With the backpacks emptied and the flat sorted it was time to enjoy our time in Sydney.

When you are travelling it’s hard to fit in “Date Nights” in random villages and Karen’s a far classier lady than being content with some Chicken Satay and a can of Tiger beer. So with that in mind John headed over to the Sydney Opera House box office to see if there were any tickets available for a show.

Putting on their only decent clothes (this is before Karen discovered H&M in Macquarie University!) we re-discovered Saturday nights in style.

Opened in 1973 and inaugurated into the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2007, this Jørn Utzon designed masterpiece is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. We were to find out that it’s actual a number of theatres under one roof instead of just a single venue.

Suitably dressed to drink champagne, we soaked up the atmosphere in the foyer before the 7.30pm curtain call. This was in stark contrast to their first theatre date back in 2007 where dressed in jeans and hoodies John and Karen rubbed shoulders with the rest of the audience who were wearing what can only be described as “Downton Abbey Dinnerwear”.

The 5 minute klaxon sounded and we made our way to our seats.

But alas, in all this reminiscing, I have forgotten to mention the show we were about to witness.

Cirkopolis!

The latest show from Cirque Éloize, Cirkopolis – an enchanting show that borrows heavily from Fritz Lang’s famous movie Metropolis.

At the beginning we are introduced into the world of a solitary office worker in a grey industrialised world. Out of boredom or madness his imagination takes flight, transforming his workplace into a wonderland of juggling, jaw-dropping acrobatics and exquisite contortion with a hint of colour to offset the greyness.

Watching this live was amazing and we were on the edge of our seats throughout. Just thinking about the “core muscles” involved was sick, especially when the performers were acting like human flags!

We don’t have actual photos of the performance due to the hawkish eyes of the usher but we have found some videoclips online:

So after a thoroughly enjoyable feast of culture we walked back home (taking photos of course!) over the Sydney Harbour Bridge – which was lit up to celebrate the final of the National Rugby League (NRL).

But something came with us. And now Karen refuses to drink out of anything else!

Standards Darling!!!