Our Saturday began with the symphony, and ended with us sleepily stumbling home late at night after singing "In the Land Down Under" in Down Under. It was a good day . . . albeit a very soggy one.
We were supposed to go on a boat ride. AGSM pairs all of their international students with a buddy. Kate's had arranged a harbor cruise on a naval vessel. However, we woke to an absolutely horrid day. Just as we were about to leave, Kate sleepily croaked that an email had gone out saying the trip was being abbreviated due to the weather -- basically, don't feel obligated to go. G and I actually were going to head out anyways, but we missed the bus that would have got us there in time.
We were all really disappointed. We we'd been signing "I'm on a Boat" for days in anticipation. I had even waited until the last moment to change my facebook status, only to have take it back a few minutes later. Ah well. One opportunity down, another one arises. We were now free to hang out with Laura and Matt all day.
Their plan was to catch a show at the Sydney Opera House. This was at the top of my list of things to do while in Sydney, but I knew it wasn't exactly at the top of G's. Going with friends made my mission much easier. Plus, Laura had done her homework. She found out that they offer student/youth rush tickets at a substantial discount. They're playing Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, but it was a busy Saturday, and those were all sold out, so we opted for a symphony matinee called London Calling for $25 AUD -- not too shabby. Tickets in hand, we now had just enough time to take lots of pictures and get some food
We chose a place called Eastbank Cafe, Bar, and Pizzeria. On a normal day, I think place would have a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour. On this day, we had a great view of the fog. Also, I think we deserved a kick back for that morning's profits. The place was empty when we got there, but as soon as we took a table on the patio, the guests started trickling in.
It started pouring just as we finished up lunch, so we had to book it back up to the opera house.
One benefit of going to the symphony was that it was playing in the in the main concert hall in all of its spectacular, acoustically designed glory. It's really beautiful, just take a look:
London Calling was comprised of several short pieces - one each by Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar, and three by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I'm not really sure if it was the fact that we'd just had lunch, or the fact that concert hall felt all warm and cozy after being outside in cold rain, or maybe I was just watching the conductor too closely, because I found myself getting hypnotized by the movements of his baton and the rhythmical bowing of the string section. Although, I definitely wasn't as bad as the guy snoring a couple rows away from us. We all got cappuccinos during the intermission, however, and I was able to come back and full appreciate the second half. I particularly loved the sweeping pastoral feel of a piece called The Lark Ascending.
After the symphony, we all walked around Circular Quay for while, until the rain started up again. Luckily, Sabina and Sam had moved nearby to the Harbour Rocks Hotel. (I have to say that this little boutique hotel has a great location and the rooms are very comfortable. If you're ever coming this way, I might check this place out.) We met them there and they were nice enough to let us take over their hotel room while they took there turn at the Opera House. We were soaked by this point and Laura and I were each suffering from holey shoe issues. My most brilliant move of the day was to stuff and extra pair of socks into my purse that morning -- although I wish I'd grabbed more. Laura's most brilliant move of the day was to find a hairdryer in S&S's room that we could use to dry our shoes, socks, pants . . . everything.
Once we were all dry, we left G in the room to take a nap on S&S's pull out couch as he wasn't feeling well, and we headed back out again. The plan was to go to Darling Harbour to catch some of the Latin Music Fiesta that was going on during the long weekend. Some demon possessed me that this would be an easy walk, and we didn't even bother mapping it out. Bad idea. The streets were winding and steep. It took us forever to figure out the way and of course, it started raining again. By the time we got to Harbourside, we were soaked again.
Before the rain kicked in again on our walk, I took this pic I like.
The festival lineup looked really good, but we just wanted to get dry. We met up with Kate and then set about finding a new pair of shoes for Laura and something to eat -- walking around in the rain can really make you hungry.
I was amazed at the number of people actually dancing in the rain by the stage.
Not even I'm that determined.
We did ultimately catch a few salsa numbers from a terrace that had an ok view of the stage. Laura was nice to dance a couple of songs with me. We knocked a people out of the way, cleared ourselves some space and had fabulous time before braving the rain again and heading back to the hotel. We cabbed it this time.
Thanks to Matt and Laura for providing these pics.
Hello Hairdryer, my old friend! Time to dry off yet again. We all made ourselves comfortable watching a movie at the hotel, until S&S and got back. (I, Robot, if you must know. I was really surprised at how engrossed I got in this flick.) By the time Sabina and Sam had a chance to get dry, the rain had stopped and we ventured out one more time. We could not let Oktoberfest go by unrecognized! Rousing ourselves to go wasn't any great feat -- there was a German bar right across the street.
Uberbar was in full celebration mode. After we all got some beers -- true to form -- the boys found themselves a bench to sit on, and the girls immediately hit the dance floor. We never really sat back down again.
After a couple more beers and lots more cheesy dance classics -- including "Ice, Ice, Baby," "Billy Jean," "We are the Champions," and that anthem of girls and gays everywhere, "Like a Prayer" -- those who had not eaten dinner were famished, and those of us who had were certainly open to a late night snack. A godsend of a bouncer we met in the street directed us to Pancakes on the Rocks. Wonderful man! There is nothing better after partying than a pancake joint or diner.
Sorry for the blurry pics. Bad camera setting - however, perhaps a more accurate representation on the state of things.
We had the chance to hang out with the Melbourne Crew one more time before they all headed back, but this time it was much more low-key. We had a BBQ and few games of Celebrity -- one of my favorite party games. Actually, I take that back. It wasn't so low-key --Celebrity can get really heated. In truth, G and I got into quite the tiff over one late night round. Oops. Awkward! Other than that though, it was another great evening. I can't wait to hang out with these guys when we repay the visit and head up to Melbourne!
Now, walking around wet in the rain is not generally considered to be the ticket to good health, and sure enough, G, Kate, and I have all come down with colds. (Day is still hovering on the brink) The persistent days of rain since -- complete with more soggy strolling -- haven't helped. Therefore, we've been laying kind of low this week.
Good times, though! It was definitely worth a minor cold.
Here is G's slideshow of images of the Opera House. Definitely check them out if you're an architecture buff:
No comments:
Post a Comment