This morning began our first full day in Australia, as we got in later last night. We started the day checking our bags at the domestic airport, and then went to figure out the trains. The 'train' is what they call their subway system. It is far cleaner than the Subway in New York, and waaay more expensive. It cost us $46.00 AUD (about $40 CDN) for us to ride down to the Sydney Harbour and back!! Having said that, their public transit system really does rock. There are buses, ferries, monorails and trains to get you anywhere in the city.
So we got to the Harbour and the first thing we saw was the famous Harbour Bridge. We walked down along the edge of the water and saw the famous Sydney Opera House which, was actually the first thing we saw as we flew into Sydney yesterday. It is really incredible up close. The paid for a tour of the inside of the Opera House. It was really neat to see the stages (there are 3 smaller ones and the large main auditorium) and the roof lines and architecture are absolutely amazing.
The main auditorium is completed made of wood. The ceiling and chairs are made of white birch and the walls and floors are lined with another type of wood that result in perfect acoustics. The stage was dressed with thousands of REAL flowers as the London Philharmonic is currently playing there. The rings hanging from the ceiling are for acoustics as well. they allow the sound to bouce back down to the orchestra as they are playing so that they hear the full sound. I can't really explain what a cool place it is. We got to touch the roof which is made us of hundreds of thousands of special, self-cleaning white and cream colored ceramic tiles. Even the bathroom was super cool. During the tour there were some technical malfunctions so the tour guide allowed us to take pictures inside the main auditorium (even though you're not allowed to due to some sort of copyright laws). It was a truly incredible experience to visit the Harbour in Sydney.
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