
first Gulf War.. stories of individual heros, a movie about the first world war
and "First Lord" Winston Churchill's involvement in some pretty disastrous
missions for the Aussies against Turkey... and the memorial was air conditioned
:-)
It was hot yesterday -- hot and muggy and I was sweating after the 5-minute
walk from the train station to the memorial! The war memorial wasn't really on
my "list". I just went inside because I saw a sign that said "Free Entrance"
and it was a good break from the heat... turned out to be quite nice inside in
other ways too!
Next stop was the Australian Museum nearby. This one was not so nice. But at
least it was also air conditioned, so THAT was good! And it had a cafeteria
inside where I took my late lunch (almost about 2:30pm by now) -- takeway
sandwich cuz all the tables were full. They have exhibits on skeletons of
various animals, birds and fish... an exhibit on precious stones (opals) ---
that was actually pretty good.. but the rest wasn't that interesting to me.. I
didn't spend too much time there.
Final museum of the day -- MOS -- Museum of Sydney. On the way I had my
takeaway lunch from the museum -- found a nice spot by a water fountain,
watching all the kids play with all the pigeons while their parents kept
telling them to stay away... (the kids' parents, not the pigeons parents)
The MOS was the best museum of the day. It's built on the site of the first
government building in Sydney. Inside are the exhibits about Sydney's history,
how it came to exist in the first place (stories about the First Fleet from
England carrying convicts from overcrowded prisons in London)... air
conditioned... (the museum, not the ships)... all the way up to present day,
with the building of the Harbor Bridge during the great depression and the
inside story of the building of the opera house -- that's on a temporary
exhibit right now. I liked that area -- they showed some of the original
architectural plans and drawings that were submitted for the building, and this
particular design won out of the finalists... 'twas good to see the
competition... I was there until closing time -- 5pm.
Unfortunately none of these musuems allowed any pictures inside.. but there are
some good places I wished I had my camera inside in the MOS... oh well.
After that, the rest of the day was spent wandering...
Walked through the botanical gardens for some excellent views of the opera
house in the foreground with the harbor bridge behind it, and of course all the
boats all around the harbor... there are some great photo ops from there...
even places to put the camera down for a timer picture..
It was almost sunset, and I still hadn't had my ice cream of the day yet... and
on a hot day too! So by the time I got back to the opera house, that's the
first thing I looked for -- "WHO IS SELLING ICE CREAM AROUND HERE????? GIMME!"
I had one contraption that was half-ice cream sandwich, half-regular "ice cream
on a stick" -- that was good, so when I finished it I found another vendor and
bought the same thing again... finished that, went to an italian ice cream shop
next to the ferry terminals (I knew about that one) and had a soft cone, then
went on the other end of the terminals and had one more cup.... total of 4
within an hour.. one after the other, all the while watching some street
performers, trying not to pay attention to the smell of the fish (first time I
noticed it last 3 days), and slurping on the melting ice cream... it was still
hot!
Later I made my way over to the opera house -- took a spot, and sat there for
the next 2 hours or so ... until about 9:30. Had another sandwich for dinner,
tempted to have one more ice cream but didn't... and watched the light show on
the harbor bridge. Every night in January, at 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm, "The Opera
Bar and Cafe in conjunction with the City of Sydney" will put on a lights show
on the Harbor Bridge... They had a large crystal ball in front (was also there
on new years eve) and that was all lit up with different colored floodlights
from the bridge, plus some "dancing" lights on the bridge itself. lots of
"oohs" and "aahs" from everyone in the area...
And that was it! My last night in Sydney (so far)... but just like Paris,
Venice, Rome, Washington DC, and Vancouver (not to mention San Francisco), I
have a feeling I'll be back here again some day...
Today I'm off, driving about 2 hours to Newcastle, then "Brissie" tomorrow
morning, for my flight halfway across the great big blue ocean on Tuesday...
then the "second part" of this trip begins........
bonsoir,
-moi.
Pictures taken today:
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