Why do I feel as if I have been saying this again and again? Probably because I have. But this is a travel story, not something boring about my fiber doings, although I will sneak in some of that at the end.
There is so much to write about that I have been overwhelmed as to where to start. But as with all things, the best place to start is just to start with something. So today, I am going to show you the Sydney Opera House from many different angles. I could write this as a story but then you'd see the Opera House over and over again. Today, if you don't want to see it or read about it, you can just skip it and I will not talk about it again.
I have always loved the Sydney Opera House. It is so iconic, so unique and such a graceful building. On our first day in Sydney, we took a tour of the Opera House. You can't photograph many parts of the Opera House for privacy reasons. There are multiple shows a day and there are people getting ready for the shows in the various theaters. Privacy laws say that you can't photograph them because they haven't given consent. There isn't anonymity in numbers as there are usually only one or two people and it isn't a public place like a park. In a way, I understand it but I didn't like not being able to take pictures.
The concrete ribs that hold up the roof have their own beauty as do the tiles on the roof which alternate between shiny and matte. The red theater - one of the smaller ones- had no one working in it so I could take photos. The Opera House rents out this theater and some of the others to both groups (theater, music, etc.) and to private citizens. You could have your reception, your kid's birthday party, a bar/bat mitzvah in this theater.
One of my disappointments was that we couldn't see the theater on the left in the above photo. It is one of the two main ones. There was a singer rehearsing in there who refused to let visitors through as it disturbed her. But, as a consolation, we were able to go through the backstage and were able to see the huge space underneath, where trucks can drive in with sets and music instruments and the like. We saw boxes labeled with the name of symphony orchestras. And we saw the sets for Carmen which was one of the operas that were being staged. In fact, it was the one that night so we saw pieces downstairs and then saw it being raised on a giant elevator to the actual stage when we were up in the theater. Very cool. The theaters don't have wings to store sets and other pieces so there is a lot of movement up and down. There is a giant turntable so they can have sets back-to-back and rotate them into position as needed.
The bottom photo shows the steps leading up. The first time I was in Sydney, I ran up the steps. i also ran up to the Harbor Bridge and ran across this. That was 20 years ago. This time, I just walked sedately up the steps and also across the bridge. Times and bodies change.
Approaching the Opera House from the Circular Quay side.
We left from the other side and went to the Royal Botanical Garden so this is the view from that side.
On our last day in Sydney, we took the ferry to Manly to see the harbor and see the beaches there. On the way back on the ferry, you get fabulous views of the Opera House from the water with the Sydney skyline behind it.
On another day, we went both under and on the Harbor Bridge. What you see below is the view of the Opera House from underneath the Bridge - on the other side of Circular Quay.
And this is the Opera House from the Bridge itself. One of the things that is amazing about a sunny day in Sydney is how blue the sky and the water is. Coming from a Shanghai winter, it was spectacular. We saw a lot of amazing colored water on this vacation and you'll see that as I post the photos.
I leave you with another view from under the Bridge - one that maybe tries to show it as a ship in sail, which is what it is supposed to be, conceptually.
There is a backstage tour at 7:30 am which I may want to take at some point in the future. That is before anyone is working so it might be possible to take pictures then. But we weren't really motivated to get up and get there at 7:30 given we were on holiday AND coming from China which is 3 hours behind Sydney. Mornings were tough for the first few days.
I think I may do this for the Harbor Bridge also as I have the same variety of photos from different angles. I hope you enjoyed this sort of photo gallery rather than as someone tagging along with us on our travels.
I've been making progress on my Tour de Fleece project from last year. I think I want to finish it before the Tour this year.
This is a spindle I just finished. It was getting heavy and I don't enjoy spinning with a heavy spindle. I took this shot to show the colors that are layered underneath the orange. This is a ply-on-the-fly project - which was the technique I was learning last year. So I am getting a chain ply.
This is what I have left to spin. You can see the spindle I just started. There is going to be a lot of orange before I get to the yellow. The fiber has two large sections of purple and orange with the other colors forming a transition between the two. I wonder what I can make with this that won't look like a clown collar.
Ideas are welcome and will be appreciated.
Thank you for being patient. I will try to post at least a couple of times in short order before things catch up with me and I go back into hibernation from blogging.
There is so much to write about that I have been overwhelmed as to where to start. But as with all things, the best place to start is just to start with something. So today, I am going to show you the Sydney Opera House from many different angles. I could write this as a story but then you'd see the Opera House over and over again. Today, if you don't want to see it or read about it, you can just skip it and I will not talk about it again.
I have always loved the Sydney Opera House. It is so iconic, so unique and such a graceful building. On our first day in Sydney, we took a tour of the Opera House. You can't photograph many parts of the Opera House for privacy reasons. There are multiple shows a day and there are people getting ready for the shows in the various theaters. Privacy laws say that you can't photograph them because they haven't given consent. There isn't anonymity in numbers as there are usually only one or two people and it isn't a public place like a park. In a way, I understand it but I didn't like not being able to take pictures.
One of my disappointments was that we couldn't see the theater on the left in the above photo. It is one of the two main ones. There was a singer rehearsing in there who refused to let visitors through as it disturbed her. But, as a consolation, we were able to go through the backstage and were able to see the huge space underneath, where trucks can drive in with sets and music instruments and the like. We saw boxes labeled with the name of symphony orchestras. And we saw the sets for Carmen which was one of the operas that were being staged. In fact, it was the one that night so we saw pieces downstairs and then saw it being raised on a giant elevator to the actual stage when we were up in the theater. Very cool. The theaters don't have wings to store sets and other pieces so there is a lot of movement up and down. There is a giant turntable so they can have sets back-to-back and rotate them into position as needed.
The bottom photo shows the steps leading up. The first time I was in Sydney, I ran up the steps. i also ran up to the Harbor Bridge and ran across this. That was 20 years ago. This time, I just walked sedately up the steps and also across the bridge. Times and bodies change.
On our last day in Sydney, we took the ferry to Manly to see the harbor and see the beaches there. On the way back on the ferry, you get fabulous views of the Opera House from the water with the Sydney skyline behind it.
I think I may do this for the Harbor Bridge also as I have the same variety of photos from different angles. I hope you enjoyed this sort of photo gallery rather than as someone tagging along with us on our travels.
I've been making progress on my Tour de Fleece project from last year. I think I want to finish it before the Tour this year.
This is what I have left to spin. You can see the spindle I just started. There is going to be a lot of orange before I get to the yellow. The fiber has two large sections of purple and orange with the other colors forming a transition between the two. I wonder what I can make with this that won't look like a clown collar.
Ideas are welcome and will be appreciated.
Thank you for being patient. I will try to post at least a couple of times in short order before things catch up with me and I go back into hibernation from blogging.
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1 comment:
Wow! Gorgeous!
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