Duff Down Under--Sydney

Our next stop was Sydney. Someone that Duff had corresponded with at work (Larry) heard we were coming and showed up at our hotel, hoping to show us his adopted city. John and Doug already had our visit planned in every particular and it was a bit uncomfortable.

We walked through a beautiful park on our way to the harbor.

Larry (left), John (middle) and Doug (right)

We stopped at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum where we began to learn about the singular history of Australia. This building was built to house convict men and boys but it also became a home to the many single female immigrants in the last half of the 19th century. (Many of these were Irish orphans fleeing the potato famine.) This was a terrific museum and John and Doug were very knowledgeable guides.

My first glimpse of the harbor took my breath away. The Sydney Harbor is absolutely stunning! Just stunning!

(Photo Source)

We ate lunch at the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe on the harbor. They put a piece of Belgian chocolate in your mug and then poured hot chocolate over it. Wow!

Then it was time for our tour of the Sydney Opera House. It is one of the most well known landmarks and I loved learning its history. Jorn Utzon was the architect who won the competition and in 1957 it was estimated that it would cost seven million dollars to construct and that the project would be completed in 1963. It actually took an extra ten years and was 14 times over budget. There were so many difficulties that Jorn Utzon resigned from the project in 1966. He returned to Denmark and died without ever seeing it!

It was a bold choice, unlike anything ever built before it. You have to hand it to those visionaries.

It houses seven performance venues and they keep it filled with all kinds of events and performances--3,000 a year
This is the Concert Hall where all kinds of celebrities have performed. Arnold Schwarzenegger won his final Mr.Olympia title here in 1980.

As part our hosts' meticulous plan, we took a ferry to Manly in the late afternoon. We got ice cream cones and walked down to the beach. It was dusk and there were a couple of surfers still out. Then we ate dinner at a little cafe on the wharf before heading back.

We stood out on the deck in the freezing cold and savored every moment of this view.

On the second day in Sydney, Duff had another successful workshop and I went on a hop on/hop off bus tour.

In late afternoon, we walked to the Sydney office and then walked to the Bridge St. Garage with people from the Sydney, London and Dublin offices for dinner. It was delightful to listen to their lovely accents, and they were great conversationalists--very interesting and engaging.

Oh, Sydney, you had us at g'day!