Day 29
Our first night in Cape Town was rather slow-paced. We had the most delicious meal of my life. There are no words for it.
Kelsey's dad, Larry, came to spend the time with her, so Kelly and I went out to eat ourselves. Once off the boat, we weren't quite hungry yet. We wanted to do some wine tasting if there was any possibility.
In a swanky-looking restaurant a short distance off the boat we asked if they did any wine tasting. Nope, they said, but we could try the bottle store up the street or one in the mall. Well, the store up the street sounded and looked the most promising, but it was closed. I didn't have much hope for the wine shop in the mall, but, to our amazement, they were doing a free wine tasting from 5-7 pm! And it was 6 pm! We shuffled our way on inside.
The guy at the counter was pretty busy selling things to people, so he told us to help ourselves. We tasted seven South African wines: one called Italian Job, whose maker was a movie fanatic, a so-so sauvignon blanc, delicious shiraz, one called Three Cape Ladies (I think) and some other stuff that wasn't good enough to remember.
A South African man also doing the tasting started talking to us. They always ask if we're American, or where we're from, as if they don't know. Then we tell them all about our Semester at Sea, the boat, what we've done and where we're going. People love that stuff.
His name was Trevor. We asked him where we could find a Starbucks. (Everyone was sure Cape Town would have Starbucks.) But he had never heard of it. So we described the sacred place to him and told him about our dreams of Sugar-Free-Soy-Caramel Lattes, Undertows and Phantoms. Then, this very nice gentleman recommended that we try out a place called Mugg & Bean. He said it was quite similar. They refilled your cup.
After a while, the shop boy came over and said he had to pack up soon because they were closing. We said our goodbyes and left.
Kelly and I thought we would go back and try the first restaurant. It was super cute. They had a patio with umbrellas and heating lamps. They tried to seat us out there. Too bad it was freezing, and the blankets they provided would not be enough. They couldn't seat us inside either, because the 30 empty tables all had reservations. Just as we were about to leave our name and come back later, someone called to cancel their reservation.
The place was just as nice inside: mood lighting, candles on every table, couches in the bar area and an open kitchen where you could watch them make your food. The bathroom was also bomb. The sinks were just an angled slab of granite and the water just ran down.
While looking at the drink menu, which looked like a weekly newspaper, Kelly noticed that they made Mojitos. That was a surprise because Namibia didn't make mixed drinks of any kind. I got a regular one, and she got a berry one. They were delicious.
We pondered the menu for quite some time. Since we were in Africa, we had to get something exotic, something we couldn't just get in the states. However, our options were limited. They had regular meats, expensive and large fish platters or sushi. We knew we wanted to get the ostrich. We decided on a combination: Tuna carpaccio with a salad for an appetizer, Philadelphia rolls and Ostrich Medallions. All of them were beyond divine. The tuna had beets and green spinach; the sushi had super-creamy cream cheese and salmon on the outside instead of the inside; and the ostrich had a great red wine-mushroom sauce and came with a mini spinach quiche. MMMM mmmmm.
But that's not all. We got dessert too. Kelly and I couldn't decide between a banana tarte tatin and vanilla crème brûlée, so we got both. And a glass of Porqupine sauvignon blanc to wash it down.
We demanded our waiter give our complements to the chef. Then we got him to talk to us for a little bit. We asked him if he still experienced racism in South Africa since it was so recent that apartheid was abolished. He said no, that most people treated everyone equally. That was an answer I didn't expect. Maybe it was because he was young and didn't remember what it was like during apartheid, or maybe his friends didn't. Most adults can describe numerous discriminatory actions.
We left him a big tip to help out with school.
Our first night in Cape Town was rather slow-paced. We had the most delicious meal of my life. There are no words for it.
Kelsey's dad, Larry, came to spend the time with her, so Kelly and I went out to eat ourselves. Once off the boat, we weren't quite hungry yet. We wanted to do some wine tasting if there was any possibility.
In a swanky-looking restaurant a short distance off the boat we asked if they did any wine tasting. Nope, they said, but we could try the bottle store up the street or one in the mall. Well, the store up the street sounded and looked the most promising, but it was closed. I didn't have much hope for the wine shop in the mall, but, to our amazement, they were doing a free wine tasting from 5-7 pm! And it was 6 pm! We shuffled our way on inside.
The guy at the counter was pretty busy selling things to people, so he told us to help ourselves. We tasted seven South African wines: one called Italian Job, whose maker was a movie fanatic, a so-so sauvignon blanc, delicious shiraz, one called Three Cape Ladies (I think) and some other stuff that wasn't good enough to remember.
A South African man also doing the tasting started talking to us. They always ask if we're American, or where we're from, as if they don't know. Then we tell them all about our Semester at Sea, the boat, what we've done and where we're going. People love that stuff.
His name was Trevor. We asked him where we could find a Starbucks. (Everyone was sure Cape Town would have Starbucks.) But he had never heard of it. So we described the sacred place to him and told him about our dreams of Sugar-Free-Soy-Caramel Lattes, Undertows and Phantoms. Then, this very nice gentleman recommended that we try out a place called Mugg & Bean. He said it was quite similar. They refilled your cup.
After a while, the shop boy came over and said he had to pack up soon because they were closing. We said our goodbyes and left.
Kelly and I thought we would go back and try the first restaurant. It was super cute. They had a patio with umbrellas and heating lamps. They tried to seat us out there. Too bad it was freezing, and the blankets they provided would not be enough. They couldn't seat us inside either, because the 30 empty tables all had reservations. Just as we were about to leave our name and come back later, someone called to cancel their reservation.
The place was just as nice inside: mood lighting, candles on every table, couches in the bar area and an open kitchen where you could watch them make your food. The bathroom was also bomb. The sinks were just an angled slab of granite and the water just ran down.
While looking at the drink menu, which looked like a weekly newspaper, Kelly noticed that they made Mojitos. That was a surprise because Namibia didn't make mixed drinks of any kind. I got a regular one, and she got a berry one. They were delicious.
We pondered the menu for quite some time. Since we were in Africa, we had to get something exotic, something we couldn't just get in the states. However, our options were limited. They had regular meats, expensive and large fish platters or sushi. We knew we wanted to get the ostrich. We decided on a combination: Tuna carpaccio with a salad for an appetizer, Philadelphia rolls and Ostrich Medallions. All of them were beyond divine. The tuna had beets and green spinach; the sushi had super-creamy cream cheese and salmon on the outside instead of the inside; and the ostrich had a great red wine-mushroom sauce and came with a mini spinach quiche. MMMM mmmmm.
But that's not all. We got dessert too. Kelly and I couldn't decide between a banana tarte tatin and vanilla crème brûlée, so we got both. And a glass of Porqupine sauvignon blanc to wash it down.
We demanded our waiter give our complements to the chef. Then we got him to talk to us for a little bit. We asked him if he still experienced racism in South Africa since it was so recent that apartheid was abolished. He said no, that most people treated everyone equally. That was an answer I didn't expect. Maybe it was because he was young and didn't remember what it was like during apartheid, or maybe his friends didn't. Most adults can describe numerous discriminatory actions.
We left him a big tip to help out with school.
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