This past weekend the Colgate group went to Sydney... and Colgate paid for almost everything! Thanks Colgate : ) On Saturday we caught the 9:30 a.m. train to Sydney; we arrived around 11:00 a.m. and went to our hostel. After dropping our bags off at the hostel, we headed to Taronga Zoo, Sydney's biggest zoo (Sydney has two, but apparently the other one isn't as good as Taronga). The zoo was huge! We were there for four hours and didn't even see the whole thing; well actually we only missed a few exhibits. Saw some really great animal shows (sea lions and giraffes) and some really interesting animals only found in Australia. For example, I saw a real, live platypus! It was surprisingly small, not as big as you'd think.
Later that night we went to a Thai restaurant. On Sunday we went to street markets, all very wonderful. And then at 2:00 p.m. we went to a matinee performance of "The Fellowship of the Ring." It was absolutely wonderful--I explain more in detail with the pictures below.
In front of the opera house! This was the view from our hostel.
Welcome to Taronga Zoo! We had to take a Ferry from Sydney Harbor to the zoo.
This is the ferry we took to the zoo... not our exact ferry but an exact replica.
The view of the Sydney Opera House from our ferry! Beautiful.
This wasn't actually an exhibit in the zoo; these spider webs were on a few trees just outside the zoo entrance. However, they could have been an exhibit! In this picture there's 5 I believe; the spiders here are huge!
Not every day you see an elephant and a palm tree in the same place.
Giraffes and zebras... found in your typical American zoo.
Peacock that was chilling in the middle of the walk way.
Shorter than the average baby giraffe.
Baby hippopotamus.
The Colgate group at "Sailer Thai"! Actually there's about four people missing from this photograph. The restaurant we went to just had one long table in the middle, so actually the people sitting to my left and in front of me were total strangers. This was the second time I've had Thai food and it was delicious! Curry always comes out on top as my favorite, but the duck and pork belly I tried were also delightful. Yeah, be proud mom and dad, I tried duck and pork belly. My professor, Ken Segall, is sitting across from me.
An Aboriginal man playing the didgeridoo on a walkway right near Sydney Harbor. Really cool music. I learned that depending on the density and size (width) of the didgeridoo, the sounds it produces are different.
Inside the Sydney Opera House! Fun fact of the day: The architect of the opera house was inspired to design it (as the way it stands today) when peeling an orange. When viewed from the side especially, you can make out the triangular pieces of orange slices. The Sydney Opera House has two concert halls and one restaurant, so three buildings total.
Inside the theater! We saw "The Lords of Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." The movie played on the screen, but all the music was played live by the Sydney Symphony orchestra and two choirs (about 100 singers total). At first I was skeptical (Lord of the Rings? Come on.) but I actually think it was one of the most wonderful shows I've ever seen. Maybe it's because I absolutely love listening to orchestras and live vocal performances, or because I've never seen LOTR before, or because I was in the SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, but I fell in love with the whole thing. The music was so clear; you could actually see different instruments entering and exiting the pieces as the music progressed. Unbelievable, absolutely stunning.
The Sydney Symphony! No big.
All in all, great time had by all. I'm going to go back to Sydney probably one or two more times before heading back to America. Can't wait to go back again!
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