On the Way to the Opera

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Tue 2/2/20 blog

On the way to the Opera

I think the last entry left off on Mon late afternoon. We took it pretty easy the rest of Mon and even ordered dinner thru Room Service. We weren’t that hungry so decided to split an order of Fish and Chips and a Chocolate Mousse. I have to admit it was more expensive than our lunch earlier and a lot less food. But it was very good. The fish was crispy and light but only 2 pieces and the chips what you’d expect for an English Meal.

We slept pretty well and were almost converted to Australia time on Tue morning. So we headed out to find breakfast. We found a hole in the wall Kafe that offered English breakfast and sushi. We had the breakfast minus the tomatoes and it was pretty good. Then we decided to head off and find the Hop On Hop Off bus. It was supposed to be right around the corner from the hotel but we probably walked up and down for about an hr looking for it and people were not the most helpful until the Info Kiosk opened and we found “it”. While waiting we met a couple from Oregon who will be sailing on RC later this week. They’d had some trouble finding the bus stop too. They were also lamenting the high prices of food (forgot to mention that we stopped at a convenience store on Mon and purchased 2 waters and 2 cokes for almost $20.) We later pointed out the restaurant we had lunch at the day before and they probably going to try it later.

We sat on the top of the bus where the breeze felt good but realized a bit later it was probably sunnier than we’d thought and were started to get a bit red. We transferred to the Bondi Bus and got off at Bondi beach to buy sunscreen and a hat for John. We also found the McDonalds had Frozen Cokes which more than hit the spot. John had noticed the first day that the cokes here are the "real" ones made with cane sugar and so were the frozen ones. Just the way he likes them

We did realize when the bus got closer to the area of our hotel that there indeed a stop just around the corner but it wasn’t marked very well. Oh well we definitely got our early morning exercise in. We decided to head to Mcdonalds for lunch since John had seen a sign at the other one for a sweet chile chicken wrap so he wanted to try that. Then we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before our big night out.

We read the eGuide for the Opera to make sure we knew the time and to double check the dress code. It indicated that there was no real dress code but that you should feel free to Frock Up. We didn’t quite but were very presentable other than our burned faces. Since we now knew where the right bus stop was we headed there to take it to the Sydney Opera House stop figuring we’d take a cab back.

We had a nice walk around the area and the views but it was very windy and the building construction appears different than expected but still interesting. The rest rooms are definitly unique with no actual sink just the water that runs off the back of the counter which is wavy. Hard to explain you’ll just have to see it. We found a nice café with a high end buffet that was very reasonable and very good. I had the steak and roasted potatoes and John had the Thai Curry Seafood with cauliflower soup. Actually he had wanted the bread to go with the seafood but the bread came with the soup and since it was cauliflower he ordered that too.

We had no problems picking up our tickets for Tosca and headed in to our seats about 7 for a 7:30 show. We were in the 5th row near the side and could see the sub-titles which are high above the stage but had to look straight up to do so. Now we’ll admit we are opera buffs but thought it would be fun to see one in this famous theater. It was definitely not a classical presentation of Tosca since they were wearing modern clothes, had cell phones, etc. We understood most of it except for a couple of large group scenes that didn’t seem to make sense. We’ll have to look those up later. The singers were all very good and the music very moving. The conducter had the classic look and was very animated and interesting to watch. The last few scenes weren’t exactly PG so not sure how the very young girl we saw earlier (or her mother anyway) dealt with it. Certainly not like the Magic Flute we had to see in grade school every year at the Shrine Auditorium (which I know Erin remembers ) We were glad we went and enjoyed the experience but are probably not going to buy season opera tickets any time soon.

We had some problem finding a cab after the show especially with the streets wet from an obvious rain while we were in the show. We ended up walking a ways and finding a hotel with a Cab Stop which worked.

It’s now Wed morning here and we’re getting our bags etc ready for pickup and then will go get some breakfast and our shuttle bus tickets for the ship. Will post this when we get on the ship and set up.

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