Only a man could have been responsible for re-doing the surface of the Sydney Opera House forecourt!
Sorry, that’s sexist. And unfair. Let me rephrase.
Only a person (male or female) who had never glammed up, never put on their thin-soled dress shoes (flat or heeled) and never approached the Opera House on foot could possibly think that irregular and rough-cut “cobblestones” are a good idea on a pedestrian thoroughfare. Roads, maybe. Walkways, no!
Oh yes, I know, there are some smooth bits, but they're either too narrow or they don't take the more direct path, and in most cases they're chocka block with an inconvenient mix of other tender-footed audience members and tourists vainly attempting to take photographs of themselves in front of the Harbour Bridge. The rest of us are obliged to stride or stroll on the dreaded cobblestones.