An Evening at the Opera

My, don't I sound stuffy? Trust me, this isn't something I would normally sign up for however how can you resist seeing an opera at 'the' quintessential opera house of the world?


A brief history of this historical landmark... Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect won a contest for an opera house to be built on the Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour in 1957. The virtually unknown architect was inspired by peeling an orange and designed his opera house to be a spherical shape if one took all the "sails" and put them together. Construction began in 1964 on the rib vaults of the shells. By 1966, the new government of New South Wales was dismayed at the rising costs, design, and schedule of the building. The liberal government stopped payment to the architect who was forced to quit. Utzon left Australia, never to return to see his masterpiece completed. The project was finally finished and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October, 1973. The Discovery Channel has a wonderful documentary on it and if you have the chance, you should watch it. It truly is a remarkable building, inside and out.

Good stuff!

We booked our tickets weeks ago for a Wednesday evening. Because Carol was co-facilitating all day, we had to find a quick bite to eat before Carmen. I asked a local co-worker for a recommendation for something close and more importantly... quick (dinner is typically a 3 hour event but we'll save that for another day). Tim suggested City View so I booked a table [with a view] for 5:30 (when I made the booking I was asked what kind of table I wanted. This threw me for a moment. My sarcastic mind immediately went to "the kind with a flat surface?" Was this a trick question? So I asked for the best available and she said "upstairs with a view" so there you have it). For a change, it really was quick and relatively inexpensive for Sydney (I won't go there in this blog either). In fact, we had plenty of time to meander around Circular Quay and have some gelatto from Gelatissimo. We also took pictures (you can never have too many of the bridge and the place we were going to). Carol asked a gentleman to take a photo of us with the bridge in the background but later when I checked, he never took one. Guess you need to check when relying on strangers to use your camera. Carol found a young couple from Scotland to do the honors. The lucky couple was taking a year's leave to travel the world before starting a family. We should all be so fortunate to figure this out before getting too overwhelmed with responsibilities. Most people who aren't American already know this.

Carol and I 

We succeeded in getting all the shots we wanted and proceeded inside 30 minutes before Carmen was to begin. It was hard not to be in awe as you walked in the door. It was crowded, elbow to elbow, mostly "older" people who were in line for a glass of wine. First stop was the toilet (sounds a little vulgar, right? Well, the Aussies think we are sissies for calling it a restroom or bathroom.) then time to find our seats. We were centre stage in dress circle but very high up. There were numerous high school aged students who were filling in with us but thankfully, they were no where near us. I did get to sit next to Murphy and play elbow war with the arm rest. He knocked my arm off numerous times until I finally leaned left and snuggled with Carol instead. This was in addition to laying his coat on my feet. As my sister would tell you, I attract these people. No, really, You have no idea! 

It's a long way down there!

Once I sat down I started to wonder if I would be able to stay awake. I joked about it earlier but now that I'm sitting down and starting to feel relaxed I realised how tired I was. Uh oh. Next I was wondering how I would follow along. I mean I took French in high school (a few years ago) and haven't used it recently. The good news is they now have "closed-captioned" so you can follow along (there is a small screen running along the top of the stage, rather handy actually). As soon as the orchestra started I realized I knew the music. You would too. It was amazing how many songs I recognised. If you aren't familiar with Carmen and would like to read a brief synopsis of the story click here: http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/opera/qt/carmensynopsis.htm Admittedly, opera is not my thing but I did enjoy this one a lot. Unfortunately, I did yawn quite a bit the last 45 minutes struggled as always to sit still in tight quarters but tried not to let either detract from the experience of a lifetime. 

Leaving the Opera House

After the numerous curtain calls (I commented to Carol we didn't have to worry about missing our cardio workout as it was exhausting to clap for 15 minutes), we were ready to head out into the madness with hundreds of people. It was a nice evening and the thunderstorm predicted never materialised so I opted to walk back to my hotel, about a 15-20 minute brisk walk. Carol and I parted company at George and Essex Streets. Up one street, down another. Repeat. Again. It seemed longer than normal and I was utterly exhausted when I made my way back to the Sheraton at Darling Harbour but couldn't sleep once I get finally fall into bed. Just about what you would expect. Oh but I was awake early. Again, about what you would expect. Had to get up and fly to Brisbane this morning to observe a new facilitator on Friday. This is where there was major flooding a short time ago. They have done a good job cleaning up the CBD area as I could find few signs of the flood. Most of the damage seems to be to plants, particularly palm trees who have dried up palm froms. Looking forward to getting back to Sydney tomorrow evening though. More fun times ahead!




And a special shout out to my boy, Jameson. He got hit in head by a classmate with a hockey stick in PE. When he got on the phone to tell me about it I asked him how he was going (Aussie for doing) and he said "I'm stable now. I suffered a blow to the head you know." He then said the boy who hit didn't mean it, it was an accident and he apologized. Jameson accepted his apology because he was "a nice kid like me." Talking to him makes me anxious to get home to see him and his sister.