Paradise awaits you at Bondi Beach
If there was a contest to decide which is the most beautiful city in the world, sydney I would have an advantage. And, to begin with, it is located in a beautiful natural setting: a long bay crowned by a building, the Opera House, so ethereal that it could be said that it is preparing to take flight.
On the other hand, in ** Sydney ** green areas dominate, to the point that 70 percent of the houses are single-family. If to this we add open citizens with a sporting spirit, intense cultural life, good beaches and top restaurants , it is clear that she is a serious contender for medals.
The Rocks neighborhood with the Sydney Bridge in the background
A good way to get a feel for it is to tour it in **a classic car from the My Detour agency**. Richard Graham, the owner, picks us up at the elegant **Hyatt Park hotel** with his impeccable Holden Premier, sky blue and white.
Is about a 1964 Australian car and he himself sports a mustache to match the time. “Visitors have a fixation, the Opera, but Sydney is so much more. There are the beaches, for example, and before the arrival of the settlers, Aboriginal people lived here. The rocks where they did their rituals still exist ", He says.
The discoverer of the east coast of Australia was, in 1770, Captain Cook, who landed in Botany Bay , near sydney , and he took possession of those lands in the name of the crown of England .
In 1788, the first British fleet arrived with 736 settlers ; most deported convicts, justifying an Australian joke that claims genealogy is a ruinous business on the big island , since no one is willing to pay to find a criminal in the branches of their family tree.
Richard drives his Holden Premier smoothly as he leaves the stately Hyde Park and goes into the Paddington, Rose Bay and Woollahra neighbourhoods.
The Opera House from the bridge with the Park Hyatt hotel in the foreground
The houses have an unmistakably English air, but the faces of the people indicate that Australia is a melting pot in which British, Aboriginal, Italian and Greek have mixed with other immigrants to shape an Australian identity that is recognizable, among other things, **in the song 'Waltzing Matilda'**, in “Australian” rugby, in beer drinking competitions and in flagship animals such as the kangaroo and the koala.
A coffee shop in central Sydney
At Woollahra, Richard stops at Parsley Bay , a privileged corner that It has a small beach near a cave where Aborigines lived centuries ago. High-end houses are quite a contrast to this atavistic world.
As it happens in the near Nielson Park. “Australia's past and present are cited here,” says Richard. A little further on he stops in front of the historic MacQuarie Lighthouse , a white totem pole at the entrance to the bay, so that we can gaze at the cliffs suffering from the ravages of the ocean.
Inland you can see the great expanse of sydney , a city that culminates in the skyscrapers of the city and in the great white spot of the Opera.
“The good thing -continues Richard- is that nature invades everything. On both sides of the bay there are green areas and houses with gardens that nobody would say that they are in a city. But for me the best are the beaches”.
As he speaks, he parks his Holden Premier in Bondi Beach . At one end of the beach a rock-cut pool warns that nature is not always kind in Australia. Sharks, jellyfish and strong currents They are a threat to swimmers.
Food truck in Manly
Right here, surrounded by walls with brightly painted hippies, the Bondi Icebergs Club, founded in 1929, it has a restaurant that certifies that there is always room for the good life in Sydney. It is situated on the rocks and next to a rock pool, painted a pristine white, overlooking the beach and the sea.
Here he welcomes us the director, Maurice Terzini, an Australian in his forties, of Italian origin, who dresses casually and speaks volumes: I went to live for a few years Italy in search of my origins, but there I realized that, Although my ancestors are Italian, I am very Australian. I came back and I am very comfortable here. I swim every day from September to May”.
Surfer at Bondi Beach
We eat very well at Icebergs: crab and caviar salad, roasted lamb with ginger and a pasta with cuttlefish and prawns I'm sure Maurice's mom loves it, as her son tells us, she comes to eat here from time to time. To drink, an Australian shiraz from the Barossa Valley. With the plus of having the sea almost on the plate.
Go by bus to Bondi Beach it's a good choice too by ferry to Manly, sought-after beach across the bay, have a drink in one of the bars in Darling Harbour, browse Chinatown or go shopping in the center , where UGG and R.M. boots abound. Williams and the Drizabone trench coats, three of the Australian contributions to the world of fashion.
An essential place in the center is Circular Qay, the quay where the ferries dock that run along the bay, where the city opens up to the sea.
Among the crowd of visitors there is usually an aborigine who plays the djidjiridu, that great flute made with a eucalyptus trunk emptied by termites that sounds like the siren of a ship that moves away, leaving a trail of melancholy.
The great concentration of onlookers is explained by the fact that very close the Opera, by Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918-2008) .
Television tower seen from Circular Quay
Although it is always compared to a great seagull, seen from the bay, its huge windows look like helmets from Star Wars.
from a privileged room of the Park-Hyatt , the million long white tiles that cover its sinuous roof give off so many doses of beauty that it's hard to take your eyes off the building.
And there is even more, since inside it is the prestigious Bennelong restaurant. Your chef, Rob Cockerill , acknowledges that “the setting is so beautiful that eating here is quite an experience. We are proud of Australian products and we intend to get the best out of them.”
Before the construction of the Opera, the sydney bridge He was the one who attracted all eyes. It was inaugurated in 1932 to unite both sides of the bay and immediately he earned the pseudonym of "the hanger".
