The Sunday morning plan in Sydney is to go to The Rock for a pancake breakfast. It is the old neighborhood. The first that the European settlers raised in the city. Inside, through the alleys in the shadow of the Bay Bridge, one finds a mixture between El Rastro de Madrid and the London market of Notting Hill. There are stalls selling trinkets, handicrafts and food everywhere.
There is also paella for breakfast. prepares it Esther Chinchillaa teacher of Elche who has lived in Australia for six years. her husband, simon, is also at a festival with a stall selling the Valencian star dish. And his little daughter, Martinaa player in the lower categories of the Australian handball team, has set up a vegan paella company.
“We also have rice with a crust, which is what a very famous dish from Elche is called. Here we promote it as Breakfast paella,” says Esther.
At the market stall in The Rocks that Esther opens every weekend, two Spanish students lend her a hand, Raquelalso from Elche and who is on a six-month scholarship studying Economics, and Sagefrom Vitoria, who studies Engineering and Industrial Design.
“I live next to the fan zone and every time I saw the atmosphere I went down to see a World Cup game,” says the Basque. From the Valencian paella stand (La Gitana paella, her name is) they send encouragement to the Spanish team in the final this Sunday against England. “We can win. They are fighters,” Raquel emphasizes.