i emailed my dad about this with the subject line: "look i'm cultured now !!"

*view from the Circular Quay train platform* 

You can't go to Sydney and not check out the Opera House at least once. You can go and admire the building from the train platform or the top of the steps leading up to it, you could take in the view from a boat in the harbor, you could take an aerial approach and gaze at it from the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge; you can take a tour of the building, or you could even take in the view from your seat at a show, smiling like an idiot the entire time.

Basically, it's a requirement in some way, shape or form, to get your butt down to the Opera House and just soak up it's awesomeness. 

You could even just sit around and have an awesome time, drinking awesome shooters, and listen to awesome music, and then just soak up it's awesomeness (there's an indoor/outdoor Opera Bar on the lower level). 

*Opera Bar*

*North Shore High School*

So whether you're pretending to be Cady Heron for the night or just viewing it from afar (no, google images does not count), the Opera House has something for everyone. 

*view from the harbor*

*view from the Sydney Harbor Bridge*

*view from the Rocks (directly across the Harbor)*

*a really terrible, up close and personal picture of the Opera House at night*

Day or night, rain or shine, it's fantastic, so feel free to take loads of super touristy pictures in front of it because, why the heck not?? No one's gonna judge you (too much) and even if they do, chances are they're another tourist and you just inspired them to take their own cheesy pic/you'll never see them again anyways. 

*i accidentally photobombed a nice Japanese tourist's photo while taking this*

2 weeks ago, not content with just taking scenic shots and slightly embarrassing selfies with the Opera House, I went online and bought a ticket  to the Bangarra Dance Company's production, Lore - Dance Stories of Land and Sea.

Now, when I bought the ticket, my thinking was somewhere along the lines of "I don't want to listen to an orchestra serenade me for 2 hours" and "I want something cheap but not too weird so that I can actually enjoy myself" and figured dancing was a relatively safe bet. 

Looking them up later on, I found out that the Bangarra Dance Company is a world renowned aboriginal dance company, famous for their storytelling through dance.

*"For all the social and political issues that face our people today, it is our wish to leave you with a message of joy."*

*i could stop smiling from the second i walked through the door it was actually pretty embarrassing* 

Essentially, I give these beautiful people a 10/10 and I highly recommend checking them out on Youtube if you can't see them in real life. Strong yet graceful, they effortlessly tumble and dance their way across the stage making me wildly self conscious about the fact that I'm barely able to touch my toes or do a single pull up on a good day.

Despite the fact that it made me wish I was 10x more graceful than I actually am and made me regret eating all those Tim Tams since all the girls had flawless six-pack abs, it was a fabulous experience to be able to have the privilege to sit in the Opera House alone and watch the beauty of the story unfold.

Cheers
Katie