Now that we know how to
get home we can leave the house with confidence. Our first trip into the city we decide to
take a Free Walking Tour, just like we did in Chicago. The tour is free and you tip the person at
the end of the tour based on your experience.
I like this business model. I
imagine they get a lot of people on the tour because it’s “free” (probably 50
people showed up for ours, which they split between two guides). The guide works for tips (a percentage going
to the owner of the business) so is motivated to create a great experience, and
the overhead of the business is low…sure you’re going to get people who aren’t
very generous tippers but if the average tip of the 25 people in our group was
$10, that’s $250 and even if you had to give the owner 50% (I have no idea and
am guessing high) you’ve made $125 for 1.5 hours of work…..note: I wasn’t sure if it was an hour and halfs,
half’s, or halves work…thus the 1.5 😄.
Much of our tour was
focused on architecture. When it comes
to buildings and history I have heard many times how young America is…well
America seems old compared to the history of Australia. Although they have some interesting buildings
they don’t really have anything that is terribly old because they are, as a
country, younger than America. I know
next to nothing about Australia…I realized that when our guide talked about the
island being a British penal colony. It
seems to me that I should have known that….
A few of the sites:
Sydney Town Hall The Mint The Golden Bucket (tallest Bldg.)
(Jacaranda Tree in bloom) Sydney's Oldest Public Bldg. Saint James' Church
(Jacaranda Tree in bloom) Sydney's Oldest Public Bldg. Saint James' Church
Queen Victoria Bldg. Saint Mary's Cathedral Forgotten Songs Artwork
The Free Walking Tours are a great way to get an overview of a city. They cover a great deal in a short period of time. With an overview it allows us to focus on pieces of the city that we find interesting, going back later to explore a little more in depth.
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