SYDNEY ARCHITECTURE - FIRST DAYS

As I sit to write this on Sunday I am overwhelmed with how much I have managed to fit in to such a short amount of time. I arrived Thursday just before Noon and as soon as I got to the hotel and put my bags away, I hit the ground running, er walking. I have done more walking here than in Singapore, which I did not think was possible. Here's a journey of some of the things I've seen. Remember, I am not a "normal tourist" (in fact, normal is rarely used in the sentence with my name!) and so I tend to look at things others would just walk around. The architecture here is amazing and I have a lot of those pictures.

This is a picture of a sculpture that was at the airport.

This is a church across from my hotel. As you can see they have kept the amazingly beautiful original building on the bottom and added residences to the top. The street is narrow and I can see into some of the apartments out my hotel room window. They look small...studio type!

I have no idea what this is, but it is at the top of a building. In my next post I think I have this same thing at night....stay tuned!

I like that the "old" is kept, even if they add "new" around it.

Because the buildings are old, there are clocks on many of the buildings.

This is a doorway into a church. There are many old church buildings within a few blocks of my hotel.

In the US we have Burger King, here they have Hungary Jacks. I did buy a soda there and looked at the wording on the cup and it says it's a company of Burger King...which makes me wonder why the name Burger King would not have gone over here....

Remember when we were little and our parents would say "speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil"...well, here it is on a building...interestingly, I have no idea what the building use to be, but it is now a pub.

Check out the clouds!!!! Loved them!!!

Odd thing here...just like Singapore, they drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car...well, it's right for here, but seems odd to me...anyway, at each corner you see "look right" or "look left"....as if our mothers hadn't taught us to do that before we crossed the street when we were younger!

I loved that I took a picture of this building and got a reflection of other buildings in the window.

Loving the funky design to this building...and the clouds are fabulous!

Clouds, old, new...a theme here!

This is called the Sydney Tower, similar to the Sears Tower in Chicago. You pay $25 AUD to go up to the 43rd floor and see a 360 degree view of the city. I found this by accident on Thursday...didn't know that the building Principal is in, that I would visit on Friday, is on the 43rd floor and had a better view!!! Could have saved $25 AUD!!!

A view of the Sydney Tower from directly below it.

Scenes from the 43rd floor....

The park across the street from my hotel. It's quite nice. As you can see, there are leaves on the ground...it is fall here..my first cool weather!

A church down the street.

Another reflection picture.

The stairway to the Harbour Bridge.

This is a tunnel under the bridge.

Walking across the bridge I saw this very unique building. I love it...I wish I could build a house in this shape!

This is the start of the walk across the harbour bridge. As the walk progressed, the wind picked up. The sights were amazing!

The Sydney Opera House...I took this from the middle of the Harbour Bridge. I love the building and you will see many, many pictures of it, I'm sure.

This is part of the bridge.

When I got to the other side of the Harbour Bridge it began to pour down rain...and I had forgotten my umbrella (couldn't believe that since I've been living in Singapore and never go out without my umbrella!)...so I took the train back across the bridge. I'm so glad I did, it was a very fun experience. The trains, however, are not nice like the trains in Singapore.

I went into this grocery store (about the size of a small Casey's store) and looked around. They have mashed potatoes called DEB!!!!! The guy in the grocery store was really looking at me strangely as I arranged it to take a picture!

Went into the office to meet a few people I work with for my job. Hey, team in DSM, here's Daniel.

This is a view of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House out the window at the office.

Again...the SOH....lovely!

More architecture....

At the Sydney Music Conservatory there is this amazing sculpture. It was really fun walking past the SMC...they were just getting out of classes and here came all these students with their instruments...they all looked so "artsy".

I walked down to the SOH....amazing!

I spent a lot of time down there and the sun was beginning to set...here it is..the clouds, the sun and the start of the Harbour Bridge. There was a slight breeze and I sat in one of those chairs and just soaked it all in.

New...and clouds...fabulous!

Seriously, can you believe these clouds and buildings!

While walking I saw this church...there is a sculpture of Jesus on the second point (sculpture is white)...and he's pointing...not sure what he's pointing at...just thought it was interesting.

Okay, saw the airplane streak and the bridge and had to have this picture!

Really like this bridge!

So, the first day I basically just walked around and then collapsed in bed!!!! Friday I walked around again...there's a theme here...went to the office for a vist....walked around some more!!! Stayed tuned for more updates on Sydney!