After the wine tastings, we went back to the apartment to collect our stuff and say goodbye to our hosts. The water had returned and we got the offer to shower in their house, but we decided it would be best to get to the airport early and just shower there...
And it was a good thing we got there earlyish. We had to deal with our VAT return stuff, and that was enough of a hassle, even though we were smart enough to do the paperwork in Cape Town. There was the line from hell for those who weren't in the express lane, as opposed to the five minutes we had to wait. After that, there was the matter of getting our check-in luggage shrink-wrapped. And then the "fast" bag drop since we checked in online, except that it wasn't so fast after all. People who didn't check in online got checked in with luggage delivered before we were halfway through the line. Bah. Very annoying. The lines at passport control and security were ok, but in the end, there really wasn't a lot of time for shopping, but it's just as well. There wasn't anything there that we really needed. So we went to the lounge right away, and got into the shower. Aaaah, precious shower!
After showering, we just drank beer and cider and wine and port (to calm our nerves of course :) and ate a lot of snacks until we had to get to our gate...
The flight from Cape Town to London was, well, as usual, a typical long haul flight. Uncomfortable, annoying, and boring. And if things couldn't get worse...
Guess what? Things could get worse. Like the very tight connection worse. What was it... less than an hour after arrival until our flight to Oslo? Yeah, that's right. So we had to do a lot of sprinting. Fortunately, we were allowed through the priority lines. Most of the people there were nice about it, after seeing we really did have little time to catch our flight. However, there were some other people who gave very dirty looks and other indication that they were not pleased about a couple of sweaty backpacker-type penguins going before them in the line. Yeah, whatever. Like we care what "look at me I'm so entitled" losers like that think! Anyway, after a lot of stress and sprinting and delays at security, we made it to our gate, and got on our flight to Oslo on time...
Our luggage, on the other hand, didn't make it. No big deal, and in a way, a relief. It's so much nicer having the heavy luggage delivered to the door than having to lug it home, right? All we had to do was pay the taxes for the extra wine. No big deal.
We had an uneventful trip home, and our luggage arrived in the evening...
So... what's on for next year? :)
31 October 2009
2009-10-10 - three wine tastings... with VIEWS!
How nice. We woke up to... no water. No water for the shower, no water for washing our dirty dishes, no water for flushing the toilet, nothing. Apparently a water main had burst. AGAIN, according to our hosts, a very lovely couple who rented the apartment to us. They were sweet and all apologetic and stuff, and, well, shit happens. It sucks that it has to happen our last day here, but we suppose things could have been worse. Like no water the day Ms. Penguin was sick and puking and stuff... *shudder*
Anyway...
Not having water wasn't the end of the world. We dealt with a few days of not bathing at all when we were in Botswana last year. And we weren't that dirty and smelly. Furthermore, we could shower at the airport lounge. So we just tossed on some clothes and headed out to do stuff.
The car needed a wash (it's polite to return a clean rental car) so it got a wash. We then headed out to Lanzerac Wines for lunch and a tasting; Ms. Penguin has a former colleague who recommended Lanzerac both for food and for wine, and for the view (it's quite lovely there). We started with lunch. Ms. Penguin ordered mussels as her starter while Mr. Penguin had a venison carpaccio; we each ate half of our starters and then exchanged plates. We both had lamb as our main. After lunch, we did a tasting of their lovely wines. The Pinotage and the Cabernet Sauvignon were especially noteworthy.
Our next stop was Hidden Valley. The view was even better than the view at Lanzerac, and the wines possessed the same awesomeness. They have a restaurant there that's supposed to be quite good, but it's a good thing we didn't try to eat there. It looked like there was a private arrangement going on (a wedding perhaps), so there was a good chance that we wouldn't get any food. Even along the way there, there was a sign for the restaurant advising advance bookings...
After we did our wine tasting, we walked around the grounds, to take some photos and watch the ducks in the dam. Very nice!
Finally, we did a tasting at Uva Mira. OMFSM what a view!!! This was getting better and better; what a shame it would soon be time to go home! Now, Uva Mira is located on top of a hill. From the tasting room, you can see False Bay, Table Mountain, Cape Town, and Cape Point. Although it was a bit misty when we arrived, so you could only see the contours of Table Mountain. It's definitely worth a visit for the view alone.
And again, the wines were of the same high calibre as Lanzerac and Hidden Valley. Except for the corked wine that Mr. Penguin sniffed out before anyone else could sniff, or worse yet taste. (How much you wanna bet that there would be people out there who sniff and taste a corked wine and have no idea that it was corked, but pretend to know something about wine and nod their heads and say it was good? :) Oh, and if you're hungry you can order a cheese platter to go with your wine tasting, or a bottle (or two) of wine...
It was a crying shame that we couldn't buy anything to take home :-(
Anyway...
Not having water wasn't the end of the world. We dealt with a few days of not bathing at all when we were in Botswana last year. And we weren't that dirty and smelly. Furthermore, we could shower at the airport lounge. So we just tossed on some clothes and headed out to do stuff.
