April 14, 2013

Sydney, what a beauty

Flying into Sydney was like arriving in a small European village.  All of the streets seemed cramped and just wide enough to accommodate the size of a vehicle.  Small shops, cafes, and restaurants lined the brick streets of the city.  My hotel was snuggled between a quirky eatery and a historical estate of some significant family.  Wandering through Sydney (using a cartoon map) was stimulating to the senses.  I came upon the famous Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the New South Wales Art Gallery.  Running up the steps to the Opera House felt like it should have been accompanied by some epic soundtrack.  I had always wanted to come to Australia, and there I was standing in front of one of its key identifying features.  I was happily surrounded by culture, beauty, and the excitement of a big city as mo-peds, bicycles, pedestrians, runners, and cars whirled around me.  The Harbour Bridge stood majestically behind the Opera House and was definitely worth trekking across.  The Botanical gardens had mazes upon mazes of different trees, flowers, plants, shrubbery, and statues which were all just so fascinating to look at.  Admittedly, my favorite part of Sydney was attending the Art Gallery showing.  There were six floors of different types of exhibits by famous Australian artists.  I became fascinated with the third floor's arrangement of "We Used to Talk about Love" where I came across a piece by Grant Stevens called "Crushing".  This video piece was just so captivating and moving that I had to search for it online when I returned back to my hotel.  Sadly, there is no official recording of it anywhere outside of the Gallery (I did however attach a link below of a youtube recording I found).  Overall, Sydney was a much needed cultural shock and certainly a place that I'll never forget!

Crushing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFyxKstmOes



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