Playing tourist in Sydney, and a history lesson for you all

This Saturday we decided to join the tourists doing some of the more popular activities that Sydney has to offer. 

First stop was breakfast at Bill's in Darlinghurst, which, best known for their ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter, is somewhat of a Sydney institution - -http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/venue/restaurant/modernaustralian/bills.aspx. We, of course, just had to order these and they most definitely were not a let down - probably a days worth of calorie intake but absolutely delicious! 

Next stop was the Opera House tour, which, helped by the fact that our tour guide was very passionate about the place, was really fascinating. It was a good chance to have a look at the main performing place - the Concert Hall - and learn about the history and workings of one of the most famous buildings of the 20th century. 

Interestingly,  Sydney Opera House, which is the youngest buildingo on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, is a very controversial place. The Danish architect who designed the building, Jorn Utzon, was one of 233 entries (and obviously the winner) of a competition to build a dedicated opera house in the city. Legend has it that his design was actually rescued from 30 "rejects" by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen. Utzon had never visited Australia and had never seen a picture of Bennelong Point, where the Opera House stands, an amazing feat considering how well the building is placed and uses it's beautiful surroundings and views. 

Utzon moved to Sydney as the principal architect on the build. The initial time frame and cost of the build was 3 years and AUD7 million but due to the ground-breaking design, they were soon over this estimation (it ended up taking 16 years and cost AUD102 million, which is equivalent to AUD1.9 billion today). Differences with the newly elected Premier, Robert Askin ensued, and Utzon eventually resigned from the job and returned to Denmark. So, although the building itself is an Utzon design, all of the rooms inside were designed by Australian architects.


Utzon never returned to Sydney, and never saw the completed Opera House, which is incredibly sad considering how famous a building it is. But there is a slightly happy ending: he was actually commissioned in 1999 to redesign a room, now called the Utzon room (by this time, however, he was 83, and obviously too frail to make the long journey from Denmark to Australia). Nevertheless, it is very interesting to compare the Australian-designed rooms and the Utzon room - to me, the latter is very airy and clean, and the attention to detail is incredible, whereas the former seems to be more more oppressive and less detailed. 

Enough of the history lesson....next stop was Centrepoint Tower, Sydney's tallest free-standing tower, and the second tallest building in Australia. Luckily, it was a clear day, so the views across the city were excellent. 


Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo, where Russel Crowe owns a AUD14 million waterside property:

Darling Harbour:

Sydney Olympic Park:

 The famous Coca Cola sign in Kings Cross, very near to where we live:

And, of course we couldn't leave this one out, American Express:

A day full of activities and walking was followed by a lovely relaxing evening of our favourite picnic-style dinner featuring yummy food from the David Jones Food Hall, and a film. Lovely!