It is almost time to go! We'll be leaving the Backpack in about 30 minutes and I can't wait to get moving. Miraculously, my bags weigh less than they did on the way here and I'm pretty sure I haven't forgotten anything... I'm looking forward to things like the beach, cheeseburgers and my own bed, but I wish I didn't have to leave Cape Town. The moral of this story is that this isn't the end of my South African adventure, it is the beginning of my next adventure.
Totsiens.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Long Street Days/The Day of a Million Stairs
As I said in my earlier post today, this is my last day in Cape Town and I want to make it count. After the day I've had, I believe I have completed that goal.
We started out at 9 am and walked up to the Cape Malay neighborhood. We'd driven past this neighborhood a few times but we really wanted to walk through here because the houses have all been painted brilliant colors. First of all, they did not make getting to this neighborhood easy! The streets were cobbled, as in cobblestones, and the streets were so steep that some of the sidewalks had stairs and railings! (These stairs partially inspired my title, The Day of a Million Stairs -- we'll get to the other title in a bit). I figured the stairs wouldn't kill me and considering that I've been consuming carbs as if preparing for the Tour dr France, I think I needed the exercise, but STILL! Anyways, getting to Cape Malay was worth it. It looked like someone had dropped a CandyLand board in the middle of Cape Town! It was like Rainbow Brite moved next door to Willy Wonka! In other words, it was gorgeous. I would like a pink house please. Also, if that pink house could be sandwiched between a lime green house and a purple house, that would be even better.
Did I mention that the sun was out for all of this? Because it was and that was fantastic too!
After we finished killing our camera batteries in Cape Malay, we walked down to Long Street (hence the title, Long Street Days -- which is a play on "Long Street Nights" and if you don't know what that is, you haven't been paying attention to my blog and should reconsider your life choices). On Long Street, we headed over to the Pan African Markets. This market was different from the other ones we'd visited because it was indoors. Three floors full of crafts!
After the Pan African Market, we went back to Greenmarket Square. We shopped around for a bit, but since they were just setting up, we headed on. We walked over to the flower market at Trafalgar Square. The smell was heavenly. I wish I could take home the proteas they had, but something tells me that fresh flowers wouldn't survive the trip home.
Post-flower market, we went to the Castle of Good Hope. The Castle wasn't really a "castle," it was an old fort. I'm not sure why they call it a castle... BUT I knew that carrying around my student ID on this trip would come in handy and it did! I got in for 50% off. Thank you, higher education. Our trip to the Castle was interrupted by rain (it wouldn't be a day in Cape Town without experiencing all four seasons). I was on the hunt for a ghost, but we didn't find one, even after visiting the torture chamber. After seeing the torture chamber, the lookout stations, the pool and the arsenal, we moved along to lunch.
We went to a Turkish restaurant back near Greenmarket Square. Not feeling particularly adventurous, I went with the fish and chips. The awesome thing about this restaurant was that we didn't sit at a table, we sat on couches! This was good for our exhausted feet (we'd done all of this exploring before noon!). At lunch, I revealed my secret wish to visit Tanzania/Zanzabar after a childhood of listening to Bill Harley and discovered that Emma grew up listening to Bill Harley too. If you don't know who Bill Harley is, look him up now! It was awesome to find someone else who knew the sheer joy of Weezie and the Moon Pies...
Back to the day's adventures...
After lunch, we returned to our shopping. I bought what I believe will be my last South African souvenir at Greenmarket Square and let me say, I believe I succeeded in my goal of only buying things that scream "I went to South Africa!" There should be no doubt in anyone's mind where any of these things came from.
When we were done at Greenmarket Square, we returned to Long Street and visited yet another market! The African Women's Market was also indoors, but my wallet was done for the day. After more purchases for everyone but me, we marched back to the Backpack.
So, to sum up my day, lots of walking/stairs and lots of Long Street. Oh yes, and lots of fun!
We started out at 9 am and walked up to the Cape Malay neighborhood. We'd driven past this neighborhood a few times but we really wanted to walk through here because the houses have all been painted brilliant colors. First of all, they did not make getting to this neighborhood easy! The streets were cobbled, as in cobblestones, and the streets were so steep that some of the sidewalks had stairs and railings! (These stairs partially inspired my title, The Day of a Million Stairs -- we'll get to the other title in a bit). I figured the stairs wouldn't kill me and considering that I've been consuming carbs as if preparing for the Tour dr France, I think I needed the exercise, but STILL! Anyways, getting to Cape Malay was worth it. It looked like someone had dropped a CandyLand board in the middle of Cape Town! It was like Rainbow Brite moved next door to Willy Wonka! In other words, it was gorgeous. I would like a pink house please. Also, if that pink house could be sandwiched between a lime green house and a purple house, that would be even better.
