Blue Skies, Blue Mountains
& Blue Waves for Anniversary
July 2010
Hein had a
business meeting on Friday, 23rd July in Cape Town, so we decided to celebrate our 18th
wedding anniversary there.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
After a quick coffee, we packed our bags and
left for Lanseria Airport at 06h30.
After we’ve booked in our bags, we had breakfast in the Wiesenhof
Restaurant on the top floor. We like to
sit outside, under a huge canopied roof to watch the helicopters, small planes
and Kulula planes.
Fresh salmon, cottage cheese and lettuce leaves
on brown bread for me, pap & sous, sausage and eggs for Hein. The food is always lovely, interesting and
well prepared. Their Americano coffees
are strong and good.
After a pleasant flight, we landed at 10h30. While Hein was at AVIS, I walked out to a
blue, sunny day – almost summer temperature!
I nearly freaked, cause I only packed warmish clothes. While waiting outside AVIS, I saw an old
colleague, Sarita, fetching her car. It
was lovely to see her after about 7 years.
In Bloubergstrand, we rented a flat from
Lynette. Although we used to stay there
quite a bit, we haven’t recently. It’s
absolutely lovely! On the 6th
floor, with this amazing view over Table
Mountain and the
ocean! It is Nautica A for R450/night
for the flat (low season).
It has 2
bedrooms, 1 with double bed, other with 2 single beds. An en-suite bathroom with shower, 2nd
bathroom with bath. Open-plan kitchen,
dining area and lounge with lovely balcony.
When you sit in the double bed, you look out on Table Mountain. The flats also have washing machines &
tumble dryers on the ground floor. www.bloubergapartments.com
(Lynette 082 972 6338)
It’s really a wonderful holiday apartment –
close to shops, restaurants and there is a lovely walkway next to the beach. What I absolutely LOVE about this flat: when someone has stayed there and bought a
jar of coffee, a packet of sugar, salt or pepper, a bag of pasta, jar of
mayonnaise, etc – Lynette doesn’t remove it.
So instead of buying a jar of mayo for 4 days (wasting most of it), you
can now use those left behind.
On our way to the flat, we’ve bought some
groceries, so I quickly unpacked our clothes.
Hein worked a bit, while I made chicken burgers. It was lovely to sit on the balcony, munching
away. There was a slight breeze - Hein’s
bun nearly flew away.
Curious, we decided to drive to Greenpoint to
have a look at the stadium. It really is
very impressive! The outside structure
looks like paper.
Driving back, we had a short nap.
After 6, we drove to Melkbosstrand - Kobus
& Linda invited us for dinner. With
3 kitties at home, we bought them some kitty snacks and some chocs for the
adults. Another friend, Gina, joined
us. Kobus made a lovely crayfish salad
and served it on lettuce with Linda’s secret dressing sauce.
My sauce was mopped up with some bread – very
yummy!!!
Kobus then braaied thick
steaks, made a mushroom sauce, green beans & mushroom in a pot and wedges
in the oven. We ate for the nation! And ended with a sublimely Woolworths malva
pudding with fresh cream. After the
lovely meal and conversations, we dragged our tummies to the car and drove
home.
Friday, 23 July 2010
In Gauteng,
we usually wake up around 7 am. On
Friday, we awoke with an almighty start – it was already 07h30 and Hein had a
meeting in town at 10. After a hasty
coffee, I made myself a sandwich, Hein had yogurt and then we showered and
dressed. And tackled the road to town …
Especially from Milnerton side, it’s a
nightmare! There’s only 1 lane going to
town, but the Capetonians don’t give a hoot – they drive in the next lane and
then force themselves in-between our poor okes driving patiently in our
lane. Which means, we don’t get
anywhere, our blood pressure is sky-high and the push-inners’ just don’t care. Grrrrrrrrrrr!
Eventually, we moved forward and Hein dropped
me at the Waterfront. I realized that I
haven’t packed my blue earrings, so I browsed through the shops looking for new
ones.
And saw this amazing stall … at first I
couldn’t figure out what it was. It
looked like badges, but then I looked closer – button covers.
Button covers are metal covers, perhaps featuring elaborate
decorations, which slip over simple buttons and transform them on men’s or
women’s shirts into shirts with significant “bling.” The typical button covers are round and
feature a back clasp that is inserted around the threads of the button and underneath the button face.
They are sold either in sets or
separately. You can instantly transform
a black jacket/jersey/shirt in something unique.
How creative are these works? A woman sitting down, bending forward with
her hair falling down, out of stone. And
a life-size elephant made out of wire and beads!
At Exclusive Books, I sat outside, enjoying the
lovely weather.
A lovely baked cheesecake topped with chocolate
caught my eye and was delicious with Americano coffee. When Hein joined me later, he had a toasted sandwich & chips.
Then we strolled to Quay 4 Restaurant, where
Hein had an interesting can of Castle Lager – a very big hole at the top. A seagull was strolling around on floating
blocks. A light chicken salad was my
lunch.
After a nap, we watched these guys flying
around in these small motorized ‘parachute thingies’. The guy on the right
wanted to land, but then he saw a guy on the ground sleeping and had to change
his course of flight.
