Changer de l'Air: Cape Town

Normal 0 0 1 441 2515 20 5 3088 11.1287 Greetings from the beautiful seaside metropolis of Cape Town. We are staying at the very popular Cape Town Backpackers and I have decided that now in my late 20's it's a little strange to stay in hostel. It's still the most economical and fun if you're by yourself. I also will say that's it's very centrally located and has lots of tours that pick you up directly from here. But spending the night with 8 strangers in the same room and being subject to their behaviors no longer has the same adventurous feel that it did when I traveled through Europe. Anyway, Cape Town is amazing. A total contrast from Jo'burg although it is still a very urban area. Everything here is a little more stylish, a little glitzier. It's not to say I like it better; it still has the same crime problems and safety concerns that Jo'burg does, but maybe it's just better at hiding them. Regardless, Cape Town has been really good to us. We heard lots about the weather mood swings and how it would be rainy and cold during our time here. It has been windy, but we've had warm temps during the day and nothing but sunshine. Our first afternoon in Cape Town we were greeting at the airport by the man we presume is the proprietor of the backpackers hostel. An ex-Californian who moved to SA for a girl. He proudly tells this tale under the guise of being ashamed at following a girl, but you can tell he thinks it's the best decision he ever made. He's also very upfront with the information as we found out this story within 5 minutes of meeting him. But he gravitates towards Americans and clearly enjoys some of having his ex-countrymen in tow. So after a sunny and friendly American greeting at Cape Town International, we were transferred to the backpackers where we dropped stuff off and met another very gregarious staff member. He was from Zaire and we got to speak a little French to one another.

Once we got settled, we found out we could walk down to the waterfront. It was a sunday so there wasn't a whole lot open, but once we got down to the waterfront it was completely packed with tourists from all over the world. We came across the FIFA fan zone, and the two-story tall Coke man, a sculpture made entirely of cases of coke in the shape of a fan holding up his arms. He looks a lot like a man made of red Legos. So we jostled our way around the waterfront being hustled by restaurant employees to eat in their establishments. It was earlier in the afternoon so we decided to take a lap around the waterfont, which is strikingly similar to Pier 39 in San Fransisco. In fact, ALL of Cape Town is strikingly similar to San Fransisco. But we ended up having a nice glass of wine on the waterfront and then eating at a South African restaurant for dinner. The picture I have posted here is me trying to make sense of the 700 bottle wine list at Balthazar where we stopped for drinks. I was like a kid in a candy store. Dinner was a buffet and my favorite thing on it was the pumpkin fritter and the vegetable masala with haloumi cheese. Yum. We were pretty tired after walking down there and all the travel of the day, so we took a cab back to the hostel and called it in shortly afterward.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2021: My Year in Music

Image
It took me getting Covid-19 to give me the margin I needed to actually bear down and complete this, 5 full months into the year.  I'm recovered, isolation is complete. I'm about to re-enter the world again.   I'm changing jobs, changing a lot of things, and trying to plan with little to no information required for planning.  But I'm leaning into the mystery and trying to enjoy the space I have for now, because time like this doesn't come around very often.   I have the benefit of extra time between the writing of this post and the selection of the songs.  I have been thinking about these songs for so long, it feels good to finally get the thoughts organized and out of me.  I finished up a big redesign on my apartment. I had a good streak going for most of the year where I spent the night of the first day of every month away from home.  So I explored some great new places and have a great new permanent space too!   A list of 20 songs follows this short intro.  I'
Read more

Last day of Classes, Good Friday, and the first 24 hours in Istanbul!

Image
First thing’s first: I AM DONE WITH GRAD SCHOOL! I have turned in all my papers, finished all my classes, passed comps, and completed all my presentations. It feels great to come home at night and not have schoolwork to think about. About two months ago, my cousin Cara and I were talking about her upcoming trip to Istanbul. She told me about her great set up and it sounded like it would be a great way to celebrate the completion of my Masters degree. So I bought my ticket for the day after my last class. After two months of craziness involving much more than just school and work, I am now on the other side and looking at job searching, apartment searching, and just figuring out the next general steps for life. I am so excited to see what unfolds. Since there is very little certainty in my life, it’s probably best I just stick to writing about what I know, and that is mainly what has already happened. So I will do my best to recount the even
Read more

Spoke Too Soon

Yesterday after returning from the Prefecture (french DMV, just as badas the US) after an unsuccessful attempt at registering the car, I found that the house had been broken into and that my computer, computer bag, iPod and case and headphones, camera had all been stolen. They tried to take the TV but they either didn't have time or decided it was too heavy. I'm pretty sure that when I got back and pulled into the house they were still there and had to hide and that's why they left the TV. So life in Martinique is set back quite a few steps. Everytime I move forward here, something else comes along. I'm tired of it. I had locked the house up tight and made sure that everything was closed because Marie-Ange had warned me about other robberies in the area. They got me. Add another B to the list: buses, bats, bees, burglars.
Read more