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!
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