Capetown

These pics are actually a preview of the wine country portion - read on for Capetown.

We spent the afternoon in Johannesberg after Singita, and went to the Apartheid Museum. Along the wide concrete approach to the entrance are scattered life-size photo figures embeddeded on lucite, varied races, all seemingly headed to the entrance along with you. Only their back side is visible until you pass them, and turn around to see the frontal view. Racial classification (the foundation of all apartheid laws), placed individuals in one of four groups: 'native', 'coloured', 'Asian' or 'white'. To illustrate the everyday reality, visitors are arbitrarily classified as either white or non-white. Once classified, we were permitted entry only through the gate allocated to our "race group". Identity classification documents (blown up and oversized for effect, of course) flank these corridors. Inside is a complete history of early settlers into Johannesberg, through segregation and the foundations of apartheid, political executions and detention, student uprisings, sanctions, Mandela's release, and culminating with the transition to democacy and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president and adoption of the constitution in 1996. A perfect summation of South Africa's political history and a must see if you are anywhere near here.

We spent the night at this funky Tuscan mc-mansion on embassy row in Pretoria, where we were the only guests. It reminded me of some of the newer houses in Beverly Park. Of our entire trip, Richard thought this was the only mediocre dinner. They had cooked only for us. Not knowing whether we were eating there or not prior to our arrival, and our being the only guests, I wondered when they had marketed, and did not order the fish.

The next morning our large, handsom-ish and very "fit" driver guarded Richard at the ATM (he was with the secret service from the prior government - and had been shot in the head fighting I don't remember where several years earlier) and drove us to the station where we boarded "The Blue Train" for Capetown. We had our own luxury car with twin beds that popped out of the walls when you slept and a marble bathroom complete with tub. Much of the landscape, although pretty, was spotted with large shanty towns constructed of tin, not all with water or electricity. If they only knew what our train was like inside. We chatted with the waitors and had fun guessing which tribe they were from. We now knew of two major ones: Zulu, and Xhosa (Mandela's tribe). They seemed to appreciate our knowledge and interest in their culture. We stopped in Kimberly which houses a large diamond mine and toured. Did not sleep well amidst the stop and go all night. Also, my comforter kept sliding off.

We disembark the next day and are greeted by Janice, our Capetown guide, and she is gentle and lovely. We drive to the Waterfront area ( a newer and safe part of the city) to the Cape Grace, our home for 6 days. You don't always have good weather here, so we took advantage of a gorgeous day to take the tram up Table Mountain. Kind of like the one you take up Aspen Mountain, only alot bigger because it holds umpteen million tourists. (Like 40). We hike around a magnificent view of Capetown way below and have lunch and see the mist coming over the mountain, hence it's name "tabletop".

The next day we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. Really fantastic, vibrant sea life of the Indian and the Atlantic. An eel the likes of which we don't have here, and some adorable penguins, which smelled . . .

Then we visited the South African Jewish Museum, the Capetown Holocaust Centre; and the Capetown Hebrew Congregation (Now has only 800 members). A true testimony to the pioneering spirit of the Jewish immigrants who settled here. My favorite exhibit was the reconstructed shtel or village above; complete with a schoolroom, shops, and home with sabbath table. By the middle of the nineteenth century, east European Jews were abandoning them, migrating to large cities. This large migration of Jews from Lithuania and Latvia transformed the face and culture of the South African Jewish community. The temple we saw was built in 1841.

That night we had the first of many epicurean adventures at "Riboville", (incredible crayfish and prawns) ending with a tour of their spectacular 14,000 bottle wine cellar, in a reconstructed old bank cash vault. You must see this. Hundreds of wine bottles, compartmentalized individually labeled, are tucked along the sides of this large space, and we eavesdropped on a private dinner party in the center of the room.

We took a ferry the next day to Robben Island, (get in line early so you can get the top deck for the half hour ride) which had once been a leper colony, mental asylum, and finally a military camp and maximum security prison to house anti-apartheid activists. We saw the cell Nelson Mandela inhabited for 18 years. Tours are given by the former political prisoners, most of whom now live in private housing on this very desolate island.