For a sundowner, we drove to a new development,
called Big Bay.
Its between Bloubergstrand and Melkbosstrand. A long strip of well-known restaurants faces
the sea, with a small football court for kids on the side. Lush green grass for kids & dogs and
paved pathways for walking or roller blades.
KAROO, MOYO & Ciao Baby are some of the
popular restaurants there. Where Blue
Peter Hotel used to be the most popular sundowner spot in that area, the Big Bay
has the advantage of more sea views.
Ciao Baby was our choice. It was a lovely late afternoon, bit cold, but
no wind. The kids were playing all over
and we could see quite a few surfers in the waves.
I ordered a Mojito, but sipped it slowly cause
it was quite strong. Hein was happy – a
beer in his hand and sun on his face.
We didn’t plan to eat anything, but when 3
Oriental people sat next to us, and ordered a pizza, we immediately changed our
minds.
An ordinary Regina pizza, but with bacon instead of
ham. The waiter was quite cute – we said
we’ll share the pizza, so he brought 2 plates with half a pizza on each. But did say he thought Hein’s half was a bit
bigger than mine. With some crushed garlic, chillies &
Parmesan cheese we relished every bit of that pizza. The crust was thin and crispy and had more than
enough toppings.
When the sun dipped however, it got quite cold
and we finished our drinks and drove back to the flat.
I read a book, Hein watched some TV and later I
made us cheese on toast.
Saturday, 24 July 2010
With cheese in mind, we drove to the goat farm,
Fairview, just outside Paarl for breakfast.
It’s a beautiful farm with lovely trees, looking out over the
mountains. There’s a special tower for
the goats.
This goat posed for Hein. Inside it’s cosy, comfortable country
chic. So cheese for breakfast at 9h30? They have this amazing option:
You take a page like this. Then you decide how many cheeses you
want. 6 Choices – R45, 8 Choices – R52,
10 Choices – R58.
Then you tick your choices (I was greedy and
went for 10 choices).
If you don’t know what cheese it is, the
explanation is on the back of the page.
That way you can have different cheeses to
taste from.
Just look at my selection I had:
It is served with a side plate of home baked
bread. And only one piece of preserved
orange. That really is something they
should change.
Hein ordered the normal English Breakfast.
I tucked in and it was gorgeous. The White Rock with Cranberries was
especially nice, the Blue
Tower soft and smelly and
the goat’s cheeses flavorsome.
Luckily they didn’t blink an eye when I asked
for more preserve. Hein had some of the
Camembert and cheddar. But I still
couldn’t finish it. Their Americano
coffee complimented the cheeses perfectly!
Drove past my high school in Paarl, then drove
to FranschHoek. Had a quick shop in Pep
Stores for a face towel, and then searched for a pub to watch the rugby game.
FranschHoek has turned into a gastronomic
town! There are only a few shops and
galleries to wander through, the rest are all restaurants and coffee shops.
The Station pub appealed to us.
Hein loved all their little notices: ‘This establishment closes at 2 am
sharp. We are open from 11 am until 2 am
and if you haven’t had enough to drink at that hour, the management feels that
you haven’t really been trying ….’
Armed with magazines, I read and filled in the
crossword puzzle while the Springboks were performing poorly.
For lunch we had amazing bangers & mash
with fresh peas.
From FranschHoek, we drove through my home
valley, Simondium, past Babylonstoren, the farm where we stayed for more than
30 years.
Then we drove to the flat for a lovely nap.
Googling restaurants in Cape Town, I found this Turkish restaurant in
Greenpoint, Anatoli (www.anatoli.co.za ). Although our anniversary is on Sunday, 25th,
we decided to celebrate it in Turkish style on the Saturday night.
With a feeling of anticipation, we showered and
dressed and drove to Greenpoint. Not
knowing exactly which side of Napier
Street the restaurant is, we first drove up the
mountain. Realized it’s the wrong way,
turned around and nearly got caught in a police crossfire.
A white Golf was stopped by the police and
everyone was standing around, so we swiftly drove around them.
You enter the restaurant through big wooden
doors. The décor is sumptuous and
creative. Persian rugs decorate the
walls. There are 2 areas – in the 1 area
the ceiling is decorated with fabric and a huge chandelier in the center. All the tables have tablecloths, covered with
big sheets of white paper.
After we’ve
ordered an Elgin Vinters Merlot 2007 with a waiter (he looked Turkish), we saw
this signature in a few frames on the wall next to us. When we asked the waiter, he explained it’s
the seal/signature of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey.
We were early, so the restaurant was almost
empty. I noticed 2 ladies seated on the
opposite side of the room. One looked
familiar, I thought she may be Pippa, the wife of an old friend of mine,
Riekert. But I know they stay in
Vredenburg, so thought it’s just her double.
The next moment, Riekert walked into the
restaurant. I was blown away! Went over and said hallo. They were in Cape Town for the weekend and had dinner in
Anatoli with Riekert’s sister, Yvette.
Of all the 100’s of restaurants in Cape
Town, what are the odds of meeting them there?
