Modern Art, Botanical Gardens, Bruch and Beethoven

Saturday proved to be an eventful day. After waking up disgustingly early to watch a pathetically poor football game, I decided that I needed more sleep before I was to do anything. I headed into the city centre to collect my opera ticket and book tickets for G and myself to see Marriage of Figaro in August. It was a stunning day, so I headed into the Botanical Gardens for a wander. The gardens are stunning- even for non-botanists like myself. It was bizarre to be surrounded by sleeping bats and cockatoos while in a garden not so dissimilar from the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. There is a tropical centre in the gardens full of orchids and Venus flytraps, which again was stunning. I then meandered around Circular Quay to the Museum of Modern Art. I thought that if anything could persuade me to enjoy modern art more, then the gallery in Sydney would. Alas, I still could not persuade myself, although they do a very tasty lunch! The concert in the Opera House began with a talk about the four composers before the performance. It was a well-informed talk, although I was surprised by how few members of the audience were tourists. The concert itself was fabulous- the acoustic, the standard of the ensemble, the soloist. They played Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor (leaving only two violinists on stage at the end), Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor, Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F. It was a wonderful concert, and the building truly is fabulous. Sunday was a quiet day. I took the bus to Bondi Junction to try and find some jogging trousers. Bondi Junction is a great shopping centre, although the prices in most of the designer shops were far beyond me! There are lots of seating areas dotted around, and it is really spacious- British shopping centres could learn a lot.