Monday January 25th
We left our 37th floor b and b
and, whilst Charles did some more sightseeing, I went straight to Melbourne Park for my second day at the Australian Open.
I was there in time to see the ball boys and girls warming up, Serena Williams training and to take my fantastic seat, only four rows from the front.
The first match was a ladies doubles match against the French couple Caroline Garcia and Kristina Miladenovic, who unfortunately lost to Georges and Piskova despite being seeded above them. Then Monfils beat Andrei Kuznetsov in a highly entertaining game, and Martina Hingis showed she still has the touch as she and her partner Sania Mirza beat Kuznetsova and and Vinci in two sets. Great excitement next as the British player (Sydney born!!) took on Makarova of Russia. This was the saddest part of the day as ẃ had to leave before the end in order to catch our train back to Sydney. But a brilliant day-I didn't move from my seat for eight hours!
Tuesday January 26th
We arrived back in Sydney to all the Australia Day celebrations. We started off at The Rocks market, listened to some moving sing of both We are Australian and the National Anthem, following a 21gun salute and an Aboriginal burning ceremony. The tall ships race was spoiled by all the cruise ships following alongside but the ships themselves were a beautiful sight sailing up to the Harbour Bridge.
At Darling Harbour we watched a variety of dance troupes including an Aboriginal group and a very strange Brazilian dance, almost more martial arts than dance.
then we went to Glebe to an Aboriginal alternative celebration. Of course it is not a day of celebration for indigenous people, instead they celebrate it as Invasion Day. The dances here were more professional and it was a delight to see that the children were learning all the traditional dances , just by joining in.
We ate a really good meal in Chinatown and , exhausted ,made our way home.
We left our 37th floor b and b
and, whilst Charles did some more sightseeing, I went straight to Melbourne Park for my second day at the Australian Open.
I was there in time to see the ball boys and girls warming up, Serena Williams training and to take my fantastic seat, only four rows from the front.
The first match was a ladies doubles match against the French couple Caroline Garcia and Kristina Miladenovic, who unfortunately lost to Georges and Piskova despite being seeded above them. Then Monfils beat Andrei Kuznetsov in a highly entertaining game, and Martina Hingis showed she still has the touch as she and her partner Sania Mirza beat Kuznetsova and and Vinci in two sets. Great excitement next as the British player (Sydney born!!) took on Makarova of Russia. This was the saddest part of the day as ẃ had to leave before the end in order to catch our train back to Sydney. But a brilliant day-I didn't move from my seat for eight hours!
Tuesday January 26th
We arrived back in Sydney to all the Australia Day celebrations. We started off at The Rocks market, listened to some moving sing of both We are Australian and the National Anthem, following a 21gun salute and an Aboriginal burning ceremony. The tall ships race was spoiled by all the cruise ships following alongside but the ships themselves were a beautiful sight sailing up to the Harbour Bridge.
At Darling Harbour we watched a variety of dance troupes including an Aboriginal group and a very strange Brazilian dance, almost more martial arts than dance.
then we went to Glebe to an Aboriginal alternative celebration. Of course it is not a day of celebration for indigenous people, instead they celebrate it as Invasion Day. The dances here were more professional and it was a delight to see that the children were learning all the traditional dances , just by joining in.
We ate a really good meal in Chinatown and , exhausted ,made our way home.
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