The car needed a wash (it's polite to return a clean rental car) so it got a wash. We then headed out to Lanzerac Wines for lunch and a tasting; Ms. Penguin has a former colleague who recommended Lanzerac both for food and for wine, and for the view (it's quite lovely there). We started with lunch. Ms. Penguin ordered mussels as her starter while Mr. Penguin had a venison carpaccio; we each ate half of our starters and then exchanged plates. We both had lamb as our main. After lunch, we did a tasting of their lovely wines. The Pinotage and the Cabernet Sauvignon were especially noteworthy.
Our next stop was Hidden Valley. The view was even better than the view at Lanzerac, and the wines possessed the same awesomeness. They have a restaurant there that's supposed to be quite good, but it's a good thing we didn't try to eat there. It looked like there was a private arrangement going on (a wedding perhaps), so there was a good chance that we wouldn't get any food. Even along the way there, there was a sign for the restaurant advising advance bookings...
After we did our wine tasting, we walked around the grounds, to take some photos and watch the ducks in the dam. Very nice!
Finally, we did a tasting at Uva Mira. OMFSM what a view!!! This was getting better and better; what a shame it would soon be time to go home! Now, Uva Mira is located on top of a hill. From the tasting room, you can see False Bay, Table Mountain, Cape Town, and Cape Point. Although it was a bit misty when we arrived, so you could only see the contours of Table Mountain. It's definitely worth a visit for the view alone.
And again, the wines were of the same high calibre as Lanzerac and Hidden Valley. Except for the corked wine that Mr. Penguin sniffed out before anyone else could sniff, or worse yet taste. (How much you wanna bet that there would be people out there who sniff and taste a corked wine and have no idea that it was corked, but pretend to know something about wine and nod their heads and say it was good? :) Oh, and if you're hungry you can order a cheese platter to go with your wine tasting, or a bottle (or two) of wine...
It was a crying shame that we couldn't buy anything to take home :-(
2009-10-09 - the last full day
(This blog entry is what happens when we don't write the darn thing right away, and instead write it several weeks later, when we've forgotten everything!)
We started our day with a trip to the V&A Waterfront to deal with our VAT return papers. Doing the paperwork there makes things a lot easier and less hectic once you get to the airport; you bring all your receipts and fill out some paperwork, and when you get to CPT you go in an express lane, show off your stash, and get a check or money into your credit card. Very straightforward actually.
Our timing was quite good. There was only one person ahead of us in the line when we got to the office. While we were processing our forms, a huge line suddenly formed. It would have been at least 15 minutes waiting had we arrived 15 minutes after we actually did. *whew*
When we were done, we drove to Signal Hill, mostly to enjoy the view of Cape Town. Among other things, you get a nice view of the football stadium at Green Point; the 2010 World Cup final will be played there. We also saw some rather tame Guinea fowl being hand-fed by stupid picnicking tourists. While doing that is not quite as bad as feeding the baboons, the birds are still wild animals and should be treated as such. The birds end up getting the wrong kind of food when people feed them scraps from their picnic. Also, they seem to expect handouts from people. Ms. Penguin held out her empty hand to some of them to see what would happen, and she was approached by the normally very shy birds, who seemed disappointed that there was no food to be found...
Oh, and while we were up there, we heard the Noon Gun at... *drumroll* noon!
Anyway, there's only so long you can stay up there. We decided to head back to Stellenbosch to do some more wine tasting. Because we hadn't done enough. But first we had to have lunch. And for some odd reason, finding a place proved to be difficult. We wanted to go to Eikendal and one other place (don't remember what), but they were both closed... hmmf. We eventually found a farm called Somerbosch that served Ms. Penguin some tasty duck and Mr. Penguin some tasty kudu pie...
After lunch, we did a wine tasting at Kleine Zalze. We learned that their "basic" stuff is sold as "Foot of Africa" in Scandinavia. But we tasted their high-end range... lovely!
By then it was getting late, and we had to pack... blah! Our vacation was drawing to a close!
We started our day with a trip to the V&A Waterfront to deal with our VAT return papers. Doing the paperwork there makes things a lot easier and less hectic once you get to the airport; you bring all your receipts and fill out some paperwork, and when you get to CPT you go in an express lane, show off your stash, and get a check or money into your credit card. Very straightforward actually.
Our timing was quite good. There was only one person ahead of us in the line when we got to the office. While we were processing our forms, a huge line suddenly formed. It would have been at least 15 minutes waiting had we arrived 15 minutes after we actually did. *whew*
When we were done, we drove to Signal Hill, mostly to enjoy the view of Cape Town. Among other things, you get a nice view of the football stadium at Green Point; the 2010 World Cup final will be played there. We also saw some rather tame Guinea fowl being hand-fed by stupid picnicking tourists. While doing that is not quite as bad as feeding the baboons, the birds are still wild animals and should be treated as such. The birds end up getting the wrong kind of food when people feed them scraps from their picnic. Also, they seem to expect handouts from people. Ms. Penguin held out her empty hand to some of them to see what would happen, and she was approached by the normally very shy birds, who seemed disappointed that there was no food to be found...
Oh, and while we were up there, we heard the Noon Gun at... *drumroll* noon!
