ok,ok, Sydney.

See, my problem with blogging a topic with lotsa pictures is, I rhaps on poetically, then edit and chekc spellign, grammer and punctuation, THEN add the photos which all end up at the top and I have to arrow down, drag, arrow down, drag, until I get them all situated. THEN, I publish it and it's all kerflooey again anyway.
So, lets try a new tack - the photos are on the page and I add in my blah-blah around them. Go.

Tom came home one day in early May and said he had to go to Sydney for some classes and would we like to go along and I jumped up and down and got in the car. Well, a couple weeks later, he said the trip was off. I was a bit.. let's say "moody." He said there was a chance we could go sometime, later. I told him not to tell me until it was all set. A couple weeks later, Thursday evening, he told me we were leaving Saturday morning. I pulled out and washed all the winter clothes we hadn't seen in about 14 months, found a dog sitter and off we went.
Remember we went to Canberra via Sydney then back? You can review "Canberra" blog if not.

Sydney was just SO beautiful. It has many facets- shiny blue, white and green facets.
This will be about the Opera House and bridge and Darling harbour part.


The Harbour Bridge stretches over Darling Harbour. Yes, I find I add that "u"to colour and harbour now. It's like a souvenir.
The Opera House is at the edge of the harbour.
There was a festival of lights on and the sails of the opera house were lit up with projected images: palm trees, leopard spots, swirls... beautiful and totally unphotographable (for me.)

Sydney kinda wraps around the harbour and has a great transit system of trains and ferries. A one-day pass allows you to hop any and go wherever.
I LOVED the men in flourescent vests at the train stations. Their only job is to ask where you want to go and tell you how to get there. Most people getting off the trains were very seriously hurrying dressed in black. The guides see someone carrying a backpack or dressed in any other colour (see that U? huh?) and they cheerfully offer their service.

Our room was on the top floor of the Harbourview Hotel.
Sounds fancy-dancy, but there are many hotels in Sydney which cater to business travelers and therefore, offer really good rates for families over the weekend. It was way cool! They're so proud of their view, the bathroom had a full-length window wall. See? Yes, there was a blind on the user-side.
The train station was almost next door with an incredible wonderful crusty-garlicky-olive-oily Italian restaurant in between

Whilst Daddy worked a couple days, Thomas and I saw some sights. He really, really wanted to feed the seagulls and see the Opera House.
Done and done.
The Opera House is only partially open to tourists. Unless you are attending an actual show, or you pay about 40 bucks a head for the tour, you get to see a little bit inside which coincidentally includes the gift shops.
Uh-oh. I've gone through my 5-photo allotment, but have more to say. Now what? Hey!! Where are my other 2 pictures?!?! Gosh darn you Blogger! (shakes fist)
Ok, arrow down, arrow down, arrow down drag...