I stepped off the plane in Sydney last Thursday and exclaimed to no one listening, “I made it!” It was the end of a 25 hour series of flights.
After speed walking a few hundred feet toward customs, I did an “Evan check.”
“How are you feeling?” The question beckoned from within. “What about the jet lag everyone warned you about?” (See yesterday’s post.)
It wasn’t there. I felt great. My step was light, my energy high, and my spirit bright.
I made it through customs in 20 minutes, and then whisked off to downtown Sydney in a taxi. Wow! What warm sunny weather to rejoice in. A far cry from cool wet Washington State.
I had several hours of practice emails to answer and calls to make after being on a plane that long, (fortunately most of the flight was at night when most potential patients were asleep), but once caught up, I had some time to explore downtown Sydney.
First stop, The Tower Eye.
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| Tower Eye |
The Tower is a 309 meter high icon of the city landscape. It offers a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding region. Not a cloud in view that day. It gave me an instant “lay of the land,” to decide what to see next.
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| Here I am in the Tower Eye |
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| View from Tower Eye |
So much to see…so little time to see it…
Kathy, my wife, will be joining me mid-tour, and we will spend the last two days of my trip to Australia, after I’m finished lecturing, exploring Sydney at a leisurely pace, so I knew I didn’t have to see everything in a day. But so much was irresistible…
The Opera House!
Like a dream come true, I had to see the Opera House with my own eyes. I knew Kathy and I would tour it together, but after arriving, I ventured into the box office to see if by chance I could take in a performance. Absolutely! “The Marriage of Figaro,” was playing the next evening with an open seat waiting for me. I bought a ticket and went. The singing and orchestral music were so beautiful and such high quality, I could sit and sit and sit and soak it all in without tiring.
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| Sydney Opera House |
Have you ever been perplexed by Picasso’s paintings? What do they mean? Why are they so hard to figure out? I have… So when I saw that Picasso Masterpieces from the Musèe National Picasso, Paris, were on exhibit a few blocks from my hotel, I had to visit and see if I might pick up some “Picasso Art Sense,” to dissolve some of my ignorance on the subject. And I think I did.
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| Picasso Exhibit |
The exhibit was huge, spanning seven decades of his life. And what I learned was that the faces of characters he painted are two or three different views of the same face in one face. At first glance, the image makes no sense. But when you understand that one side of the face is, for instance, a side view and the other side is a front view of the same face, you begin to figure it out. It helped me appreciate the spiritual truth that we are not a one dimensional character. We have depth and breadth of individuality that is impossible to put on a two dimensional flat surface. But I think Picasso tried…
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| Brochure for Picasso Exhibit |
Welcome to Australia Evan – so many beautiful things to experience.
Kate
A scientist who theorizes about the 4th dimension said some of Picasso’s paintings depict the 4th dimension.
Thank you for such a lovely depiction of your first day in Australia! I’ve never been there and it was beautiful to see your photos and hear about the art exhibit and the opera. Loved how you worked out that experience of the 25-hour flight. Quite an inspiration!
Evan, thanks for sharing. The pictures are just great. Thanks too, for the art lesson. I too have never understood Picasso.
So happy you enjoyed the opera. I saw the same one in Italy, and enjoyed it so much.
Please keep the pictures coming!!
Suzanne