Today we started off by heading to the Museum of Contemporary Art right in Sydney. Here a variety of different artists were featured, each with a different interpretation of life, and desired feeling/effect to convey.

Some works were paintings while other works were sculptures and videos.

A quick walk from the museum was a New South Wales police station where we had a run in– with very nice police officers who were willing to exchange patches with us!

From here we had free time to enjoy lunch in the historic Rocks area we became familiar with on our first day. Students could enjoy food produced locally for lunch (or McDonalds and Frozen Coke), including some of our friends from the zoo like barbecued kangaroo and emu. Also at the street market were goods produced locally like boomerangs, phone cases produced with Australian wood, and jewelry.

Next we headed to the Sydney Opera House for a tour. Here we learned of the history of the architecture of the building but also its entanglement in politics and budget issues estranging the original architect Utzon for many years. The tour lead us into a Studio as well as the Opera (Sutherland) Theatre where we could not only admire each spaces beauty but learn of each’s acoustic intention. The concrete we passed in the upper shells is left untouched to give a glimpse into engineering technology of the past, while the tiles of the shells themselves are not only a Swedish self cleaning material, but also an off white color intended to resemble the sky.

After spending a little time in the gift shop we entered the Joan Sutherland Theatre to see “Great Opera Hits”. This was a stellar performance drawing from masterworks such as Carmen and The Barber of Seville with just enough tongue-in-cheek humor to leave us delighted.

Next we finally headed to dinner in Zia Pina where many of us enjoyed a variety of different pizzas, some familiar, and some not so much.