Wilhelmus, Bird’s Nest, Royal Boytoy Cousin
The bike tour of Sydney’s waterfront.
5 April, 2023 | Sydney, Australia
City waterfronts in the world have undergone a stunning transformation. After years of using them exclusively for industry - rail, highways, docks - many cities are choosing to mixed-use and natural redevelopment involving greenspaces and attempts to reproduced the pre-city coastline. No where is this more clear than in Sydney.
Nowhere is the opposite clearer than in Seattle.
Anyway, I always try to do the bike tour, and this was a good one. A bunch of folks from the Philippines, a pair of Irish women, and the requisite Dutch - this time a couple with an adorable little child who alternated between napping, wailing, and quietly singing the national anthem of the Netherlands.
Cool facts about the national anthem of the Netherlands - “Wilhelmus” (or “William”); (1) it’s the oldest national anthem still in use - and sounds like it and (2) it still basically pledges allegiance to the King of Spain, even though it was written during the Dutch Revolt against the crown like 500 years ago.
Where was I? Right, we are in Sydney and you couldn’t pick a more pleasant day to be biking around their lovely waterfront.
Ascending up from the coast, we passed one of their libraries with a unique architecture and a big statue to the Queen’s (Victorias’s) boyfriend.
In early Australia Catholics were not super welcome, being a lot of the Catholics were literal political prisoners and, worse as far as the British were concerned, Irish. But once they got a toehold, they built an enormous cathedral (as you do) - so big it couldn’t fit on the land in the standard north-south orientation.
The tour more or less ended with a fine view from Mrs Macquarie’s point.
As is becoming the case generally, the most fun is had at the end of the tour when roping new acquaintances in to a meal or drink. It was the two women from Ireland who took me up on it this time. Both are nurses, finally getting substantial time off after COVID, and I foolishly tried to keep up with them on drinks. Exchanged emails, parted ways at the train station; lovely time overall. Always try to take a bike tour.
