the bridge and the opera house

I have yet to get tired of views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. I'm going to attribute this to excellent design. And I'm hoping you guys also aren't tired of seeing these two structures (although you might be after this post).

A couple weekends ago, we were invited by some friends to go up one of the pylons in the Harbour Bridge. As we were walking there, some girls approached Fede to see if he would be willing to take a picture with them. I think this was some sort of modified scavenger hunt. He had to wear a hat--and get into a phone booth with them. He couldn't say no.

They thanked him and gave him some chocolate--which he happily ate.

It was a beautiful day to go up the pylon--which is approximately 200 steps. As usual, I was a bit sweaty when I eventually made it to the top. But the view is worth it.

You can see some of the people who were doing the Harbour Bridge Climb, coming down in their blue suits.

During the summer, there are a lot of cruise ships that come into Sydney. This cruise ship really dwarfs all the surrounding buildings.

The pylon had exhibits describing some of the history of the Harbour Bridge. Apparently, there were a bunch of cats that used to live in the pylons (which seems like a strange place to choose as your home--but what do I know? I'm not a cat). There was also some crazy person who was angry that he wasn't selected to cut the ribbon for the bridge opening--so he disrupted the ceremony, charged in, and cut it anyway. That's about the only thing I remember. I never retain much when I look at exhibits.

***

Last Sunday, we had another opportunity to enjoy the views. This time, we were going to "the most beautiful cinema in the world"--according to my friend Veronica. It is an outdoor cinema that they hold during the summer for about 6 weeks. Here's the view from the cinema.

Tickets to the most beautiful cinema in the world sell out really quickly. We were lucky because Veronica goes every year--and buys tickets the moment they go on sale. She graciously bought tickets for us. We also got to meet her parents--who are now our role models for retirement. They went on an around-the-world cruise last year. This year they are walking the entire Camino de Santiago--yes, all 800 km. (We're not sure we can do this now--much less when we're 70.) And then they are going on another cruise--starting in Florida and sailing around Argentina and back north to San Francisco.

[Sorry bambino, you are going to have to make your own money--because Mama and Papa are going to be spending your inheritance during their retirement.]

The food at the outdoor cinema event was not that great. But, I liked how this guy was loaded down with a stack of food.

Eventually, it was time to go back to our seats. The sun was starting to set and the movie would shortly begin.

Seriously, do you look at the screen, or soak in the view?

We did manage to also watch the movie. The bats (called flying foxes here) came out at night and sometimes flew in front of the screen. But, we didn't mind them. They were just part of the ambiance in the most beautiful cinema in the world.