so I know I already mentioned that my mother is in town visiting me, but MY MOM IS HERE!! Cape Town is really far away from many things, she lost two days traveling so its kind of a big deal.
Friday when she showed up, I was basically sitting in my house just staring out the window waiting for her to get there. She rolls up and I was just too excited for words. My roommate Jess was even just sitting around, she had to go to school at some point, but she wanted to meet my mom. So I got to show my mom my house, she got to meet Jess, and then we just had a little lunch at home, and then took a walk around observatory to show her my hood. She loved it of course, because what's not to love about Obs? That afternoon Callie, Amanda, Taryn, Jess and Stephen were the only people still home because everyone else had gone on their fabulous vacations already so we all went to Florentine for dinner, and got mojitos and delicious dinners. Then Wendy and I packed a bag of mine and said bye to everyone else except for Taryn (she is staying in CT for break) and headed to our lil Atlantic View Hotel!
And hotel is probably too plebian a word for this place...honestly. They have drivers who picked us up from my house in Obs in a mercedes, took us to the hotel which is up these tiny windy streets in Camps Bay and we met at reception of the hotel which was beautiful...the view is nothing short of incredible...really. Almost 180 degrees of straight ocean, really really incredibly amazing. Then we got to our room or shall I say suite?? Hands down the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in (peep the pics). We have a living room, a small kitchenette a bedroom, bathroom, and look out to the most that view over an infiniti edge pool. A step up from a 17 person house with bars on all the windows? I think so...its a vacation in Cape Town for me.
The next day we went to the Old Biscuit Mill to have a look in the shops, taste lots of good eats, and of course run into 6 people that I know, haha. We got delish mule beverages, and just enjoyed our selves. It wasnt the most beautiful of days, but the sun came out about midday. We decided to get a flatbread pizza this time...it wasnt baked at all but was this crispy pieces of foccacia bread, with a small layer of marinara sauce spread over it, slices of parmesan, rocket (which is like arugala), avocado, artichoke hearts and delicious. Then we decided to go into town and take one of those giant red bus tours. Super touristy, but hey I'm a tourist with Wendy :) It was nice to see some things, but it wasnt the most informative because it was all pre recorded information, but good for Wendy I think. Then we got dropped off in Camps Bay and headed to free wine hour at our hotel! After that we went just down into Camps Bay to have dinner at the Kove (where I had the amazing king crab tempura at the very beginning of the trip!) and came back and crashed.
Day 2: We wanted to hike...I had some school things to take care of in the morning so we got a real late start, but headed to my house in Obs to pick up Taryn and some lunch. We made lunch at home and then went to Kierstenbosch gardens to find some hiking paths. I haven't really hiked in Cape Town yet and it was great! The paths were well marked and cool, we did not make it all the way to the top of the mountain, but we'll save that for another day and then we got to walk around the botanical gardens after we decided we did not want to continue hiking for fear of being caught on the trails at night. We made it back to obs and then went to our good old favorite Asia Supermarket for dinner for some spicy tuna rolls, and pad si ewe as they spell it here. Haha, then we all went back to our lovely perch in Camps Bay and watched a movie together, and then slept comfortably 3 people in our King size bed.
Day 3: This morning was the first clear morning so we took advantage! Taryn and I decided to swim in our two infinity edged pools here...what we did not take into consideration was the extreme wind. No one can understand the "Cape Doctor" or the torrential wind storms unless you have been to Cape Town yourself. Intense. So we jumped in and froze a little bit, and then jumped out of that pool and then into the other pool and by that time, we were frozen so it felt okay, we could stay in it for a little bit. Basically we have a lil slice of heaven here. Then we showered, got ready, and headed down to Long street for lunch and a little shopping, but it was a holiday unfortunately so there werent too many things open. But Royale Eatery was open, so we grabbed a DELISH (as usual) burger and shake and then walked around a bit. Because things were closed we decided to head to the waterfront and get a glass of wine at Belthazar, the biggest wine bar in the world! Haha, so we did, and some appetizers: a beet and roasted butternut salad, avocado and prawn tower, and fried camembert on top of rocket with cranberry sauce....right up my alley. Then with Taryn in tow we headed back to the hotel for a movie, and another night of cuddling in our big bed.
Day 4: We hiked lion's head! The most beautiful views of the city and a great climb, at one point we had to go up a ladder...crazy. Then I had to be at school all day...rude...but I met my mom for dinner at Fork on Long street and we had a lovely leisurely 3 hour meal, it was great. Then back to the hotel for another relaxing night.
Day 5: We walked ourselves ALL over town today. We started at City Hall to see the Spier Contemporary art exhibit, and it was awesome and kind of weird as contemporary art usually is. They had a great gift store though, and then we headed up to the Bo Kaap neighborhood. It was kind of rainy and drizzly so we went into a super cute store called the Rhubarb Room (which I've been too before) and had lunch there. It was just delicious! This store is such a cute little place, lots of fun stuff to look at and buy and a perfect little lunch menu with coffee and no tourists, its awesome. After lunch and a few purchases, I took my mom up to the most colorful street on the Bo Kaap and took some pics, then headed down to Rose street to see a few cool galleries that they have there. Awesome stuff, and I got a cool necklace that has one of the symbols of South Africa on it, its a kudu which is a kind of antelope, and I can't wait to wear it! We just walked all over, and ended up in the Cape Quarter, which is kind of a high society shopping place, and had a late lunch/snack to relax our weary feet, and then headed back to the hotel to enjoy cocktail hour and some rest.
Day 6: This was our Cape Point day! When I went to dinner with my aunt's friends Bonnie and Jeff, Jeff told me that his nephew was a private tour guide so I got in contact with him and we decided to do Cape Point with him. It was a great idea, he was such a wealth of knowledge and we didn't have to be with hecka tourists. Today was also cloudy so it wasnt the best conditions but as we were at the Cape the clouds lifted and it got warm, and it was absolutely gorgeous. We also got to see so many more animals than I saw the first time I was here! We saw TONS of baboons, and even wild ostriches! I couldn't believe it...they are such strange big birds. My mom absolutely loved it, which I knew she would and my dad would have loved it too...wish he was here!! Garth, our tour guide, took us to lunch in Simon's Town, and then to see the penguins at Boulder beach, which I feel like I saw many more penguins than the first time I went too...great for Wendy! As we were driving back we got to see so many other beautiful views, drive through wine country in Constantia and his home town of Sea Point, so that was interesting as well. Then we came back, sat down for a few minutes, and then went to have cocktails in the reception area of the hotel, and went to dinner with two other hotel guests at an Italian place called Posticino. The Italian food was actually really really good...I had been craving some pasta real badly. I was so tired from our early and active day that at about 10:30pm I was ready to crash...so I did. And tomorrow is round two on wine tasting in Stellenbosch. Haha, though this will involve no bikes!
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