Anyway, there's only so long you can stay up there. We decided to head back to Stellenbosch to do some more wine tasting. Because we hadn't done enough. But first we had to have lunch. And for some odd reason, finding a place proved to be difficult. We wanted to go to Eikendal and one other place (don't remember what), but they were both closed... hmmf. We eventually found a farm called Somerbosch that served Ms. Penguin some tasty duck and Mr. Penguin some tasty kudu pie...
After lunch, we did a wine tasting at Kleine Zalze. We learned that their "basic" stuff is sold as "Foot of Africa" in Scandinavia. But we tasted their high-end range... lovely!
By then it was getting late, and we had to pack... blah! Our vacation was drawing to a close!
09 October 2009
2009-10-08 - penguins need cuddles too!
When Ms. Penguin read her e-mail this morning, she got a mail from SANCCOB asking if it were possible to do the scheduled tour today instead of Friday. We had no plans for the day other than being lazy around Stellenbosch, so we arranged for a time for the tour, and headed out to Table View, where SANCCOB is located.
Table View is called that for a very obvious reason. It sports an amazing view of Cape Town and Table Mountain. I don't even want to know how much it costs to buy a house there, especially one that is close to the beach. The pristine white sand beach that is popular with surfers. Aaah...
Anyway, when we got to SANCCOB, we were met by our guide Karen, and shown around the different areas and told about the kind of work they do. Basically, they are a wildlife rehabilitation charity that survives on private donations. They rehabilitate mostly penguins (oiled penguins, abandoned chicks, penguins that have washed onto shore for some reason or other, etc.), as well as other seabirds. They are NOT a zoo or an aquarium; if you want to visit you have to make arrangements in advance. They also do talks for school groups; this alsoy has to be booked in advance, naturally.
It's not "just like that" rehabilitating penguins and seabirds either. For example, penguins are picky eaters. Their fish must be "just so" and clean (fish that drops on the floor cannot be used). And salty; the fish also has to be dipped in a brine before the penguins are willing to eat it. The chicks cannot eat very large pieces of fish, so fish has to be cut for them. In a certain way of course. One also has to make sure they eat enough (or not too much) and that they get their vitamins and necessary medication.
When the penguins arrive, they are first given a veterinary check. They are then moved between various pens, based on their stage of recovery. You could see the differences between the new arrivals (one was especially skinny, as in bones-sticking-out skinny), the ones partially healthy, and the ones ready for release, all feisty and skeptical to people. Only experienced volunteers are allowed to handle the penguins that are ready for release, because they are so strong and healthy and bite even harder than the weak penguins (who can also bite quite hard). We were shown some examples of the damage penguins can do with their beaks - some protective gloves that had lots of holes in them :-)
Washing penguins can also be quite a nightmare. They're just like little kids, dogs, and cats; they don't want to take a bath and will resist any attempt to bathe them! It took two people to bathe a penguin - one to scrub it and the other to hold it down. Sometimes the penguin would almost break free, and make quite a splash. It also took two people to rinse a penguin, and again, one to do the actual rinsing while the other held the penguin down. Both washing and rinsing are important jobs though, as they need to get the oil sludge completely out of their feathers, and then the detergent completely rinsed out. This takes time; around one hour per penguin.
The highlight of the day was a meeting with Rocky, a resident rockhopper penguin. Rockhopper penguins are not indigenous to South Africa, so they cannot be released into the wild. Fortunately, it's rare that rockhoppers (and other type of penguins that aren't African penguins) show up on the South African coast. Anyway, Rocky is quite tame and loves company. He's just like a little puppy. When Karen was in the pen, Rocky came up to her and started nipping at her leg; imagine a little kid hanging on to the leg of Mom. Just like that. Very cute! Rocky was then let out of his pen, and we started taking a closer look at him. At one point, Rocky nipped at a bug that was on Mr. Penguin's leg, and Karen said that it was OK to touch Rocky. So we did. Wheeee! Ms. Penguin managed to sneak in a rub on the belly and is thrilled that she has finally rubbed a real penguin's belly! :-D
Penguins are surprisingly soft, except for the wings, which are hard and bristly. The feathers are short, and the feather density is very high. Petting penguin feathers was almost like petting fur.
Rocky is allowed to walk freely around the area, and he loves to hang out in the SANCCOB offices while the employees are working. Oh, and they're called rockhopper penguins for a reason. He didn't waddle around; he hopped around! Like on a pogo stick! It was very cute! Boing, boing, there goes a penguin!