Our waiter came to our table with this HUGE
wooden tray. It’s probably about 1m x ½
m big. Filled with plates of
entrées. Most of them are cold, so you remove
them from the tray. A few are hot and
are ordered from the kitchen.
Our choices were: Topig(V): Mashed potatoes and chick
peas stuffed with tahini, pine nuts, cinnamon, onion and dressed with chilli
oil. It was divine!
We also had Paul, the octopus (ha,ha – joke),
marinated in lemon juice. They have flat
wooden boards for the bread. When they
arrive at the table with the bread, they slice it with a round knife and slip the bread on top of the paper sheet on the table. Ours had garlic in and was delicious.
For our main course, we had red
peppers and cabbage leaves stuffed with mince and drizzled with yogurt. Absolutely scrumptious!!!!
The restaurant has filled up by
then and the ambience was amazing!
People chatting, sampling food and drinking wine. A belly dancer entertained us for a bit. Although we wondered why it’s called belly
dancing … cause she uses every part of her body, not just her stomach. I’ve Googled it, but they can’t give a
realistic explanation. Some said it had
to do with a dance for fertilisation …
For dessert, I opted for Baklava. Boring, but absolutely delightful. Hein chose the chocolate pot, but I didn’t like it that much. (Quite a
surprise, cause I’m quite the chocoholic!)
It was dark chocolate at bottom, with white
chocolate on top and rosewater & orange juice in the center. The
table next to us were in ecstasy over the chocolate pot!! They didn’t want to pass it on to the
others. With the Baklava I had real Turkish coffee. Brought on this copper dome-tray. Absolutely perfect ending for a sumptuous
meal.
After we’ve paid our bill, they gave us some
small cubes of Turkish Delights to nibble on.
After saying goodbye to Riekert, Pippa and Yvette, we left the
restaurant. What a delightful way to
celebrate our anniversary. I’ll
definitely go back there again!
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Once again we woke around 8 am. Had a lovely coffee while gazing at the sea,
showered and packed our bags. Our aim
was Simons Town, so we drove all around Sea Point, Bantry
Bay, Clifton, over Chapman’s Peak, past Noordhoek
and Fish Hoek.
From previous visits, we remembered a market at
Fish Hoek. Feeling like a boerewors
roll, we skipped other breakfast venues but when we arrived in Fish Hoek, it
didn’t look promising enough, so we kept on driving.
In Simons Town we decided on Quarterdeck
Restaurant for brunch. It looks out over
the harbor and some informal musicians entertained us with guitars &
trumpets. I ordered some mussels and
Hein had minute steak with egg, chips and onion rings.
What a disappointment!! After I’ve eaten 3
mussels, I realised they’re actually horrible!
The mussels were dark orange-coloured and tasted like they’ve been
standing outside for days. Tough and
tasteless. Hein’s chips were smelling
strongly of fish oil and you could actually squeeze out the oil. I finished his piece of brown bread, Hein
barely finished any of his meal.
After
we’ve complained to the manager, we walked down to another spot, Bertha’s. I had my eye on a Banoffee Pie (banana,
caramel toffee) (we’ve had it last year
and although I’ve tried to recreate the recipe, I just couldn’t quite manage
it.)
On our way to Bertha’s, we saw this dog playing
in the water. He looks for shells and
brings it out to his mistress.
When I enquired about the Banoffee Pie, I was
extremely disappointed that they didn’t have it on their menu. So far our Sunday, food wise, has just been
one big disappointment. We decided to
drive back to the Waterfront.
Driving past Kalk Bay,
we encountered roadworks in St James and had to wait for about 30 minutes. By this time, my tummy was growling something
fierce!
At the Waterfront, we first went to Paulaner
Brauhaus, but I didn’t see anything interesting on their menu. Then onto Rooti’s (Cape Malay Restaurant),
but their choices were very pricey. In
the end we settled on The Green Dolphin with lovely jazz music in the
background. I ordered a seafood chowder
starter and Hein a burger. My chowder
was lovely and the portion small enough.
Hein’s burger patty was lovely!
To sweeten my day, I ordered a citrus tart for
dessert. It came with a scoop of ice
cream, topped with a fresh strawberry.
I then took a close-up of the strawberry
and was blown away by the result! I will have to blow up this photo
to decorate my kitchen wall.
By the time I finished my tart and coffee, it
was 4 o’ clock and time to drive to the airport. Although our flight was only
at 7, we wanted to buy some magazines and just chill.
After we’ve handed in our car and booked in our
bags, we went to the Premier Business Lounge.
It’s such a comfortable area.
If
you have a Diners Card, you can go in.
Hein had to pay extra for me.
There are lots of chairs, coffee tables, computer nooks and connection
points. There’s also a shower room. I removed my make-up and debated for a second
on the shower, but with a face towel to dry I thought better not. (ha ha)
All the refreshments are free. Drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), hot
beverages, packets of nuts & chips, sandwiches, brownies, pastries, mini
pies, sausages, bread for toasting, muffins, etc. Everything is replenished on a regular basis.
After a lovely flight back to Lanseria, we arrived
home before 10pm.
What a lovely weekend!
ooo
No comments:
Post a Comment