Monday Jan. 20, and Tuesday, Jan. 21 - Days 4 and 5

Our day started with a haircut for Tom. 15.00 a real bargain! You just walk right in and they get you in a chair.  No tipping either!

This is a huge screen across from the Circular Quay station.  They had continuous showing of the Australian open and were giving free filled water bottles.

They were advertising the Australian Gran Prix in Melbourne in March.

This is the old Customs House.  It is now a public library with lovely exhibitions and a wonderful scale model replica of the city of Sydney.  It was in the floor covered with glass and when you stood on it you could see the entire city.

This coin is in the Sydney Museum.  When the colony ran low on coins, the governor had the best counterfiting prisoner punch holes in the largest coin to make two! Clever.

The Sydney Museum

The Sydney Museum had a whole floor exhibit on colonial foods and kitchens and recipes.

This is one of the first prisoner ships that came to Sydney with over 300 prisoners on board. MANY died enroute.

A statue in HydePark

Our cruise Ship was still in the Sydney Harbour

View from the Opera House steps. This is Circular Quay (pronounced KEE) 

This is a very unique view of the bridge from the ceiling of the overhand on the opera house.

Our Tour of the opera house. The tour included 200 steps at no extra charge! 

The unbelievable ceiling of one of the three theaters in the opera house. They have over 2,000 performances a year.

Glass walls in the Opera House.  It took 13 years to build and was millions of dollars over budget.  Queen Elizabeth opened it in 1973.  The architect was fired two years before it was finished as the governor was upset about the cost and time over runs.  He died without ever seeing it.  His son is the primary arcitect today.

A bier at the Bavarian Bier Cafe.  We shared the bavarian sampler platter with red cabbage, saurkraut, sausages, chicken snitzel, mashed potatoes, and german potato salad. It is three blocks from our arpartment.

The Bavarian Bier Cafe

oops. More pics of the Opera House 

tour.  The ceiling and organ in the symphony hall. There is also an opera hall.

Schematic of the Sydney Museum

These are really cool tiles in the cement at Circular Quay

Tuesday, Jan. 21. I was having chest pains during the 11 am performance of the Magic Flute.  I got dizzy, flushed, and sick to my stomach. When we went out for intermission, I asked for help from the usher and she got the Opera House nurse who called the paramedics who took us to St. Vincents's Public Hosptal. I had an EKG, Cat Scan and blood tests. Five hours later the cardiologist (Cameron Holloway who looks like Harry Potter) told us that my heart is very healthy and it was probably symptoms of MS or perhaps an esphogial problem. We are relieved and the pain is gone. I have been having quite a few muscle spasms so I am inclined to think it was that. I will have to carry the valium with me in case this happens again.  They were just so helpful and we got a real inside view of their socialzed medicine. Very good care and not very expensive compared to ours. We will submit our bills to our travel insurance and keep our fingers crossed. What a day!

Things I learned about the AU medical system:

The ambulance ride was free for tourists :)

The doctors are called by their first names

The nurses call everyone mate or darling

Your weight is calculated by the metric system and it is about half what you weigh in pounds :)

The ER bill is all pre determined:  The doctor is 115.00, blood work is 115.00, Chest x ray is 70.00, CT scan is 1050. 00  It is all upfront and fully explained.  

There are public and private hospitals and most of them are located in King's Cross, a rough part of town.

Shel and Mel were the parametics who treated me in the ambulance. Mel (Melissa) drove with Tom up front and and Shel (Shelly) treated me in the back, putting monitors on my heart, trying to take blood (not happening with these veins), and taking my blood sugar (VERY normal as I gave up sugar for the new year) and giving me a nitorglycerine tablet.  These two women were just amazing, efficient, and professional.

We took a walk around our block finally and found a Nando's about a half a block away. There is a chain of Nando's and the first one we went to with Abby is in London. A few years later we went to the one in London with Gwen and Ramon and Ramon's sister.  Then a few years after that we went to one in Manchester, England with Matt and Abby. How about that!

This is the opera we saw half of. We are hoping they will offer us tickets for another performance. I emailed them tonight. We will see. Can't hurt to ask.

This is printed on a napkin at a little pub at the four seasons hotel which is a block away from us. Thought is was interesting.

Other things we have learned about AU:

* They do not cue up. They all push to get on...
* Rain is not rain, it is a fine mist
* People not only drive on the left side, they walk on the left side and use the stairs on the left side
* There is at least one convenience store on EVERY block