Dear Friends,
Today we arrived to Melbourne, where we will stay for two days, before heading north to Adelaide. We were in Sydney from Monday to Thursday. On Friday we left to the Blue Mountains, than drove to Canberra and the coast of New South Wales.
* * * * *
As people often say here, Sydney was "faaaantastic, mate". There were lots of things to do and see. Our interests were broad enough: we went to Manly beach, had dinner twice in Darling Harbour (where I had my first DM), visited the Olympic area (extremely frustrating and totally disappointing), had DM and dinner in Victoria Room, went shopping and a lot more. We left Sydney knowing that had we stayed longer, there would
be a lot more to do.
* * * * *
On Thursday we went to the Opera to see Carmen. As far as we could see, it was sold out, despite the high prices for the tickets. It is quite an achievement an Opera house that offers one session every night and nevertheless is almost always full. I imagine they can run their business without need of
public money (and if they can't, they probably have a cost problem). An important share of the public was tourists. This is the positive side of the tourism industry: it helps to cover the cost of important cultural features in a city. The opera itself was OK, but I have seen best performances before. Micaëla (Tiffany Speight) and Don José (Rosario La Spina) were good, but Carmen was actually rather mediocre. This, however, was not enough to diminish the pleasure deriving from an Opera night. When the orchestra played the introduction to the third act I was deeply touched, remembering other occasions when the same melody was also present. I know it is a "plaisir bourgeois", however an Opera night is still one of the best things civilisation has ever invented.
* * * * *
On the way to the Blue Mountains we stopped at the Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is a kind of zoo where the public may have direct contact with most of the animals, the exception being the obvious ones: the crocodile, the venomous snakes and so on. Even for four adults it was a great fun to be able to touch the koalas, the kangaroos or feed some of the birds. On the photo beside you can see me interacting with one of the kangaroos. I must admit that the touch of his tongue on my hand while feeding him was rather disgusting, although he was a nice mate. We left the park with this wonderful feeling that tourists many times get, that they just have done something extraordinary.
* * * * *
I changed a bit my mind this morning. We had stopped overnight in Eden, NSW, and by coincidence just across the road there was a golf course. I decided to play and today at 07:30 there I was, on tee number one. For my big surprise, just after my first shot and walking into the fairway I could see a group of kangaroos eating the grass. First I was a bit worried, not knowing whether kangaroos can be aggressive while in total freedom. Soon I realized that there were tens of these animals in the different holes, quietly eating their Sunday breakfast. What a shame that I didn't have my camera with me! But it also made me think that in this country a direct contact with wildlife is a lot more common than one could think first hand.
* * * * *
But not quite that much… In Eden, Patrícia, Marta and Fernando went for a walk on Saturday afternoon around a lake. There was an elevated walkway, protected with a low fence. They asked themselves what could that fence be for. Fearing that the lake might be infested with crocodiles, they decided to ask some locals: a young family with two small children. When Patrícia asked the question, the man had an outburst of laugh. Crocodiles! What a question! Of course not! They felt a bit ashamed by the absurd idea, but not totally convinced that no crocodile made his home of that beautiful lake.
* * * * *
Just before posting this note I see on internet that the Socialist Party almost certainly won the general elections in Spain. That is good news! I am not a socialist; I don't believe in socialism and probably in economy I am closer to the ideas of Partido Popular than to the socialists. However, for me it is impossible to vote for the PP. The political right in Spain still has an inheritance from the Franco regime that is difficult to understand and even more difficult to accept. On the other hand, the PSOE is not only a lot more advanced in social matters, but also proved to be very responsible in economic issues. This is a combination that I wished were adopted by the right leaning parties worldwide: market economy, full economic freedom and competition, less State and socially advanced ideas. In Brazil this could be a fantastic program for the PSDB. In present world, and probably for many years to come, advanced capitalism with social liberalism could well be a winning road map. It is a shame that few people think like that.
Wish you have a nice week and wish Spain another good four year term of socialist government!
Maurício
Today we arrived to Melbourne, where we will stay for two days, before heading north to Adelaide. We were in Sydney from Monday to Thursday. On Friday we left to the Blue Mountains, than drove to Canberra and the coast of New South Wales.
