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The talk of Sydney is the Opera House. How could we not devote a page to it and a few pictures? Unlike many places, it lives up to its reputation. More than lives up!

Before we came we had intended to purchase over the internet tickets to the opera — but we forgot. It didn't matter since after we arrived we found that tickets would only go on sale November 26 for the season starting in January. Just after we could we got tickets to "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Sweeney Todd". We now await them for the pleasure they will bring.

Opera itself being unavailable we got tickets to two other event: The first was a cabaret, in the Studio Theatre, a venue we were previously unaware of. The show was called "La Fille du Cirque — Camille" and we picked it because of the French title and the promise of songs by Jacques Brel. Sadly there were only three of them, two of which were sung in English and the other in Flemish, and none in a style that pleased us. The show turned out to star a young, red-headed Irish woman and her five-piece pick-up band.

Our second Opera event was "Raymonda Dances", presenting extracts of a ballet, performed mostly for school children. It suited us perfectly because the hour-long program satisfied without being boring.

The Opera House from The Domain

The Opera House through the fence.

Shell roofs peering over steps

Even the bathroom fixtures echo the curved roofline.