April 7 2018
Said goodbye to Jennifer and Jim and schlepped our stuff to the Primus Hotel.
It is a beautiful five star hotel with a rooftop pool and bar. Knowing my way around the city I think we would have been better served with a hotel in The Rocks that was close to both a train station and a ferry stop. We have done a lot of walking from this hotel which is near the Sydney Eye.
Spent the day in Manly at the beach. Manly is a coastal beach town on the North shores of the Sydney area. It’s a beach, residential and tourist destination. There is lots to do on a day trip besides the beach – hikes, food, shopping, biking, water sports.
We took the slow ferry from Circular Quay (30 minutes) and then walked along the beach path to the sheltered Shelly Beach.
We had a nice lunch at the Boathouse. I had the beet salad with salmon. I was surprised at how large the salad was and that the salmon was raw. Bill had a tasty prawn flatbread. The restaurant faces Shelly Beach and has a cool coastal vibe. We swam in the sea with hundreds of other bathers and then returned to the city on the sunset ferry.
There are amazing public facilities at these beaches – lifeguard stations, walkways, showers and toilets, public pool.
On the way to Manly we saw hundreds of sailboats on the water and many regattas underway.
For the return ferry ride, we pushed our way to the bow of the ship to get this view of the bridge at sunset. This trip is an iconic Sydney activity.
This is a bustling city and it’s very tall. Have to look up at all the skyscrapers.
Saturday night is the Resurrection Service for Orthodox Easter (a week later than everyone else’s).
We tried to go to a resurrection service last night, actually two. It was an unusual experience. We arrived at 11 to a beautiful old church in the city on the edge of their “entertainment/red light” district. It is called St. Sophia for the saint who was martyred with her three daughters Faith, Hope and Agape.
Just a few blocks away is another Greek Orthodox Church also called St. Sophia but like the church in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia, which means Holy Wisdom. They couldn’t think of a different name?
It is an old church that I believe is a converted Jewish temple. There was no choir, just a couple of chanters. Most of the service and chanting was all in Greek. The place was empty at 11pm. And was overflowing by 11:55 when half of the people showed up. People talked through the entire first hour. At midnight the lights went off so we could receive the light of Christ with our candles. This is a very serious important part of the service as the fire is passed through the church. But here they flipped all the lights on after a couple of minutes before most people had even gotten their light. The priest and his procession had to push their way through the people standing in the aisles talking. Even the collection process seemed off. The old men acted like they had never done this before. One guy would send basket down our row and right behind him were two more to do the same.
Then the congregation filed outside and stood on the sidewalk of a busy street. Drunk passerbys were hollering at us. At one point a drunk guy started pushing his way into our group and the Greek bouncers carried him off. I couldn’t even hear the priest and most parishioners were having chats with each other. I don’t think the priest even did the whole service outside.
Very few people went back in for the liturgy after showing up at five till midnight. These are what we call “sliders”. They wait till everyone else goes in and they slide off to their cars for an early bedtime. The non-sliders go back in the church for the full liturgy which will finish around 2:00am and is followed by a lamb soup in the church hall.
We slid and walked to the other church a few blocks away for a while and then headed back to the hotel right through Kings Cross, the red light district. Even got to see some ripped male pole dancers from a strategically placed window on a nightclub.
It didn’t feel like a very spiritual way to end our day but it made me miss our little church in Pensacola. The night made me think of my dear friend Laura and our Easter trip in 2004 where the Cretan village service was not much different. Missed being able to text Laura and tell her about how Australia does Pascha.
Sunday April 8
We had booked a sailing trip for Sunday. Weather is nice but there was no wind in the morning so we motored for two hours. There were some thirty something Americans on the boat who work in Sydney.
After our non-sail we walked through Luna Park to pick up the ferry. This is an old fashioned amusement park in a great location – on the water under the shadow of high rises and the bridge. It’s free to enter and you buy tickets for the rides.
That is a scary looking clown at the park entrance.
Of course the wind picked up just after we finished our sail.
The Sydney Harbour is a very busy waterway. Full of boats of all shapes and sizes as well as ferries, kayaks and seaplanes. You had better know your right of way rules to operate a boat in Sydney Harbour.
We took a ferry to Bangaroo in Darling Harbour and had our Easter lunch at George’s Mediterranean in Darling Harbour. The roast lamb was excellent and we enjoyed tarama salata (fish roe) and squid stuffed with spinach in a pesto sauce.
True to Greek style the food comes out all at one time – mezedes, salad and hot main. At least we didn’t have to wait forever to get our check. Food here is expensive to eat out. Appetizers range from $10 to $25 AUD and mains start at $25 and go as high as $40 even at lunch. With sharing and one glass of wine our typical meal is $70 AUD which is about $56 US. However that includes tax and service. Tipping is not expected because wages are high. Minimum wage starts at $18 and can be as high as $23 Aud. Bank tellers make $50k a year. And four weeks vacation is standard.
Sunday is a great time to be in a big city and see so many people out enjoying their time off. A little secret that they don’t tell the tourists is that on Sunday Funday you can use the ferry/train/bus system all day anywhere for $2.50 with an Opal transportation card.
Our last hurrah will be an outside performance tonight of La Boheme at the Sydney Opera House.
Well after taking a train, then a bus and walking to the opera house we found out the venue was across the harbour in the Domain (a park I think). Had to take a water taxi for $20 to get there. Our cheap seats ($99 each) were way to the side of the stage and I couldn’t really see the subtitles. During intermission we found some closer sets in the $200 section. Very cool to sit and watch this opera with the lights of Sydney across the harbour. Great weather and lovely end to this trip.