* * * * *
As people often say here, Sydney was "faaaantastic, mate". There were lots of things to do and see. Our interests were broad enough: we went to Manly beach, had dinner twice in Darling Harbour (where I had my first DM), visited the Olympic area (extremely frustrating and totally disappointing), had DM and dinner in Victoria Room, went shopping and a lot more. We left Sydney knowing that had we stayed longer, there would
be a lot more to do.
* * * * *
On Thursday we went to the Opera to see Carmen. As far as we could see, it was sold out, despite the high prices for the tickets. It is quite an achievement an Opera house that offers one session every night and nevertheless is almost always full. I imagine they can run their business without need of
public money (and if they can't, they probably have a cost problem). An important share of the public was tourists. This is the positive side of the tourism industry: it helps to cover the cost of important cultural features in a city. The opera itself was OK, but I have seen best performances before. Micaëla (Tiffany Speight) and Don José (Rosario La Spina) were good, but Carmen was actually rather mediocre. This, however, was not enough to diminish the pleasure deriving from an Opera night. When the orchestra played the introduction to the third act I was deeply touched, remembering other occasions when the same melody was also present. I know it is a "plaisir bourgeois", however an Opera night is still one of the best things civilisation has ever invented.* * * * *
On the way to the Blue Mountains we stopped at the Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is a kind of zoo where the public may have direct contact with most of the animals, the exception being the obvious ones: the crocodile, the venomous snakes and so on. Even for four adults it was a great fun to be able to touch the koalas, the kangaroos or feed some of the birds. On the photo beside you can see me interacting with one of the kangaroos. I must admit that the touch of his tongue on my hand while feeding him was rather disgusting, although he was a nice mate. We left the park with this wonderful feeling that tourists many times get, that they just have done something extraordinary.* * * * *
I changed a bit my mind this morning. We had stopped overnight in Eden, NSW, and by coincidence just across the road there was a golf course. I decided to play and today at 07:30 there I was, on tee number one. For my big surprise, just after my first shot and walking into the fairway I could see a group of kangaroos eating the grass. First I was a bit worried, not knowing whether kangaroos can be aggressive while in total freedom. Soon I realized that there were tens of these animals in the different holes, quietly eating their Sunday breakfast. What a shame that I didn't have my camera with me! But it also made me think that in this country a direct contact with wildlife is a lot more common than one could think first hand.
* * * * *
But not quite that much… In Eden, Patrícia, Marta and Fernando went for a walk on Saturday afternoon around a lake. There was an elevated walkway, protected with a low fence. They asked themselves what could that fence be for. Fearing that the lake might be infested with crocodiles, they decided to ask some locals: a young family with two small children. When Patrícia asked the question, the man had an outburst of laugh. Crocodiles! What a question! Of course not! They felt a bit ashamed by the absurd idea, but not totally convinced that no crocodile made his home of that beautiful lake.
* * * * *
Just before posting this note I see on internet that the Socialist Party almost certainly won the general elections in Spain. That is good news! I am not a socialist; I don't believe in socialism and probably in economy I am closer to the ideas of Partido Popular than to the socialists. However, for me it is impossible to vote for the PP. The political right in Spain still has an inheritance from the Franco regime that is difficult to understand and even more difficult to accept. On the other hand, the PSOE is not only a lot more advanced in social matters, but also proved to be very responsible in economic issues. This is a combination that I wished were adopted by the right leaning parties worldwide: market economy, full economic freedom and competition, less State and socially advanced ideas. In Brazil this could be a fantastic program for the PSDB. In present world, and probably for many years to come, advanced capitalism with social liberalism could well be a winning road map. It is a shame that few people think like that.
Wish you have a nice week and wish Spain another good four year term of socialist government!
Maurício
3 comments:
Hello Mauricio
Me has dejado con una incognita...
¿Que es el DM al que haces referencia?----
Por cierto, si hay canguros en el Golf y comen tambien deben de hacer otras cosas...ojo por donde pisas.
Un abrazo
Jose Maria
Jose Maria,
DM = Dry Martini.
Maurício,
menos mal! empezaba a preocuparme, pensaba que habías olvidado el motivo principal del viaje: "la vuelta al mundo en ..."
me das mucha envidia, que lo sepas! tus aventuras colorean los lunes.
un abrazo
angela
Hola Mauricio.
Seguimos tus andaduras. Muy buena la foto con el canguro.
Saludos desde La Illa
Dani
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