Wow, I
haven’t written in quite awhile, but there’s a lot to talk about! I’ll maybe split this up into two posts, and
today start with a little downtown adventure from Friday!
On
Friday, I took the bus to Sydney with two friends to get dinner and hopefully
catch some discounted last-minute tickets to a play at the Opera House! (It’s not an opera, but to our knowledge, it
was the only show playing tonight, so it looked cool.) We left really early so we were sure to have
time to get the tickets, but it ended up not being so easy.
First
we went to Darling Harbour, which is a beautiful town center full of
restaurants and shops and all kinds of activities. It’s apparently a very touristy area, but it
was pretty calm when we were there. We
walked along the harbor where all the restaurants were lined up, and took a
look at each of the menus (posted outside) to figure out which was the
cheapest. The answer was none of them,
because they were all hip places in a hip spot, so we settled for one that was
mid-priced and looked delicious.
The
three of us had a lovely Italian dinner, which even included some fancy drinks! Sarah ordered some sangria, so I ended up
having quite a bit. It was really
yummy! We all felt very adult and very
fancy having a nice dinner out in the city.
By the
time we got the check, though, we realized there was an hour until the show we
wanted to see started, and we were nowhere near the Opera House. So we paid really quickly and booked it to
the nearest bus station.
With 30
minutes remaining until the show started, of course the bus was late, and
Google maps was telling us it would take 30 minutes to get to the Opera House. Luckily, the bus was relatively empty when we
got on, and continued to empty as we hit each stop. Eventually, we were left with the bus all to
ourselves, so we were whispering encouragement to the bus driver to skip stops
and get us there on time.
We made
it to the Opera House with 15 minutes to go!
We ran as classily as we could up the grand steps in our dresses, and
found our way to the box office (which was not nearly as clearly marked as it
should have been,) where we stood in line and waited.
And
waited.
And
waited until there were 5 minutes left before the show started.
While
we were standing in line mumbling for people to move faster and praying they
still had tickets, a wonderful lady in front of us turned around and asked if
we would like to go ahead of her and her family, since they were buying tickets
for the next day. Of course we thanked
her and took her up on the offer.
At the
counter with 2 minutes to go, we asked the guy behind the counter if there were
any rush tickets left for the show we wanted to see; Romeo and Juliet. He said yes, there were 4 all the way in the
back corner with a limited view for $70.
We were advertised a much cheaper price, so we asked why it was so
expensive.
“Ohhh,
you’re talking about the opera rush tickets,” the guy said. “Yeah, we have those for $44. There’s three I can give you for La Bohème which starts in one minute.” He then showed us a map of the theatre and
circled three seats in the smack middle of the front section.
We all
looked at each other, giggled, and nodded.
La Bohème was the premier
opera showing right now, which only ran for two weeks, and sold out of $400
tickets every night. We got very, very lucky!
So he
printed our tickets, and we booked it to the stage door, where the doorman
informed us that it was 7:30, and we replied “we know.” We got to our seats, giddy and giggling that
we somehow actually made it here, and wow our seats were incredible.
Right
there in the front. Perfect view of the
stage. We could see the performer’s
faces perfectly. It was so
incredible! Upon looking up our exact
seats online, I also found out they usually go for $330 dollars. Again, we got them for $44 two minutes before
it started. Emphasis on very lucky.
The show
was a beautiful performance of crazy-intense singing, a live orchestra, and costumes
and sets to die for. I’d never been to
an opera before, but it was really cool!
I was unable to take pictures of the performance for obvious reasons,
but there are some promotional photos online.
During
the intermission, we got up, still giggling, and wandered off in search of
bathrooms and some water. What we found
was a full bar, free water pitchers, and a beautiful balcony that looked out on
the ocean and the city.
Around
us were all kinds of fancy people dressed up in dresses and suits and holding glasses
of champagne. The air was still balmy
and warm from the hot day earlier, and everything smelled of the sea. We stood there in awe of what we were seeing
and the fact that we were actually here on the balcony of the Sydney Opera
House, looking out at the beautiful city.
Again, I had one of those “I never want to leave” moments, where my
whole happy future living in Sydney with my fancy loft apartment and yacht
flashed before my eyes. Ok, so most of
that won’t actually happen, but I do really, really want to live in this city
someday. It’s really so perfect for me.
Anyway,
after the show was over, we stood in awe again in front of the Opera House on a
huge grand staircase leading up to it, where everyone was taking pictures and
just having a great touristy time. Of
course, we joined in for the picture-taking part.
As we
made our way back to the bus stop to go home, still kind of giddy after that
whole adventure, we talked about how great this city was some more, and how
much we want to live here someday. We
walked past open-air restaurants right on the harbor, palm trees swaying in the
summer night breeze, and the cleanest city streets I’ve ever seen, all flowing
with life as the people of Sydney enjoyed this beautiful Friday night.
I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it
again: it’s my dream to be one of those people someday. Sorry again, mom.
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