Oh, and we can't forget Mia (we hope we remember her name correctly), the other young (three months old; Rocky is eight months) rockhopper who shares a pen with Rocky. We could pet her too, but she was a bit shy, so we let her be. She had two prominent scars on her torso - shark bites! This sweet little penguin survived a shark attack somehow. Tough little thing! :-)
After the tour, Mini Wolfgang and Mini Bobble (our plush traveling penguin and owl, for those of you who don't know already) adopted a penguin each! Since The Penguins already have a penguin called Wolfgang, Mini Wolfgang called his penguin Wolfgang II. Mini Bobble simply called his penguin Bobble (and it looks like a bobble too). Egocentric little things ;-)
We drove around the general area for a little while, making stops to take photos. We had lunch at a seaside Italian restaurant in a new development area of the posh kind; think pale men in those wussy golf sweaters who walk around with tiny non-dogs (you know, those kinds that are in fashion now, that eagles can take but don't because they have taste), and then headed back towards Stellenbosch. Along the way back to our apartment, we did two wine tastings. The first one was at Simonsig. They make excellent sparkling wine, both white and rosé. We tasted their higher range wines, as opposed to the last time we were there (as part of an organized tour in 2006) and tasted the regular stuff that they give to people who come to do tastings but don't know what to ask for.
The next tasting was at Beyerskloof. They had an interesting rosé sparkling wine using the Méthode Charmat method (where the second fermentation is done in stainless steel tanks, as opposed to bottles like with the Champagne method). It had a lovely foamy feel and a delicate flavor. Their Diesel Pinotage 2007, named after the winemaker's pet dog, was also fantastic.
Beyerskloof was the 30th winery we did tastings at during this trip!
Umami was the restaurant of choice for dinner. The concept is based on the umami taste, the fifth taste, and the food is prepared with the intention of bringing out its "umaminess." Fascinating stuff.
In our usual boring style (hah!), we ate the same thing, both for the starter and for the main. All vegetarian. Not because we were specifically after vegetarian food, but because they were the choices that looked most interesting. Our starter was a mushroom bento box - four different mushroom dishes beautifully presented in an elegant bento box. The dishes were: tempura shiitake with truffle mayonnaise; aubergine and roasted garlic stuffed brown mushroom; marinated king oyster mushrooms and beetroot salad; Thai green curry button mushroom turnover. Our favorite was the one with the aubergine, although all four were very tasty. This starter was also huge - huge enough to be its own main course!
For the main dish, we had waterblommetjie (water lily) risotto. It was served as a risotto with steamed corn, water lilies, and shiitake mushrooms, with a water lily tempura on top. This was absolutely delicious! Ms. Penguin is on a water lily kick now, and wishes she could get them at home...
With our meal, we had the Uva Mira Sauvignon blanc 2008, which was the suggested wine for both the bento box and the risotto:
color: too dark to see
nose: tropical fruits, slightly flowery
palate: dry, pleasant acidity, fruity, flavor of lemon and green gooseberries, relatively full-bodied. It was a nice match with our food, and would also be nice with fish and seafood.
Grade: :-)+
Table View is called that for a very obvious reason. It sports an amazing view of Cape Town and Table Mountain. I don't even want to know how much it costs to buy a house there, especially one that is close to the beach. The pristine white sand beach that is popular with surfers. Aaah...
Anyway, when we got to SANCCOB, we were met by our guide Karen, and shown around the different areas and told about the kind of work they do. Basically, they are a wildlife rehabilitation charity that survives on private donations. They rehabilitate mostly penguins (oiled penguins, abandoned chicks, penguins that have washed onto shore for some reason or other, etc.), as well as other seabirds. They are NOT a zoo or an aquarium; if you want to visit you have to make arrangements in advance. They also do talks for school groups; this alsoy has to be booked in advance, naturally.
It's not "just like that" rehabilitating penguins and seabirds either. For example, penguins are picky eaters. Their fish must be "just so" and clean (fish that drops on the floor cannot be used). And salty; the fish also has to be dipped in a brine before the penguins are willing to eat it. The chicks cannot eat very large pieces of fish, so fish has to be cut for them. In a certain way of course. One also has to make sure they eat enough (or not too much) and that they get their vitamins and necessary medication.
When the penguins arrive, they are first given a veterinary check. They are then moved between various pens, based on their stage of recovery. You could see the differences between the new arrivals (one was especially skinny, as in bones-sticking-out skinny), the ones partially healthy, and the ones ready for release, all feisty and skeptical to people. Only experienced volunteers are allowed to handle the penguins that are ready for release, because they are so strong and healthy and bite even harder than the weak penguins (who can also bite quite hard). We were shown some examples of the damage penguins can do with their beaks - some protective gloves that had lots of holes in them :-)
Washing penguins can also be quite a nightmare. They're just like little kids, dogs, and cats; they don't want to take a bath and will resist any attempt to bathe them! It took two people to bathe a penguin - one to scrub it and the other to hold it down. Sometimes the penguin would almost break free, and make quite a splash. It also took two people to rinse a penguin, and again, one to do the actual rinsing while the other held the penguin down. Both washing and rinsing are important jobs though, as they need to get the oil sludge completely out of their feathers, and then the detergent completely rinsed out. This takes time; around one hour per penguin.
