Sunday, August 7th
Wow! What a day. We woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning. We all took something to sleep and woke up to our doorbells ringing with room service about 8. We figured we’d be pretty tired, so didn’t make any set plans for the day. The concierge at the hotel suggested we take a hop on hop off bus tour so we could see what we wanted to see at our own pace. So that’s exactly what we did. We headed into town and the first place we got to was a fabulous flea market. Not so sure if fabulous would have been Mark and Tom’s description, but Carol and I did spend a few Rands! On one corner of the square was the Methodist Mission Center. The service was just letting out, so after everyone had left we walked in and looked around. It was a beautiful building, built in 1838. A man introduced himself to us and gave us a brief history and overview of the church. As it is now an intercity church it is very mission oriented and ministers to the cities homeless.
We hopped back on the bus and took in all the major sights of the city. It is much larger than I expected – 3.8 million people, of which 2 million live in shanty towns. It is so sad to see the conditions they live in. There still seems to be a huge economic disparity between the races.
We went to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, which is a 1300 acre, fabulous botanical garden and research center at the base of Table Mountain. It places a strong emphasis on the cultivation of indigenous plants, one of which is the Protea. They are everywhere and there are many, many varieties. It’s still winter here, so there weren’t a lot blooming yet, but the ones that were, were beautiful. It was such a pretty day and there were people picnicking all throughout the gardens.
Protea
We made it to our first winery, Groot Constantia, about 3:30 and headed straight to a wine tasting and chocolate pairing. They have 3 unoaked whites, so I got to taste and not be the designated responsible person! It is a beautiful wine estate – the oldest in South Africa and has been producing wine for over 330 years. We believe the winery was built by the Dutch and had beautiful Dutch architecture.
Groot Constantia
We took the bus back to our hotel and drove past some beautiful beaches. The opposite side of the road was lined with hotels, condos, bars and restaurants and a lot of people out in the beautiful weather. If you didn’t know it you could have been on South Beach in Miami.
Dinner was at a wonderful seafood restaurant on the waterfront, Baia. We all ordered different fish and enjoyed it all. I had Kabeljou, which is similar to a sea bass that was fabulous. Hope we see it on a menu again.
We are so lucky with the weather. It is coming to the end of winter, but it is very mild. It feels a lot like Carmel weather. We are enjoying staying on the waterfront. It is so active and with the weather being so nice, there are people everywhere. Our hotel feels like it is in the middle of everything and so far we pretty much walk everywhere.
Waterfront at night
Marina at Cape Grace Hotel
Can’t wait til tomorrow. New places to explore and wine to taste!
Mark and Freda's Wanderings 