Our Saturday: QVB, The Strand Arcade & Ferry ride

Today has been just wonderful, we both have today off from bus driving, so what do you think we did? jumped on a bus into the city of Sydney!!!

We started off at QVB as I wanted to see the Xmas decorations and of course the Swarovski tree.  The Swarovski tree stands 24 metres tall, has 60,000 lights and is decorated with 144,000 Swarovski crystal ornaments.  The QVB is truly a beautifully restored building completed in 1898.

We were so exhausted from window shopping we wandered over to the Parlour Lane cafe located on Market Street for some yummy morning tea - it was delicious

David Jones department store each year has something special in their windows, these are just some of the displays . . .

It was then off to The Strand Arcade - designed and constructed in 1891- it suffered a devastating fire in 1977 and has since been beautifully restored.

So after all of that window shopping and eating we decided to catch a ferry - WOW what a perfect day for a ferry ride - also spotted in port the Voyager of the Seas - what a beautiful ship . . .

Well dear friends, that sums up my wonderful city of Sydney dressed up so beautifully for Xmas 2012.

Until next time - hope you also enjoyed your Saturday as much as we did!!

Remember the movie with Richard Gere?

 This great movie has been made into a musical and Sydney will host the world premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman from 20 May 2012 and my DH has bought tickets for us to see - I can't wait!!

  

A hit across the ages, the Academy Award-winning 1982 film has become a phenomenon in cinema history, recently listed by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten love stories in cinema history.

I can still remember the tears running down my cheeks after this movie starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger and of course that wonderful song "Up there where we belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

Working class heroes overcome their upbringing and personal weaknesses to accept life and find love.

I have just listened to the song again and all those memories come flooding back from the 80's - such wonderful memories too.

So, if you are coming to Sydney in May I can highly recommend

you booking in to this great musical.

Enjoy your day . . .SuziQ

Grand Old Lady Turns 80 Today

As a bus driver I just couldn't let today go by without mentioning about Sydney's Harbour Bridge - she turns 80 today.  I never get tired of driving over her all times of the day and night.

Known as the "Grand Old Dame" of Sydney, or more colloquially "The Coathanger", the bridge was officially opened to traffic on 19 March 1932, joining the harbour's northern and southern shores for the first time.

Around 14,000 workers played a role in erecting the bridge, which is now being crossed by 160,000 vehicles every weekday.


What were your first thoughts when you travelled over the bridge?

Hope these pics bring back some great memories . . . SuziQ