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Sydney Up Close & Personal
Classy: The Queen Victoria Building with its Romanesque architecture is the home of many high-end brand outlets in the Sydney business district
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Classy: The Queen Victoria Building with its Romanesque architecture is the home of many high-end brand outlets in the Sydney business district.
Try to take a deeper look at some of Sydney's regular touristy places and you may find something extra to talk about.
Sydney is certainly good looking, but the capital city of New South Wales offers more than lush parks, iconic architecture and decent streets for pedestrians to stroll about in.
The renowned Sydney Opera House is usually a top priority for visitors enjoying a short stay in the city.
However, instead of merely taking selfies and admiring the building from the outside, joining a guided tour will reveal a different story. Despite it being a magnificent architectural phenomenon, the Opera House, for which first phase of construction began in 1959, apparently left its creator with some bitter memories.
'The architect of the Opera House, Jorn Utzon, had never seen his masterpiece when he died,' local tour guide Luis Kann said while explaining the various rooms and halls of the building.
He added that the Danish architect never again set foot in Australia after he was forced to resign from the ongoing project in 1966, although he later continued supervising it from outside of the country.
Kann also pointed out various details that we might not have realized were there if we only saw the iconic building from the outside.
The shell-shaped roof, for example, is made of ceramic that does not need to be cleaned and the ceiling of the concert hall was intentionally designed to disperse sound equally in all directions. A unique and timeless design makes the Opera House one of the most prominent art performance venues in the world.
Kann said the venue hosts around 2,000 events annually.
'They range from theater productions and musical concerts to a boxing match,' he said.
As a state capital with the biggest population of any city on the continent, Sydney offers a diverse glitz of a metropolis. In the center of the city, Margot Cuthill, a tour guide from New South Wales Destination who accompanied me and other journalists on a trip provided by AirAsia X, took us to the Queen Victoria Building. The building, originally named Sydney Market, was built in the 19th century in the city's central business district.
According to the official website, the Queen Victoria Building almost faced demolition, but it was later renovated in 1984. Two years later, it reopened its doors to the public. The building also saw another major refurbishment in 2009.
The four-story building is home to many outlets of brands like Gucci, Furla, Longchamp and Fossil. If you are not into branded items, you can still walk around the building to enjoy its Romanesque architecture that boasts a mighty center dome, arches, pillars and stained glass windows. Our journey into the building's past was completed as we entered The Tea Room on the fourth floor to have a high tea, an old tradition where English people enjoy their afternoon tea.
The almost-forgotten high tea tradition has become popular again in the last decade.
'Lots of hotels now offer high tea packages in their restaurants,' Cuthill said.
The Tea Room is located in an old grand ballroom with Baccarat crystal chandeliers hanging from its Victorian ceiling. It was occupied by round tables set with rose-pattern tea sets.
Just like the old tradition, the waitresses presented various kinds of tea, like green tea, rose tea, English breakfast and vanilla tea, along with three-tiered stands full of cakes and cookies. We were also told not to forget to take a bite of two iconic dishes: cucumber sandwich and scones.
After enjoying the city life, we went for a little outdoor adventure in the Taronga Zoo, the name of which was taken from the name of the region.
'Taronga means 'place with a brilliant view' in the local Aboriginal language,' Cuthill said, adding that aside from by bus, the zoo could also easily be reached from the city by ferry.
The zoo recently introduced a new sky-high adventure called Wild Ropes. It is an adventure facility where visitors can enjoy the zoo and its surrounding from above while conquering various obstacles in the 90-minute activity.
Those who are not very athletic need not worry as it has two levels of adventure ' low and high.
With high standards of safety, Wild Ropes was quite convenient, especially for a visitor like me who happened to rarely do exercise. But still, using every muscle I had I completed the mission. As I only tried the lower level, unfortunately, I could not enjoy the beautiful scenery from above.
When night fell, Cuthill took us for a cruise to enjoy the city skyline, including the Harbor Bridge, from the bay.
The tour was quite pricey to me, but it was an interesting option for couples or families who want to enjoy a special night.
Good sights, food and live music entertainment differentiated the tour from regular cruise packages, and most participants got busy taking pictures while enjoying New York cheesecake for dessert.
' Photos by Corry Elyda