Our dinner at the recently remodeled rustic chic Aubergine was cozy and delicious. Unfortunately we don't remember what we ate, although it was really great. I do remember bringing a chocolate truffle for our driver Neil who was picking us up, only in my hurry to get to the car, I didn't see the small curb and fell flat face down. The truffle was flattened, too, and he sympathetically thanked me for the effort and insisited it was the thought that counted. He also called ahead to the hotel and waiting for us were the receptionist, concierge, assistant manager and the bell captain with a pack of ice wrapped in a white linen napkin.

The Showroom was another neat experience very close to the Cape Grace. It is a 2 story contemporary restaurant situated in a former car showroom, and there are brightly colored sport cars visible through the glass. Still exceptional food. Here we recommend you get an upstairs table by the railing overlooking the busy kitchen, where you can see it all happening.
It is a unique and spectacular show from this overhead view. Most impressive was the sous-chef, cape-colored and so smooth on his feet, he'd slide from oven to range to prep table every 3 seconds. When we commented on his agility and ability we were told he recently accepted a chef position at another restaurant in another town, not surprising from what we could see.

Our trip to the Cape Peninsula (for me to see the penguins, of course!) started with a stop at the hotel we want to return to stay at, called the Twelve Apostles. Nestled along the coast, it is a 5 star hotel and spa that blends ocean tranquility with cape sophistication. The Leopard Room Bar
is intimate and chic; colonial style, rich in color and texture. You just want to hang out here.
The pools were beautiful, too - and we bought the best leopard and zebra pashmina throws for gifts that were very reasonably priced, and I never saw them anywhere else!

Continuing on, to Simons town, we stopped for me to pet the seal. I hope he liked it, it looks as if he's enjoying. And his fur was soft like Zoe's . . .

Then we visited the Ostrich Farm. They are a hoot. Richard fed them (they eat pebbles) and said it didn't hurt at all because they have no teeth, but I was too "chicken". I did pet him, though.

The penguins here are adorable and they don't smell. They waddle just like in the movie. We got so close but you aren't allowed to touch them. It is very windy so they hide under rocks or dig little holes that they sit in.

That night we met Michael Evans (a lawyer from the World Law Group) and his wife Brigitte for dinner at Solero in the Waterfront shopping mall near our hotel. It is just like any other upscale mall in the US, meaning, aside from the convenience of it from our standpoint, you can pass. The Waterfront (kind of like a fisherman's village) is laden with hotels, restaurants and tourist shops that are not particularly remarkable. The interesting part of that evening was listening to the tales of Michael and Brigitte's youth as anti-aparthedi activists, who were even occasionally in hiding. Surprisingly their current day to day life with teenagers is not too dissimilar from our own, albeit some additonal attention to the potential crime in Capetown; which is ever-present.

Haiku was our last great meal in Capetown- Asian-fusion, dark, lacquered, very in-crowd young hip-chic.

We had a lovely trip to the Kirstenbosch gardens where they have a huge percentage of the world's plants are found only here. Equisite protea. It is its own plant echo zone. We relaxed with wine and biltong (cured beef) and took pictures of the gunineas. There was a spectacular photo exhibit to the words from Dylan's "A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall" depicting the decline of the world over the last 30 years; pollution, climate change, war, famine, politics . . . also available in book form. I couldn't carry another thing - or I'd have brought it home, too.

This is a miniature replica of part of the gardens representing so many of the species here . . . .

Gift-shopping: Albert (from Dorothy and Albert) specifically recommended buying from the Pan

African market because it had everything there and much cheaper than the stores. This is true, although there are 2 stores worth visiting: Tribal Trends (adjacent to the Pan African market), and Africa Nova (on Waterkant). The difference is that these stores, while expensive, yes, offer better quality and design if you are collecting than the Pan African market. If you are furnishing a condo or home locally, they are fantastic. But transporting to the US, stick to stuff you can pack. And take two partially packed bags so you have room to add, because you will want to add keepsakes from your journey.

Wineries worth mentioning near Capetown are Klein-Konstantia - our favorite wine being Vin de Constantia (sweet dessert wine), and the Klein Constantia 2007 Chardonnay. There was a lovely mural called "The Four Seasons of the Vine" by artist Linda Woolf. En route we saw the

Wynberg area where we saw exquisite Bel-Air type estates - all gated, of course.

Then we made our way to Groot Constantia, established in 1685 by the then Dutch Governor of the Cape. We saw the beautiful Cape Dutch house and some old carriages . .