The highlight of the day was a meeting with Rocky, a resident rockhopper penguin. Rockhopper penguins are not indigenous to South Africa, so they cannot be released into the wild. Fortunately, it's rare that rockhoppers (and other type of penguins that aren't African penguins) show up on the South African coast. Anyway, Rocky is quite tame and loves company. He's just like a little puppy. When Karen was in the pen, Rocky came up to her and started nipping at her leg; imagine a little kid hanging on to the leg of Mom. Just like that. Very cute! Rocky was then let out of his pen, and we started taking a closer look at him. At one point, Rocky nipped at a bug that was on Mr. Penguin's leg, and Karen said that it was OK to touch Rocky. So we did. Wheeee! Ms. Penguin managed to sneak in a rub on the belly and is thrilled that she has finally rubbed a real penguin's belly! :-D
Penguins are surprisingly soft, except for the wings, which are hard and bristly. The feathers are short, and the feather density is very high. Petting penguin feathers was almost like petting fur.
Rocky is allowed to walk freely around the area, and he loves to hang out in the SANCCOB offices while the employees are working. Oh, and they're called rockhopper penguins for a reason. He didn't waddle around; he hopped around! Like on a pogo stick! It was very cute! Boing, boing, there goes a penguin!
Oh, and we can't forget Mia (we hope we remember her name correctly), the other young (three months old; Rocky is eight months) rockhopper who shares a pen with Rocky. We could pet her too, but she was a bit shy, so we let her be. She had two prominent scars on her torso - shark bites! This sweet little penguin survived a shark attack somehow. Tough little thing! :-)
After the tour, Mini Wolfgang and Mini Bobble (our plush traveling penguin and owl, for those of you who don't know already) adopted a penguin each! Since The Penguins already have a penguin called Wolfgang, Mini Wolfgang called his penguin Wolfgang II. Mini Bobble simply called his penguin Bobble (and it looks like a bobble too). Egocentric little things ;-)
We drove around the general area for a little while, making stops to take photos. We had lunch at a seaside Italian restaurant in a new development area of the posh kind; think pale men in those wussy golf sweaters who walk around with tiny non-dogs (you know, those kinds that are in fashion now, that eagles can take but don't because they have taste), and then headed back towards Stellenbosch. Along the way back to our apartment, we did two wine tastings. The first one was at Simonsig. They make excellent sparkling wine, both white and rosé. We tasted their higher range wines, as opposed to the last time we were there (as part of an organized tour in 2006) and tasted the regular stuff that they give to people who come to do tastings but don't know what to ask for.
The next tasting was at Beyerskloof. They had an interesting rosé sparkling wine using the Méthode Charmat method (where the second fermentation is done in stainless steel tanks, as opposed to bottles like with the Champagne method). It had a lovely foamy feel and a delicate flavor. Their Diesel Pinotage 2007, named after the winemaker's pet dog, was also fantastic.
Beyerskloof was the 30th winery we did tastings at during this trip!
Umami was the restaurant of choice for dinner. The concept is based on the umami taste, the fifth taste, and the food is prepared with the intention of bringing out its "umaminess." Fascinating stuff.
In our usual boring style (hah!), we ate the same thing, both for the starter and for the main. All vegetarian. Not because we were specifically after vegetarian food, but because they were the choices that looked most interesting. Our starter was a mushroom bento box - four different mushroom dishes beautifully presented in an elegant bento box. The dishes were: tempura shiitake with truffle mayonnaise; aubergine and roasted garlic stuffed brown mushroom; marinated king oyster mushrooms and beetroot salad; Thai green curry button mushroom turnover. Our favorite was the one with the aubergine, although all four were very tasty. This starter was also huge - huge enough to be its own main course!
For the main dish, we had waterblommetjie (water lily) risotto. It was served as a risotto with steamed corn, water lilies, and shiitake mushrooms, with a water lily tempura on top. This was absolutely delicious! Ms. Penguin is on a water lily kick now, and wishes she could get them at home...
With our meal, we had the Uva Mira Sauvignon blanc 2008, which was the suggested wine for both the bento box and the risotto:
color: too dark to see
nose: tropical fruits, slightly flowery
palate: dry, pleasant acidity, fruity, flavor of lemon and green gooseberries, relatively full-bodied. It was a nice match with our food, and would also be nice with fish and seafood.
Grade: :-)+
2009-10-07 - The Mother City
Finally - a trip into Cape Town! Now, as much as we love the city, we don't love the traffic. At all. And things have only worsened because there's a lot of construction and roadworks stuff going on in preparation for the World Cup in 2010. Urgh. And in typical big city style, traffic is plentiful and angry. Not good for the nerves at all...
Our first stop was the District Six Museum. We were there for a very short time in 2006, and wanted to be able to spend more time this year. Getting there was a stressful challenge, and I really wish there was an easier way because everyone should see this museum, yet I can understand how the traffic can turn some people off from it.
Anyway, the District Six Museum is dedicated to the story of District Six, an area in Cape Town whose not-so-shiny-white inhabitants were forcibly moved out by the apartheid regime after the district was declared a whites-only area. You can either google for more information or wait for the edit; it will take too much time to write about this now. The whole thing is quite appalling, but that was then. Former residents of District Six have since visited the museum and written on a linen that is displayed prominently in the museum. These comments are very interesting to read.
Next, the V&A Waterfront. Yeah yeah, we know. Cheesy tourists. But we had to find out how to do the VAT refund stuff, and since it was lunch time, we had a nice seafood lunch at Quay Four, while watching the starlings and seagulls pester lunch guests at the restaurant on the lower level of the area. The starlings were especially über-cheeky, hopping on tables and trying to grab food while people were eating. We both had the chowder as our starter and a grilled calamari steak as our main. Yum.
