Sydney belongs to the exclusive club of world cities that generate sense of excitement from the air. Even at the end of a marathon flight across the Pacific, there's renewed sparkle in the cabin as the plane circles the city, crossing the branching fingers of the harbor, where thousands of yachts are suspended on the dark water and the sails of the Opera House glisten in the distance. Its setting alone, perfected with dazzling beaches and a sunny, Mediterranean climate, guarantees Sydney a place among the most glamorous cities on the planet.
At 4 million people, Sydney is the biggest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia. Take a taxi from Sydney Airport and chances are that the driver won't say "G'day" with the accent you might expect. Like the United States, Australia is a society of immigrants, and Sydney has been their preferred destination. Since the 1950s, the Anglo-Irish immigrants who made up the city's original population have been enriched by successive waves of Italians, Greeks, Turks, Lebanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thais, and Indonesians. This intermingling has created a cultural vibrancy and energy -- and a culinary repertoire -- that was missing only a generation ago.
Sydneysiders, as locals are known, practice a fairly relaxed lifestyle. But it's clear that residents embrace their harbor with passion. Indented with numerous bays and beaches, the Sydney Harbour is Australia's culture and history nexus. Captain Arthur Phillip, the commander of the 11 ships of the First Fleet, wrote in his diary when he first set eyes on this harbor on January 26, 1788: "We had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbor in the world, in which a thousand ships of the line may ride in the most perfect security." It was not an easy beginning, however. Passengers on board Phillip's ships were not the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" who populated the United States, but the first round of wretched inmates (roughly 800) flushed from overcrowded jails in England and sent halfway around the globe to serve their sentences.
Sydney has long since outgrown the stigma of its convict origins, but the passage of time has not tamed its rebellious spirit. Sydney's panache and appetite for life are unchallenged. A walk among the scantily clad sunbathers at Bondi Beach or through the raucous nightlife districts of Kings Cross and Oxford Street provides ample evidence.
It's good to keep in mind that visiting Sydney is an essential part of an Australian experience, but the city is no more representative of Australia than Los Angeles is of the United States. Sydney has joined the ranks of the great cities whose characters are essentially international. What Sydney offers are style, sophistication, and good, no, great looks -- an exhilarating prelude to the continent at its back door.
