Sydney

April 30

THAT was good for my spirit. I went to a concert tonight at the Sydney Opera House. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a concert. It’s been so long since I’ve heard classical music. I missed it. I was sitting front row centre of the choir loft. I was practically sitting in the timpanist’s lap. Too bad it wasn’t David Kent…of the TSO…my favourite timpanist.  They played Schubert’s Symphony #3 and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. It was just right. The Tchaikovsky was definitely a full orchestra. And the location. Location, location, location. Sydney at night is classy and sexy. The bridge and opera house combo definitely works. Coming out after the lovely concert in the soft night air with the bridge all lit up was beautiful. There was a jazz band playing at the café restaurant just down the shore. I sauntered along as slowly as I could just to soak it all in. At the wharf there was an accordion player playing à la française.

I really like Sydney. I’m not here long enough. Just a couple of days. So I need to come back here some time. There’s a long-standing debate between Melbourne and Sydney as to which is the better city. For me it’s Sydney. I think it’s the bridge. It’s beautifully imposing. A focal point, a connector. It was built in the 20’s, opened in 1932. The pylons add a particular historic feel to it too. I walked across it today and climbed up the pylon tower where there were beautiful views of the city and read up about its history. The views of the city were very lovely. I didn’t do a harbour cruise (sorry, Steph! Sorry Charles…don’t hate me forever) but I really communed with the bridge. I got a beautiful feel of the harbour from the bridge. Brisbane has a bridge built in that era too, the Story Bridge, by the same architect even I believe. But it doesn’t have the same effect there as it does here. I spent the day walking through many parts of the city. My hotel was near Chinatown and I walked all the way over to King’s Cross and up/down to the shore and over to Wooloomooloo and had a hot dog at the pie cart. The pies somehow weren’t appetizing enough. I reckon it was the green pea mush that turned me off. I walked along the fancy wharf with the fancy hotel and apartments and through the botanical gardens and across the business district to The Rocks at the foot of the bridge. And then after communing with the bridge and having dinner at an Italian place in The Rocks that wasn’t so great, I walked all the way back and got ready for the lovely concert. My feet were sore after all that walking. Even my baby toenails hurt. How does that happen? But it felt good and wholesome.

The woman sitting next to me at the concert was nice. She seemed to be one of those patronesses of the arts. She was telling me that the CEO of the Arts Council in Toronto was visiting with her in January. And that the concert wasn’t as well sold as usual possibly because the conductor was from Melbourne and people can be particular about that sort of thing. We had a nice little chat. She was with a couple from the Northwestern States.

The sad part about my Sydney trip is that I don’t have any pictures to show or as proof that I was even there. Not a single one. When I arrived I discovered that the battery in my camera was dead and that I’d left my charger in Melbourne. So there’s yet another reason I’ll have to go back some day.