After lunch, we looked around at some of the shops. Mr. Penguin got himself a Victorian hot towel shave at Mr. Cobb's The Barber. His face was as smooth as a baby's bottom! Mr. Penguin believes that this type of shaving is the kind all men should enjoy every now and then. By then, it was getting late and shopping was boring, so we headed back to Stellenbosch, where we picked up some African silk pillowcases for gifts. Ms. Penguin also found a few interesting necklaces and Mr. Penguin found some interesting cufflinks. Photos coming later.
We ate dinner at 1802 Restaurant at D'Ouwe Werf, and both had the kudu loin stuffed with mushrooms and cheese and wrapped in bacon, served with chocolate and red wine jus and savory polenta and seasonal vegetables. It was delicious! The meat was perfectly cooked and very tender and had a pleasant gamey taste. And being wrapped in bacon was a most excellent added bonus :-D
For dessert, Mr. Penguin had the star anise-infused crème brûlée and Ms. Penguin had the baked cheese cake with vanilla pod ice cream. The cheesecake was one of the best that Ms. Penguin had ever eaten. Really, it was that good! The crème brûlée was also very good, creamy, and flavorful.
Our first stop was the District Six Museum. We were there for a very short time in 2006, and wanted to be able to spend more time this year. Getting there was a stressful challenge, and I really wish there was an easier way because everyone should see this museum, yet I can understand how the traffic can turn some people off from it.
Anyway, the District Six Museum is dedicated to the story of District Six, an area in Cape Town whose not-so-shiny-white inhabitants were forcibly moved out by the apartheid regime after the district was declared a whites-only area. You can either google for more information or wait for the edit; it will take too much time to write about this now. The whole thing is quite appalling, but that was then. Former residents of District Six have since visited the museum and written on a linen that is displayed prominently in the museum. These comments are very interesting to read.
Next, the V&A Waterfront. Yeah yeah, we know. Cheesy tourists. But we had to find out how to do the VAT refund stuff, and since it was lunch time, we had a nice seafood lunch at Quay Four, while watching the starlings and seagulls pester lunch guests at the restaurant on the lower level of the area. The starlings were especially über-cheeky, hopping on tables and trying to grab food while people were eating. We both had the chowder as our starter and a grilled calamari steak as our main. Yum.
After lunch, we looked around at some of the shops. Mr. Penguin got himself a Victorian hot towel shave at Mr. Cobb's The Barber. His face was as smooth as a baby's bottom! Mr. Penguin believes that this type of shaving is the kind all men should enjoy every now and then. By then, it was getting late and shopping was boring, so we headed back to Stellenbosch, where we picked up some African silk pillowcases for gifts. Ms. Penguin also found a few interesting necklaces and Mr. Penguin found some interesting cufflinks. Photos coming later.
We ate dinner at 1802 Restaurant at D'Ouwe Werf, and both had the kudu loin stuffed with mushrooms and cheese and wrapped in bacon, served with chocolate and red wine jus and savory polenta and seasonal vegetables. It was delicious! The meat was perfectly cooked and very tender and had a pleasant gamey taste. And being wrapped in bacon was a most excellent added bonus :-D
For dessert, Mr. Penguin had the star anise-infused crème brûlée and Ms. Penguin had the baked cheese cake with vanilla pod ice cream. The cheesecake was one of the best that Ms. Penguin had ever eaten. Really, it was that good! The crème brûlée was also very good, creamy, and flavorful.
2009-10-06 - waddling from winery to winery
We had been looking for some kind of organized winery tour to do, so that Mr. Penguin didn't have to spit. While at the Stellenbosch Adventure Center for something somewhat unrelated, Ms. Penguin found a leaflet for Wine Walks - you walk among the vines along the Simonsberg route, through different vineyards. They have a special marked trail set up for it, and you can go with a guide, or on your own...
Our guide was a fantastic and interesting woman named Annelee (Anli). She is very energetic and enthusiastic, passionate about nature and good wine, and also very knowledgeable about the wine region, the varietals, and the wines. We learned about the different varietals and how to recognize and care for them, about regular vines vs bush vines, about the different families in the area, and about how the end of apartheid has changed winemaking in the region.
The starting point was DelVera, an area that houses a bunch of independently-owned businesses. It's a starting point for some wine trails for both walking and cycling. The trail itself is beautiful - not only do you see the vines, you get the beautiful mountain scenery, you encounter friendly farm workers, and you see interesting wildlife. Among other things, we saw some gorgeous blue cranes, South Africa's national bird.
The weather was cool and drizzly; not a bad day for a walk. However, the farmers were very stressed. Farm workers were frantically spraying the vines with an anti-fungal substance (sulphur with an organic resin as binding agent). We also saw a bunch of Sauvignon blanc vines where the leaves had been attacked by disease - a disaster for the crop.
Our first tasting was at Warwick Estate. In Norway, they sell an excellent blend called "Three Cape Ladies," which is exellent stuff, and their "Trilogy" blend is even better. Their Professor Black Sauvignon blanc 2009 was also lovely.