Did I mention that the sun was out for all of this? Because it was and that was fantastic too!
After we finished killing our camera batteries in Cape Malay, we walked down to Long Street (hence the title, Long Street Days -- which is a play on "Long Street Nights" and if you don't know what that is, you haven't been paying attention to my blog and should reconsider your life choices). On Long Street, we headed over to the Pan African Markets. This market was different from the other ones we'd visited because it was indoors. Three floors full of crafts!
After the Pan African Market, we went back to Greenmarket Square. We shopped around for a bit, but since they were just setting up, we headed on. We walked over to the flower market at Trafalgar Square. The smell was heavenly. I wish I could take home the proteas they had, but something tells me that fresh flowers wouldn't survive the trip home.
Post-flower market, we went to the Castle of Good Hope. The Castle wasn't really a "castle," it was an old fort. I'm not sure why they call it a castle... BUT I knew that carrying around my student ID on this trip would come in handy and it did! I got in for 50% off. Thank you, higher education. Our trip to the Castle was interrupted by rain (it wouldn't be a day in Cape Town without experiencing all four seasons). I was on the hunt for a ghost, but we didn't find one, even after visiting the torture chamber. After seeing the torture chamber, the lookout stations, the pool and the arsenal, we moved along to lunch.
We went to a Turkish restaurant back near Greenmarket Square. Not feeling particularly adventurous, I went with the fish and chips. The awesome thing about this restaurant was that we didn't sit at a table, we sat on couches! This was good for our exhausted feet (we'd done all of this exploring before noon!). At lunch, I revealed my secret wish to visit Tanzania/Zanzabar after a childhood of listening to Bill Harley and discovered that Emma grew up listening to Bill Harley too. If you don't know who Bill Harley is, look him up now! It was awesome to find someone else who knew the sheer joy of Weezie and the Moon Pies...
Back to the day's adventures...
After lunch, we returned to our shopping. I bought what I believe will be my last South African souvenir at Greenmarket Square and let me say, I believe I succeeded in my goal of only buying things that scream "I went to South Africa!" There should be no doubt in anyone's mind where any of these things came from.
When we were done at Greenmarket Square, we returned to Long Street and visited yet another market! The African Women's Market was also indoors, but my wallet was done for the day. After more purchases for everyone but me, we marched back to the Backpack.
So, to sum up my day, lots of walking/stairs and lots of Long Street. Oh yes, and lots of fun!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
"We're in Africa! It's supposed to be warm!"
So, the SA weather hasn't exactly been cooperative the past few days, but today's weather led to lots of silliness (and some interesting tourism experiences).
We actually got to sleep in! Well, I slept until 7:30, but considering our wake up calls the past few days, it was incredibly luxurious. After my adventure with the Backpack Breakfast last weekend, I decided treating myself to a slightly smaller breakfast was a good idea. I got two fat slices of toast, scrambled eggs and an overflowing glass of OJ.
After breakfast, I started to do a bit of packing. When I say packing, I really just mean staring at my things and moving a few of things around while I really just hoped my things would pack themselves.
The crazy rain inspired a chant of "No! No! I won't go!" from Angela (formerly Miss Merkel) and lots of giggling in the Presidential Suite.
Lunch was also at the Backpack... French toast. Not as good as the eggs, but passable.
The group marched through the weather to the South African Jewish Museum which chronicles the history of Jews in SA (in case you couldn't tell from the name). All of the tour books say that the museum plays the BEST movie on Nelson Mandela, but I find that kind of hard to believe, as the 25 minute film was pretty bland. My favorite part of the museum was the Holocaust exhibit. Favorite is an odd word to use to describe it, but I'm not sure how else I can explain it.
While we were in the museum, it hailed. Hailed! I told you that the weather here is weird. In another strange turn of events, the gift shop started playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Let's think about this, the JEWISH museum was playing a CHRISTMAS song in JUNE. There are 205 days until Christmas, I think they can cool it...
Angela, Lisa, Dr. Vogel and I left the museum a bit early to try to avoid getting rained on. I don't think that Dr. Vogel was prepared for the mad dash as we practically sprinted home. We got dripped on, but made it back. The walk did inspire the comment "We're in Africa! It's supposed to be warm!" which sums up our past week in Cape Town.
We actually got to sleep in! Well, I slept until 7:30, but considering our wake up calls the past few days, it was incredibly luxurious. After my adventure with the Backpack Breakfast last weekend, I decided treating myself to a slightly smaller breakfast was a good idea. I got two fat slices of toast, scrambled eggs and an overflowing glass of OJ.
After breakfast, I started to do a bit of packing. When I say packing, I really just mean staring at my things and moving a few of things around while I really just hoped my things would pack themselves.
The crazy rain inspired a chant of "No! No! I won't go!" from Angela (formerly Miss Merkel) and lots of giggling in the Presidential Suite.
