Opera house -12/26/2017

The Sydney Opera house is a multi-venue performing arts center located on the whole Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbor.  The original cost estimate to build the Sydney Opera house was $7 million and the final coast $102 million and was largely paid for by a State Lottery.  233 designs were submitted for the Opera House international design competition held in 1956.  Jorn Utzon from Denmark was announced the winner, receiving 5,000 pounds for his design. Construction was expected to take 4 years and it took 14 years.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia.

The building comprises multiple performance venues, which together host well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people.

About 11 million people visit the Opera House every year.

Roof details.

Me and Hoa in front of the Opera house.

The Sydney Opera house is cooled using seawater taken directly from the Harbor.  The system circulated cold water from the Harbor through 35 kilometers of pipes to power both the heating and air conditioning in the building.

There are more than 1 million roof tiles covering approximately 1.62 hectares sitting over the structure.  They were made in Sweden.

Pictures simply do not do justice on how grandiose the Opera house is.

Breathtaking view of the harbor from here.

Sitting on the steps leading to the Sydney Opera.

  The Opera bar. How amazing is this?

The Opera bar is tucked in the lower concourse level of the Opera house. The open air bar has amazing view of the Opera house and also the of the Harbor bridge. 

View of the Harbor bridge from the Opera bar.

The harbor bridge is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. The bridge is nicknamed "The Coat hanger" because of its arch-based design.

It was added to the Australian National Heritage list in March 2007.

There are a lot of people here but we were lucky enough to fin a table.  Having a local beer...

The weather was really pleasant so we really enjoyed sitting here.

They also have a band playing....

They were really good and it was a joy to hear them play music.

Very crowded area but there is a great ambiance and people are just enjoying the view.

Cheers!

We are now leaving the area...

NEXT... Dinner at the Winery