Scooter and I tried going to church that morning, but the church she had thought to be Catholic turned out to be Anglican. While searching for another church, a window shattered some 10 stories up casting broken glass into the street, not far from where we were standing and apparently caused by nothing but the powerful winds that were blowing through the city. Later we asked a taxi driver if such an occurrence was common and he replied that, in fact, it was.
We spent the day "restaurant hopping" going from Thai for lunch, to another place with Belgium beer on tap, to Korean for dinner.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
23/07/2011: Day 7 in Cape Town: The Old Biscuit Mill and the District 6 Museum
Saturday we went to the weekly "Neighbor-Goods" market at the Old Biscuit Mill. If you ever go to Cape Town, it is definitely worth planning your trip around this market that occurs every Saturday. There was every kind of food and delicacy you could imagine from pastries to samosas to pizzas to jars of different pestos to breads to poached eggs and on and on it went. Following the advice of a friend, we made sure to walk through the entire market at least once before we allowed ourselves to buy anything. It was a smart move or we could have easily spent all of our money in the first twenty feet.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
22/07/2011: Day 6 in Cape Town: Robben Island
That morning we took a taxi to the waterfront where we boarded a ferry for Robben Island. As the ferry pulled out of the harbor, we got a spectacular view of the city, sitting in the lap of Table Mountain which was currently covered on top by a strange, isloated layer of cloud that we learned was referred to as the "Table Cloth". Once we arrived on the island, we boarded tour buses which took around the small island, showing the different sites including the prisons, the lime stone quarry, and the modern day village. After that part of the tour was done, we were shown through the prisons by ex-prisoner who had spent 5 years on the island in the late 70's. The tour was concluded by passing Nelson Mandela's solitary cell.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
21/07/2011: Day 5 in Cape Town: Penthouse on Long Backpackers
After a wonderfully greasy breakfast of McDonald's, we checked out of the apartment and walked down Long Street to Penthouse-on-Long Backpackers, the next place we were staying. It turned out to be a really cool place located on the top floor of a building right next to an African Crafts market which we returned to after checking in and dropping our stuff off.
For dinner that night we made a salad with the vegetables we had left from our shopping excursion, and some pizza from a nearby restaurant. Exhausted from the previous night, the plan was to eat, get into pj's, and maybe watch some TV shows before retiring to bed early. But sometimes there are forces of the universe that intervene, and in this case the force's name was Michael. Michael worked at the backpackers and was indiscriminately/overwhelmingly if not aggressively friendly to everyone who passed through. A loud, eccentric combination of a 25/5 year old, he had a strong affinity for slapping his butt and humping (usually inanimate) objects. But like I said, he was very friendly and convinced us to at least come up to the bar on the roof for a bit which, after reasoning that we should get to know people at the place we'd be staying for the next several days, we did. It turned out to be a good idea and we made quite a few friends that night including Chaz, a Filipino chef from Australia and Carlos and Paul, two PCV's from Cameroon.
Anyways, just going to the bar on the roof eventually turned into all of us going out and exploring Cape Town night life. Jason, the bartender, went, partly for fun, partly to chaperon Michael; a full time job in of itself.
For dinner that night we made a salad with the vegetables we had left from our shopping excursion, and some pizza from a nearby restaurant. Exhausted from the previous night, the plan was to eat, get into pj's, and maybe watch some TV shows before retiring to bed early. But sometimes there are forces of the universe that intervene, and in this case the force's name was Michael. Michael worked at the backpackers and was indiscriminately/overwhelmingly if not aggressively friendly to everyone who passed through. A loud, eccentric combination of a 25/5 year old, he had a strong affinity for slapping his butt and humping (usually inanimate) objects. But like I said, he was very friendly and convinced us to at least come up to the bar on the roof for a bit which, after reasoning that we should get to know people at the place we'd be staying for the next several days, we did. It turned out to be a good idea and we made quite a few friends that night including Chaz, a Filipino chef from Australia and Carlos and Paul, two PCV's from Cameroon.
Anyways, just going to the bar on the roof eventually turned into all of us going out and exploring Cape Town night life. Jason, the bartender, went, partly for fun, partly to chaperon Michael; a full time job in of itself.
20/07/2011: Day 4 in Cape Town
That morning, Scooter and Ann went to take the GMAT and Erin and I went to the Mozambican embassy to get her visa renewed. Having spent the last few weeks doing nothing but study for this exam, it's completion alone was a major cause for celebration so after they got back we went out and hit the town...eventually. Traveling with three PCV girls is awesome because a) they're experienced and capable travelers, b)they're incredibly organized, and c) they never finish all their food so there's more for me to eat. If there's one downside however, it would be this: they can take forever to get ready. By the time we finally got out of the apartment and went to one a recommended bar only a few doors down, happy hour was already over. Nevertheless, we had a great time that night, a large part of that due to Wednesday nights at this bar happening to be Karaoke night.
19/07/2011: Day 3 in Cape Town
While Ann and Scooter continued to study, I used Ann's mac to sort through my photos and work on blogging (though even at that point I was behind). Erin made a spectacular dinner that night: breaded chicken, steamed and buttered vegetables, baked potatoes, and an ice cream oreo pie for dessert.
18/07/2011: Day 2 in Cape Town: Nelson Mandela Day
Scooter and Ann needed to study for the upcoming test, so Erin and I spent the morning walking down Long street, browsing through antique shops and books stores. The owner of one told us that it was Nelson Mandela's birthday (he turned 93) and many people were commemorating the even by doing 67 minutes of community service for the 67 years Mandela devoted to the struggle for humanity.
By the afternoon, Scooter and Ann had studied enough so we went grocery shopping, picking up food we'd need to make ourselves meals over the next few days. It was overwhelming being in a grocery store for the first time in ages with all the bright, colorful packaging filling the seemingly endless shelves.
By the afternoon, Scooter and Ann had studied enough so we went grocery shopping, picking up food we'd need to make ourselves meals over the next few days. It was overwhelming being in a grocery store for the first time in ages with all the bright, colorful packaging filling the seemingly endless shelves.
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