Laibach was our next destination. Their best offering was the 2006 Friedrich Laibach.
Next, we stopped at Delheim for both lunch and a tasting. We were first greeted by a man named Simon - a black South African guy - who started speaking Norwegian to us! It turns out he had lived in Bergen and had studied music there. Cool! Anli knew this beforehand so she somehow or other arranged for this little surprise. How fun!
We started with a very lovely sparkling (Brut) while deciding what to have for lunch. Ms. Penguin ended up with dolmades (rice wrapped in vine leaves) with sundried olives as starter and snoek fishcakes with salad as main dish. The fishcakes were so goooooood! Mr. Penguin had the samosas as his starter and a green bean and lamb stew as his main. Very tasty, and very filling!
We did our tasting as we ate lunch. Our favorite was the Grand Reserve 2004. Delheim also makes a nice dessert wine - the Edelspatz Nobel Late harvest 2007.
The final stop was at Muratie. Our favorite there was the Ronnie Melck Shiraz 2006. They also make a very lovely port, the LBV Port 2004. But if anything, Muratie's tasting room has a rather interesting decor, and it's worth a visit there just for that.
All in all, we had a great day! If any of you are in the Stellenbosch area, DO THIS TOUR! For information, contact Annelee Steyn at info [at] capexpectations dot com.
Since we had such a big lunch, we only had "snacks" for dinner - we bought a package of ravioli, cooked it, and munched on what we wanted to munch on.
Our guide was a fantastic and interesting woman named Annelee (Anli). She is very energetic and enthusiastic, passionate about nature and good wine, and also very knowledgeable about the wine region, the varietals, and the wines. We learned about the different varietals and how to recognize and care for them, about regular vines vs bush vines, about the different families in the area, and about how the end of apartheid has changed winemaking in the region.
The starting point was DelVera, an area that houses a bunch of independently-owned businesses. It's a starting point for some wine trails for both walking and cycling. The trail itself is beautiful - not only do you see the vines, you get the beautiful mountain scenery, you encounter friendly farm workers, and you see interesting wildlife. Among other things, we saw some gorgeous blue cranes, South Africa's national bird.
The weather was cool and drizzly; not a bad day for a walk. However, the farmers were very stressed. Farm workers were frantically spraying the vines with an anti-fungal substance (sulphur with an organic resin as binding agent). We also saw a bunch of Sauvignon blanc vines where the leaves had been attacked by disease - a disaster for the crop.
Our first tasting was at Warwick Estate. In Norway, they sell an excellent blend called "Three Cape Ladies," which is exellent stuff, and their "Trilogy" blend is even better. Their Professor Black Sauvignon blanc 2009 was also lovely.
Laibach was our next destination. Their best offering was the 2006 Friedrich Laibach.
Next, we stopped at Delheim for both lunch and a tasting. We were first greeted by a man named Simon - a black South African guy - who started speaking Norwegian to us! It turns out he had lived in Bergen and had studied music there. Cool! Anli knew this beforehand so she somehow or other arranged for this little surprise. How fun!
We started with a very lovely sparkling (Brut) while deciding what to have for lunch. Ms. Penguin ended up with dolmades (rice wrapped in vine leaves) with sundried olives as starter and snoek fishcakes with salad as main dish. The fishcakes were so goooooood! Mr. Penguin had the samosas as his starter and a green bean and lamb stew as his main. Very tasty, and very filling!
We did our tasting as we ate lunch. Our favorite was the Grand Reserve 2004. Delheim also makes a nice dessert wine - the Edelspatz Nobel Late harvest 2007.
The final stop was at Muratie. Our favorite there was the Ronnie Melck Shiraz 2006. They also make a very lovely port, the LBV Port 2004. But if anything, Muratie's tasting room has a rather interesting decor, and it's worth a visit there just for that.
All in all, we had a great day! If any of you are in the Stellenbosch area, DO THIS TOUR! For information, contact Annelee Steyn at info [at] capexpectations dot com.
Since we had such a big lunch, we only had "snacks" for dinner - we bought a package of ravioli, cooked it, and munched on what we wanted to munch on.
2009-10-05 - Close Encounters of the Penguiny Kind
We had been looking at the weather forecast for the week, and it looked kind of dismal (forecasted rain) for Wednesday and Thursday. So we decided we had better go to Simonstown to see the penguins while the weather was still good.
The drive over there on the R310 and M5 is actually quite nice, especially once you get to the shores of False Bay. When we drove there in 2006, we saw whales from the shore (ca. Fish Hoek/Kalk Bay); they were hopping and frolicking about. But this time no whales jumping around, hmmf, although at one spot we did see some whales swimming around...
When we got to Boulder's, there was some kind of military activity going on, and this big noisy helicopter was circling around close to the penguin beach (but not over the beach itself). It seemed like the penguins weren't too thrilled about such an intrusion, and many of them were hiding under the boardwalk or in the shrubs. If they were out on the beach, they'd run under the boardwalk the moment the helicopter started getting too close. A lot of penguins were also moulting, making them a bit lethargic, but also rather funny looking, with all the pin feathers sticking out from awkward places. The rest of the penguins were out at sea to feed. Bad timing for penguin watching on our part, but oh well. We did see a lot of cute penguins...