Lunch was also at the Backpack... French toast. Not as good as the eggs, but passable.
The group marched through the weather to the South African Jewish Museum which chronicles the history of Jews in SA (in case you couldn't tell from the name). All of the tour books say that the museum plays the BEST movie on Nelson Mandela, but I find that kind of hard to believe, as the 25 minute film was pretty bland. My favorite part of the museum was the Holocaust exhibit. Favorite is an odd word to use to describe it, but I'm not sure how else I can explain it.
While we were in the museum, it hailed. Hailed! I told you that the weather here is weird. In another strange turn of events, the gift shop started playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Let's think about this, the JEWISH museum was playing a CHRISTMAS song in JUNE. There are 205 days until Christmas, I think they can cool it...
Angela, Lisa, Dr. Vogel and I left the museum a bit early to try to avoid getting rained on. I don't think that Dr. Vogel was prepared for the mad dash as we practically sprinted home. We got dripped on, but made it back. The walk did inspire the comment "We're in Africa! It's supposed to be warm!" which sums up our past week in Cape Town.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Nunsense
I'm not sure whether today was more like The Sound of Music or Sister Act.
Today, we visited the Oblate Sisters in Koelenhof. We visited the convent and another township before we ate a home cooked (convent cooked?) meal that the nuns made us. They made salad, sausage, rolls and a type of porridge you just eat with your hands. I skipped the porridge, but the sausage was great and the rolls nearly killed me. They made the rolls from scratch! They kneaded the dough and then roasted it! They roasted the bread!! It was so good (insert the cliche "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven" line, although it really does apply here).
Throughout the day, there was lots of singing and dancing, which brings me back to my opening remark. Was the day Sound of Music because SA is full of mountains and singing nuns? Or is it Sister Act because these singing nuns run a school? I guess I'll compromise and say that it was Sister Act 2 -- the best of everything.
Today, we visited the Oblate Sisters in Koelenhof. We visited the convent and another township before we ate a home cooked (convent cooked?) meal that the nuns made us. They made salad, sausage, rolls and a type of porridge you just eat with your hands. I skipped the porridge, but the sausage was great and the rolls nearly killed me. They made the rolls from scratch! They kneaded the dough and then roasted it! They roasted the bread!! It was so good (insert the cliche "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven" line, although it really does apply here).
Throughout the day, there was lots of singing and dancing, which brings me back to my opening remark. Was the day Sound of Music because SA is full of mountains and singing nuns? Or is it Sister Act because these singing nuns run a school? I guess I'll compromise and say that it was Sister Act 2 -- the best of everything.
Moyo
We went to a restaurant at the Waterfront called Moyo last night. It was probably my favorite meal of the trip and I think that comes from Moyo's investment in the entire eating experience. They say "put the love in food," and I think that is something you can taste.
After we were seated, our server brought by a bowl and a pitcher. The first step in eating an authentic African meal is washing your hands and feet, so he washed our hands! No feet, thankfully; I don't think I could have done that.
They had desert salt. I didn't know that salt could come from a desert, but this salt did and it was good. The pepper didn't come from a desert, it was just pepper, but it was good too.
To start, we got flatbread and olive oil. We were instructed to just tear the bread with our hands and I happily obliged.
Before our meal came out, there was face painting! A woman came by our table and painted each of our faces. I got a sweet design that went from the middle of my forehead, across my nose to the corner of my right eye.
For dinner, I went with the fish and chips. They had lots of more exotic options, but I needed a bit of my favorite! The fish was hake (not that I know much about fish) and was fantastic. Dessert was extravagant to say the least. I *thought* I ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream. What I got was four huge scoops of ice cream with a light, raspberry syrup. I HAD to eat it all. I really couldn't believe it when I saw it, but every bite was heaven!
After we were seated, our server brought by a bowl and a pitcher. The first step in eating an authentic African meal is washing your hands and feet, so he washed our hands! No feet, thankfully; I don't think I could have done that.
They had desert salt. I didn't know that salt could come from a desert, but this salt did and it was good. The pepper didn't come from a desert, it was just pepper, but it was good too.
To start, we got flatbread and olive oil. We were instructed to just tear the bread with our hands and I happily obliged.
Before our meal came out, there was face painting! A woman came by our table and painted each of our faces. I got a sweet design that went from the middle of my forehead, across my nose to the corner of my right eye.
For dinner, I went with the fish and chips. They had lots of more exotic options, but I needed a bit of my favorite! The fish was hake (not that I know much about fish) and was fantastic. Dessert was extravagant to say the least. I *thought* I ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream. What I got was four huge scoops of ice cream with a light, raspberry syrup. I HAD to eat it all. I really couldn't believe it when I saw it, but every bite was heaven!
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