A Portfolio of Magnificent Buildings here in Sydney...
This entry was posted on 1/27/2007 11:32 PM and is filed under Australia.
First - notice how ALIVE this street mall feels.
Our sense is that it is like NYC, but clean and with about half the
people; plus warm without being hot, and situated on a gorgeous
waterfront
filled with tall ships and sailboats and ferries, not industrial
freighters. It feels like a city where urban planning has really
succeeded. Areas where people congregate and interact -
where life goes on integrated with work. We talked with someone
who lived in London, and she too said - Hey Sydney is like
London, only better -cleaner and friendlier.
One of the things that we love to notice is the way old classic buildings
are side-by-side with modern skyscapers. We see this all
throughout the CBD (this is an Aussie and NZ term for downtown,
literally Central Business District). Here are some examples
of some of the gorgeous buildings that we had to stop and admire...
This is the Town Hall (side view)...
and front view...
When we were in NZ, we were struck by the sense of how most cities turn
into ghost towns at night and on the weekends. It was kind of
eerie. Here even on Sunday the town is still happening.
A few blocks from our hotel on Hyde Park is Pitt Street, and a large
section of it has been opened up into a wide shopping mall. The
unusual thing here though is how most of the stores, which are very
modern at street level, are actually in old classic buildings.
Here's some of Pitt Street...
Many of these buildings opened up inside to be malls within the mall. Here's one we did some shopping and had lunch in...
Another great area of town, down by the Circular Quay - the harbor
where the Opera House is - is known as The Rocks. This is a VERY
happening place - filled with great restaurants in cleaned up old
buildings right on the water and neat shops in historic buildlings...
It might seem like we've put in every picture of every building we've
seen here - far from it! This is a SMALL sampling of great
architectural compositions we've digitally nabbed. Love it!
More to come...
