Rain, Opera, Backstage Tour and a whole bunch of walking

Wednesday was the day we planned to take the 555 bus to the Great Jewish Synagogue and then go to the Jewish Museum from there. The 555 bus was originally established to provide tourists an opportunity to go from Circular Quay (Opera House) through the CBD and to the Central Station close to Darling Harbor for free. We found out the hard way that this service was curtailed and doesn't go up and down both George Street and Elizabeth Street, but only George Street. Apparently, a lot of locals used it and the tourists were not benefiting enough. We found one driver to be plain surly to a local in a suit and actually cursed him out. It was drizzling when we got on the bus and by the time our ride unexpectedly ended, it was pouring. We had umbrellas, but it was windy and unpleasant. We worked our way to the Great Jewish Synagogue only to find that you could only visit it on Thursdays at noon or for services. As it continued to storm, we decided that Wednesday would be an inside day. We walked to the Queen Victoria Building, a shopping center developed from a reconstituted old building and shopped. Or at least looked. The building was beautiful.

From there we went to The Strand, another old building turned into a shopping area and Westfield Mall. We found a little cafe for lunch and then walked to the hotel to rest. We needed to be ready for our night at the opera. Hmm, catchy phrase.

We walked to the Rocks and had dinner at Pancakes in the Rocks, a highly touted place.

Note that our meals were healthier than these, but not by much and then walked to the Opera House. The opera started at 7:30 PM, but we were there at 5:30 PM because there internet web site said there was to be a pre-show talk about the Opera and we didn't want to be late. Well, wouldn't you know it, the talk was canceled, but because we were there waiting, we were invited into a private donor party. Friendly, these Australians. Here is a picture of Felice during our wait. 

We then experienced the opera, Madama Butterfly. Of course it is in Italian, with subtitles, but the grandeur and staging were breathtaking. Our first opera was a success. 

We walked to the hotel and slept fast as we had a 5:20 AM wake up call the next morning so we could leave the hotel by 6:15 AM and have the taxi get us to the Opera House by 6:45 AM for our 7:00 AM Backstage Tour. Of course we were early for our tour which was limited to 12 folks. And the last of the guests to show up were our Seattle friends, who we had no idea were going to be in our small tour group. What a pleasant surprise. The tour was very cool and lasted an hour and a half. It was similar to the many backstage tours we have taken over the years of Wicked, Radio City, Grand Ole Opry, etc. Like at some of them, each performer leaves a reminder of their appearance there. In Sydney, it is literally kissing the wall. 

During our tour we got to go into the pit and Felice had the opportunity to take the baton and lead the orchestra (or at least the orchestra we imagined being there).

As part of the tour, we were served a customized breakfast which lasted close to an hour and included a leisurely discussion among the group and our tour leader. 

From the Opera House we walked to the New South Wales Museum, mostly because they had a travelling exhibition on Pop Art. I loved it. 

From there we took a taxi to the Jewish Museum, planning on being there for their daily noon tour. Of course, the employees knew nothing about it and we were sure that we were snake bit. So we started touring ourselves and a few minutes before noon, an employee found us and brought us to the tour leader. It turned out he was always planning to lead a tour and ours was a private tour for just Felice and me. Any visit to a Jewish Museum is quite sobering and it had a significant portion covering the Holocaust. It was heartening to see so many school groups touring the museum with guides so that the concept of Never Again might become a reality. 

We then wandered the Darlinghurst area of Sydney, having a pizza lunch at a nice cafe. We walked back to Hyde Park, going through part of it and seeing the fountain. 

We were exhausted from the early wake up call and all that walking and touring so we did some window shopping and went to the hotel for an hour and a half nap. Dinner at a local restaurant and dessert at Max Brenner's (yes, again) and then to the hotel to relax. Our time in Sydney was running low and we still had some things to do especially since the rain seemed to be on its way out.