Vehicles and pedestrians continue to pass through it on a daily basis, but its greatest success in recent years has been achieved thanks to the climbers who, c conveniently tied , in a group and with a guide, walk the upper part to contemplate excellent views and take, by the way, vertigo selfies.
Beyond the Opera, the Botanical Garden offers itself as the ideal place for rest, with large trees, green meadows, English-style loungers and beach bars in which you have to be careful so that the kites do not snatch your food.
QT hotel room
At the end of the garden is preserved, excavated in the rock, Mrs MacQuarie's chair , where she sat in the early 19th century British Governor's Wife to watch the ships depart and thus cure his homesickness for England.
in the city, the grid neighborhood that collects the British essence, there are several shopping malls, like victorian The Strand , daring hotels like the QT, and restaurants like Mr Wong , located in a black novel alley.
Inside, the informal atmosphere and the dishes created from the Chef Dan Hong , who explains to us that “every day we make a thousand dumplings and eighty lacquered ducks. The kitchen does not stop. Since we opened, in 2012, we always have it full”.
Another must-see, a bit far from downtown, is the **Firedoor** by Lennox Hastie a chef who worked for five years at ** Etxebarri , by maestro Bittor Arguinzoniz.**
“There, in the Atxondo valley, there are more sheep than people comments Lennox laughing. I lived in Bittor's house, and I learned so much in your barbecue that changed my life. Here I want to do what he in the Basque Country , but I find it hard to find the right meat and firewood ”.
The fire is blazing when we arrive, while Lennox worries about selecting the best wood: ironwood, apple, cherry, orange...
Chefs at Bondi Beach
“I use up eight types of firewood -he says without taking his eyes off the fire-, the cherry tree, for example, goes very well for roasting pork. But here, in Australia, the most abundant is eucalyptus. There are more than eight hundred varieties, but it is not suitable for cooking. On the other hand, here they like well-done meat. Not me. It took me three years to find a place where I could make a fire, since they wouldn't let me in the center due to the current legislation”.
sydney it never ends. on a walk through the neighborhood of wooloomooloo draws attention an old kiosk, Harry's, and the sheds converted into a hotel and apartments by the sea.
To the other side, in Barangaroo, the boardwalk has been growing in recent years to go around the bay, with a spectacular finale in The Rocks , the neighborhood where, more than two centuries ago, they settled the first settlers arrived from Great Britain.
Today, The Rocks is full of shops and restaurants, and visitors who buy stuffed koalas, visit the Contemporary Art Museum or sit at the tables at the **Australian Heritage hotel** to eat kangaroo or crocodile pizza.
And it is that, behind a layer of undeniable modernity, the aussie spirit always ends up showing up in Sydney.
Houses open to the Pacific by the bay
HOW TO GET
Qatar Airways
More than 150 international destinations , is the best option to fly to Australia with scale in Doha . The flight from Spain lasts about seven hours on the first leg and thirteen from Doha to Sydney. Qatar Airways Business Class, so many times awarded, stands out for its quality and comfort, especially in the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane on the planet.
WHERE TO SLEEP
Park-Hyatt _(7 Hickson Rd., The Rocks) _
In a fabulous location, next to the bay and Circular Quay. request the room overlooking the Opera.
qt sydney _(49 Market St.) _
Innovative and original boutique hotel, with the latest design , different for each room. In the commercial center.
Langham _(89-113 Kent St., Millers Point) _
Luxury and taste in a quiet neighbourhood, 15 minutes' walk from Circular Quay.
WHERE TO EAT
** Icebergs _(1 Notts Av. Bondi Beach) _**
Good food and great location next to Bondi beach. Australian produce and imaginative dishes.
** Bennelong _(Sydney Opera House) _**
In the Opera building. Avant-garde cuisine in a unique setting.
** Mr Wong _(3 Bridge Lane) _**
Multi-storey, casual atmosphere and good Cantonese cuisine.
** Firedoor _(23-33 Mary St., Surry Hills) _**
Grilled meat and fish, with Lennox Hastie in command after passing through Etxebarri.
** Australian Heritage Hotel _(100 Cumberland St.) _**
One of the oldest pubs in Sydney. Kangaroo and crocodile pizzas.
WHAT TO VISIT
Sydney Opera
The tour of the building can be done between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. , from 23 euros. Shows from 40 euros.
bay bridge
It can be climbed day or night, in a group and from about €100 per person. The tour is done safely and lasts three and a half hours.
Aquarium
Thirteen thousand fish more than 700 species, with sharks, penguins and tropical fish . Located in the port and open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From €30.
Bondi and Manly Beaches
The most famous in Sydney. To Bondi you can go in bus 333 from Circular Quay. To Manly, on a ferry that takes twenty minutes from Circular Quay and that allows you, in passing, to admire the bay. Public transport is paid for with the Opal card, which is bought and loaded at the Convenience Stores.
TOURS
My Detour
Personalized tour of the city with vintage airs, in a Holden Premier from the sixties and led by Richard Graham as driver and guide. All a success.
*This report was published in the number 134 of the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (December). Subscribe to the printed edition (11 printed issues and a digital version for €24.75, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website). The April issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in ** its digital version to enjoy it on your preferred device. **
Entrance to the Gowings restaurant, in the QT hotel