On our first full day in Sydney, we took a 2 1\/2 hour walking tour of the city.\u00a0 We always like to do a walking tour (if available) at each city we visit to initially give us a “lay of the land”.\u00a0Many cities now have “free” walking tours that thrive on tips alone.\u00a0 Like Melbourne and Madrid, we had a graduate degree student guide.\u00a0 They really do a good job of\u00a0offering some interesting tidbits\u00a0on almost all the 27 sights\u00a0we visited.<\/p>\n
Some of the highlights of the tour included The Queen Victoria Building (affectionately known as the QVB) which\u00a0 was built as a monument to the long reigning monarch.\u00a0 This gorgeous old building is now home to some of Sydney’s finest fashion boutiques with tunnels connecting its 2 lower floors to other retail buildings along the street.\u00a0 The two massive clocks are beautiful.\u00a0 One of them demonstrates the beheading of King George hourly.\u00a0 Outside the building, a bronze statue of Queen Victoria’s dog speaks when you throw coins into the fountain!\u00a0 We also visited inside the historic Customs House which has an incredible scale model of Sydney’s city center viewed through a glass floor.\u00a0 It was quite spectacular and very detailed.\u00a0 An interesting story was told about Sydney’s “Rum Hospital” which is currently a working hospital.\u00a0 The original Sydney Hospital was paid for with rum sales for the builders, being allowed to import up to 60,000 gallons into the colony in the early 1800’s.\u00a0 Another interesting place was the birthplace of modern Sydney\u00a0called “The Rocks” which is an historic precinct right by the harbor with cobbled laneways,\u00a0 cute caf\u00e9s and lots of pubs.\u00a0 Circle Quay is Sydney’s major harbor and\u00a0was the last area we visited.\u00a0 It is where all the ferry boats dock.\u00a0 Despite its name, Circle Quay is actually square in shape.<\/p>\n
After the tour and lunch, we headed over to the worlds largest steel arch bridge and one of Australia’s most well known and photographed landmarks,\u00a0The\u00a0Sydney Harbor Bridge.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We debated on the famous “bridge climb”; but, due to the high winds,\u00a0we opted for a 2-mile round trip walk across the bridge.\u00a0\u00a0Nonetheless, the\u00a0views were breathtaking with lots of boating\u00a0below along with great views of\u00a0the\u00a0Sydney Opera House.\u00a0 The original estimate to build the Opera House was $7 million for a 4 year project, however, the final cost was $102 million!\u00a0\u00a0Work commenced on the Opera House in 1957 and was completed in 1973.\u00a0\u00a0The original Danish architect was relieved mid-stream and his\u00a0plans modified.\u00a0 They have determined that if\u00a0 the interior was modified to\u00a0his original design, today it would cost $1 billion to update it.\u00a0 The Dane never saw the completed icon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On our first full day in Sydney, we took a 2 1\/2 hour walking tour of the city.\u00a0 We always like to do a walking tour (if available) at each city we visit to initially give us a “lay of the land”.\u00a0Many cities now have “free” walking tours that thrive on tips alone.\u00a0 Like Melbourne … Continue reading Free Walkin’<\/span> ![\"Street](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dltwt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/PB085348.jpg\")
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