There are several different places where people can visit the penguins. There's one place that is particularly crowded; this is where most of the busloads of people go. The other parts of the penguin colony are a bit more relaxed. At one of the more secluded areas, we spotted a pair of penguins hiding under some steps. Cute photo op right there, and Ms. Penguin tried to introduce Mini Wolfgang (our traveling plush penguin) to the real penguins. The real penguins tried to bite him though, hehe. And then, when we started climbing the steps, one of the penguins bit Ms. Penguin on the toe! How sweet! :-D
After penguin watching and buying a few souvenirs, we were hungry, and drove off to this farm where we had a great dinner in 2006, hoping to get some lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant and most of the shops and activities are closed on Mondays. Bah. We just decided to keep it simple, and bought some ginger ale (Frankies!), droewoers, and tortilla chips to snack on, and drove back to Stellenbosch.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called De Volkskombuis. We were also there in 2006 and liked it so much we were determined to go back if we were ever in Stellenbosch again. Mr. Penguin didn't get a starter, but Ms. Penguin was getting her appetite back, so she ordered the Cape Malay wontons - one wonton filled with bobotie and served with homemade chutney, one wonton filled with waterblommetjies (water lilies) and mushrooms, and one wonton filled with snoek (a sort of mackerel-like fish) and served with grape and rooibos syrup. All of these were lovely, but the waterblommtjies were quite fascinating. It was the first time Ms. Penguin (and Mr. Penguin too) had ever tasted them, even after so many trips to South Africa.
For the main, Ms. Penguin had the Cape Country Sampler - a dish with bobotie, waterblommtjies bredie (water lily stew with lamb), and chicken pie. All three were delicious in their own way. The bobotie was nice and fruity, but without chunks of fruit like Mr. Penguin makes. The stew was very flavorful. The chicken pie was very tasty and "comforting." Mr. Penguin got the oven-roasted honey and orange duck legs, served with risotto and steamed vegetables. We both had the Middelvlei Pinotage 2008 with our meal.
The drive over there on the R310 and M5 is actually quite nice, especially once you get to the shores of False Bay. When we drove there in 2006, we saw whales from the shore (ca. Fish Hoek/Kalk Bay); they were hopping and frolicking about. But this time no whales jumping around, hmmf, although at one spot we did see some whales swimming around...
When we got to Boulder's, there was some kind of military activity going on, and this big noisy helicopter was circling around close to the penguin beach (but not over the beach itself). It seemed like the penguins weren't too thrilled about such an intrusion, and many of them were hiding under the boardwalk or in the shrubs. If they were out on the beach, they'd run under the boardwalk the moment the helicopter started getting too close. A lot of penguins were also moulting, making them a bit lethargic, but also rather funny looking, with all the pin feathers sticking out from awkward places. The rest of the penguins were out at sea to feed. Bad timing for penguin watching on our part, but oh well. We did see a lot of cute penguins...
There are several different places where people can visit the penguins. There's one place that is particularly crowded; this is where most of the busloads of people go. The other parts of the penguin colony are a bit more relaxed. At one of the more secluded areas, we spotted a pair of penguins hiding under some steps. Cute photo op right there, and Ms. Penguin tried to introduce Mini Wolfgang (our traveling plush penguin) to the real penguins. The real penguins tried to bite him though, hehe. And then, when we started climbing the steps, one of the penguins bit Ms. Penguin on the toe! How sweet! :-D
After penguin watching and buying a few souvenirs, we were hungry, and drove off to this farm where we had a great dinner in 2006, hoping to get some lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant and most of the shops and activities are closed on Mondays. Bah. We just decided to keep it simple, and bought some ginger ale (Frankies!), droewoers, and tortilla chips to snack on, and drove back to Stellenbosch.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called De Volkskombuis. We were also there in 2006 and liked it so much we were determined to go back if we were ever in Stellenbosch again. Mr. Penguin didn't get a starter, but Ms. Penguin was getting her appetite back, so she ordered the Cape Malay wontons - one wonton filled with bobotie and served with homemade chutney, one wonton filled with waterblommetjies (water lilies) and mushrooms, and one wonton filled with snoek (a sort of mackerel-like fish) and served with grape and rooibos syrup. All of these were lovely, but the waterblommtjies were quite fascinating. It was the first time Ms. Penguin (and Mr. Penguin too) had ever tasted them, even after so many trips to South Africa.
For the main, Ms. Penguin had the Cape Country Sampler - a dish with bobotie, waterblommtjies bredie (water lily stew with lamb), and chicken pie. All three were delicious in their own way. The bobotie was nice and fruity, but without chunks of fruit like Mr. Penguin makes. The stew was very flavorful. The chicken pie was very tasty and "comforting." Mr. Penguin got the oven-roasted honey and orange duck legs, served with risotto and steamed vegetables. We both had the Middelvlei Pinotage 2008 with our meal.
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