Saturday: Back with the Penguins

Today was really wonderful. We went back to Boulder Beach on a beautiful day where we could go in the water, have access to shade and share the beach with penguins. It was entirely awesome (except for the part of the sand blowing into our faces and, sadly, into the mechanism that operates the lens on my camera).

We spent several hours at the beach; often the penguins came very close to us. They have very sharp beaks so I was wary. But sometimes they come up a meter from you and just close their eyes and chill, head slightly up and always balancing themselves against the wind. When you watch about fifteen penguins for a few hours, it is captivating to see various behaviors.

Tonight, Steve is going to a party in a bar downtown—not at all my thing, so I will be at home working on my script and/or reading with Cleopatra.

Catching up:

1. The champagne we had last night—the best made locally and the most expensive on the menu—was $7.00!  Our seven-course meal (plus) was $55.
2. The latitude here is 34° South; Buenos Aires is the same latitude. 34° North is the same parallel as Los Angeles.
3. Traffic lights or traffic signals are called robots here.
4.  It seems to me that all we see is white people being served by black people. Most all the servers are absolutely delightful black people.
5. Cape Town is a stunningly beautiful city, but my God, you get sick of the absolutely relentless and powerful winds that seem to come and last for days.
6. Simon's Town is a stunning sea-side and entirely picturesque little town worthy of a visit. We could not stop today, but if you come here....

 Lunch at Boulders beachside restaurant.

Delicious and $10!

Simon's Town

Friday Dinner

The dinner at The Greenhouse was absolutely fabulous. Normally, tasting menus leave me hungry, but not this one. The courses were as follows:

1. Sea Bream Tiradito with heirloom tomatoes, sweet potato, coriander and lemon marmalade.
2. Crayfish custard with warm sweet corn-roas garlic mousse, crayfish and leeks.
3. Perelmon and smoked Snoek Broth with seared rare gamefish, crispy rice, jalapeño and green pepper-citrus paste.
4. Cape Malay Kabelju with lobster dahl, aubergine ragout, coconut jelly, crispy onions and Cape Malay spiced bisque.
5. Seafood Potjie Kos with saffron pap, tomato fondue, sous vide fennel and langoustine.
6. Rosemary and Honeybush for our first dessert was rosemary cream, honey bush-lime jelly and citrus caramel.
7. Raspberry, Basil and Lemon Mousse with white chocolate sorbet, over-roast rhubarb and almond crumble.

Steve had the full on wine menu with each course. I had champagne.

It was a spectacular evening marred only by an argument between us. Sad to say, but exes can do this and we are both people who live alone suddenly together for 24/7. 

 The Greenhouse of the Relais et Chateaux chain.

The mascots of the place are these ducks. There are white ducks on the ties of the servers and the motif is pervasive. These ducks chat constantly and if I could have one as a pet I would. They have the run of the place and are charming beyond description.

 The restaurant/hotel cat also has the run of the place. He is huge and does not take any notice of the ducks. The Greenhouse is spectacular in every way abut profoundly comfortable and not snobby thanks to the warmth of the staff and these animals.

 One setting at the entrance of the restaurant.

Steve at our table. Steve chose this place. 

An amuse bouche.

The first course. 

The second course was served in egg shells and a nest. Gorgeous and delicious. 

The third course.

 

The fourth course.

 Fifth course.

This is the seventh course. Our photos of the sixth course were crap.

Friday

Our new hotel is in a beautiful suburb and there is practically an infestation of guesthouses in this quarter. It seems to me that there are not a lot of hotels here; rather, there are zillions of gorgeous boutique hotels like both the ones we have stayed in here.

Friday was a day on which we intended to drive to the cape itself, but I couldn’t face all the driving because tonight Steve has booked us into dinner at a Relais et Chateaux restaurant near the botanical garden called The Greenhouse. The restaurant won the garden of the year in Relais chain in 2010.

So we spent the day walking through town a bit and then relaxing back at the hotel. A nice warm simple day and everything is easy. We are a good driving team: Steve navigates and Bwana drives. We went to the Gold Museum, got my ring properly sized and then walked through the Malay quarter where many Malasian people live and have painted their houses beautifully.

Bwana on TV

Bwana was part of The Flame, a story telling collective that performed at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre in early November. I was one of eleven story tellers that were recorded for broadcast on Shaw TV. Today, I got word of the schedule for viewing. If you want to see me tell my story, you can see it on Sunday December 9th at 2:30 pm on the Shaw channel, or on Friday Dec. 14th at 1:30 pm. Telling stories with me in my episode are J.J. Lee, Diane Brown and Emelia Symington Fedy.

Thursday Night: Table Mountain

Back in Cape Town and with no plans for the evening, we went up Table Mountain for sunset. Right now it is half price after 6:00 pm, so there was a fair line up but the ride was worth it. It is so terribly touristique, but hey, that's what we are. You hear a lot of languages in the cable car. It takes 63 people and the floor turns 360° while you ride both up and down. I did not entirely like the ride. I am queazy with heights.

We ate at the top. Again, prices are terribly reasonable. A fun night on a travel day, and a fabulous view.

Breakdown

I forgot to mention that last night I had absolutely spectacular mussels a la Belgique and at one point, I thought I'd gotten a piece of shell and so I put it with the other shells. When I got outside, I realized that it was a slender covering from one of my teeth. No there is something you do not expect while traveling.

If you know me well, you know I am not a fan of alcohol of any form, but I have learned to be able to enjoy the odd glass of white wine and many white bubblies go down very well. Well Steve bought a bottle of the most unusual wine. It is called Straw Wine by the vintner and it is made by leaving the grapes in the sun to sweeten after harvesting. But they also build up a citrus acidity that, they say, counters the sweetness. I know zilch about wine and could care less, but I loved it.

Normally, I prefer dry wine—the drier the better, but this is really something unusual that I look forward to sharing with friends on my return.

Thursday: Back to Cape Town

Wednesday evening, after a most relaxing day, we headed into town for dinner at a Belgian restaurant that was recommended by our hosts here at Shisa Farm. It was on Church Street, the street is full of reconstructed homes rebuilt after the earthquake in 1969. It was a beautiful night as we walked through the area, the golden light of dawn made us wish we had come in earlier to have a cocktail in the sun on the porch of a quaint inn.

We were alone in the restaurant. It was a thoroughly superb experience in an outback little town.  It may be one of my better memories because it was a fit ending to our first truly relaxing day.

Thursday involved simply visiting the second winery Steve wanted to visit in Riebeck Kasteel and then driving back into Cape Town to a new hotel. This time we are at the New Amsterdam Hotel in the western part of the city. It is a very nice hotel in a very quiet neighbourhood. We walked the area and then came home to chill before going up Table Mountain for sunset and, perhaps, dinner.

 We are here until Monday when we fly first to Johannesburg and then to Hoedespruit. From Hoedespruit, we will drive to Sabi Sands game reserve where we will stay at Elephant Pains Lodge.

These first photos are of downtown Tulbaugh, on historic Church Street where we ate.

Above and below, the restaurant where we ate. 

The church in Riebeck Kasteel.

The shots below are houses in the area of our new hotel.

MANY are guest houses.

Proteas for sale on the side of the street. 

The view from our bathroom. 

Our room in the new hotel.