Oz: Sydney Opera House

In November, 2010, we spent an amazing month in Australia and New Zealand.  You are invited to join us on this journey starting from cosmopolitan Sydney through the wilds of two national parks in New Zealand to the rolling hills of Christchurch.   

We landed in Sydney after a 20+ hour plane trip across eight time zones and visited the iconic Sydney Opera House that same day.  We had tickets to see Rigoletto that evening - what could we be thinking?!   But it was well-worth the visit.  Designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and completed in 1973, the building lived up to its reputation as a masterpiece of 20th century artchitecture and we found it to be breathtakingly spectacular.  You see below how stunning the interior was, as well as the exterior, under different lights and from various angles.

What the "sails" look like on the inside

The entrance

A view of the magnificent lobby and staircase

Looking out onto the harbour

From the inside looking out: roof detail

Framed by the bow of a cruise ship in the harbour

Majestic under threatening skies

Resplendent in the sun

Striking against the Sydney skyline

Breathtaking at night - whichever way you look at it.  And so Rigoletto became just a sideshow, although I did stay awake for the arias...