Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge

After I enjoyed the Royal Botanical Gardens, I followed the water's edge a short distance to the iconic building.



I so wanted to attend a concert or an opera performance, but there wasn't one. I contented myself with walking around the building and poking into the public foyers. Hard to know how well the building actually works for all its various purposes.

It is a wonder from the outside.


Here's what the roof looks like up close. The surface is made of ceramic tiles -- at least that's what they looked like.



The architect had a eureka moment when he figured out he could make the forms he desired from a spherical surface.



There were these neato lights - they seem to have a surface that floats above the funnel thingy on the bottom. I also have no idea what lights up or how they work
.


The parts I saw inside weren't stunning - a celebration of the glory of concrete. Okay, I'm being cruel. Concrete is great; it's really useful. And it was the big material for architecture in some era or other.

The Harbor Bridge:

I didn't go up on it because of an experience I had in Portland, OR. I was walking across a bridge there, and it was one of those metal bridges where you can see what's below in the spaces between the metal. I got about half way across and had some sort of fear-of-heights/vertigo thing: I was suddenly frozen with some irrational fear and unable to walk any further. I didn't want to stand there forever, of course, so I tried to think my way out of the situation. I concluded that I could either get down on my hands and knees and crawl off the bridge or I could run to keep looking ahead, not down, and to get it over with as quickly as possible. Determining my chosen method, and whether I went on or backtracked, I'll leave as an exercise for the reader.

The passenger docks for the Sydney harbor (south side) are nearby, and there's a lot of bustle and a perpetual street fair atmosphere there. But what really struck me were the overhangs for the walk ways. I assumed they were for sun protection. And maybe they were ... but after seeing them in New Zealand, I think they might also be for rain protection ...