Tourists in Cape Town

Folks, I am officially done with school at the University of Cape Town (a blog about my school is soon to come…very late indeed).  This Wednesday I took my last exam, for my Differential Equations class at 8 am.  That day, though it is becoming spring here in South Africa, it poured rain, not the best weather to celebrate the end of school.

Thursday was a different story.  SarahCatherine, my roommate, Evan, a boy from my spring break trip I took early in September, and I headed downtown (that’s Cape Town) on the school shuttle, the Jammie.  First stop was the Mount Nelson Hotel.  The hotel was immaculate.  After crossing under huge white pillars, we made our way up a drive sided with palm trees until we made it to the main building of the hotel, a pastel pink colored mansion with light blue shutters and trimmings. 

(White pillars of the hotel)

(Me, Evan, and SarahCatherine en route to the hotel)

After entering the lobby, decorated with mirrors, chandeliers and plush furniture, we were led onto the veranda to have morning tea. 

(Lobby)

(Lounge area)

Never in my life have I gathered for tea with friends, and never in my life have I experienced such an extravagant event.

 

(Veranda)

I ordered a classic Rooibos tea, found only in South Africa.  Then we waited for our tea, as our waitress graced us with cubes of sugar, regular and brown, a cup of milk, and a jar of jelly. 

(Sugar cubes)

Our teas came in large kettle shaped glasses, the leaves steeping in the middles of the jugs, and had to steep for two turns of the hourglass our waitress had brought us. 

(Rooibos tea and timer)

While we waited for our tea to be ready, the waiters brought our snacks.  We had thought we would receive a small plate of crumpets to eat while drinking our tea.  What we received was a full breakfast, lunch, and dessert.  We had a plate of crumpets, chocolate croissants, ham stuffed croissants, multiple kinds of sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber, and salmon), doughnuts, and lots of other desserts. 

(Chocolate croissant and crumpets)

(Ham stuffed croissants)

(Sandwiches and desserts)

Needless to say, after sampling each of the treats brought to us, and each others’ teas, we were all stuffed, and it was a bit harder for me to act so classy.  

(Rooibos tea)

After paying practically nothing for what seemed like two full meals, we made our way into the sun and explored a bit of the hotel, walking to the pool, spa area, and lastly the gift shop.

(The outside of the hotel)

From morning tea, we headed down Government Street, a walking path fenced by trees meeting above the path to form a sort of archway, making our way to the Holocaust Museum. 

(Government Street)

The museum was a small corridor of pictures, information, and memorabilia.  The interesting parts of the museum were those in which apartheid was paralleled with the Holocaust.

After the Holocaust Museum, it was almost 3 pm, so we walked over to Charly’s Bakery. 

(Charly's Bakery-Mucking Afazing)

This bakery makes cakes like on the U.S. shows ‘Cake Boss’ and ‘Ace of Cakes’ and actually has its own show here in South Africa.  The building is covered in colorfully painted hearts, stars, butterflies, and little cupcake figures, with a pink and white striped tarp over the patio.  The inside was filled with glitter, different designed cupcakes, brownies, and cookies, decorated chandeliers, and noise as the cake decorators and customers shouted around. 

(A glimpse of Charly's)

SarahCatherine and I had preordered a ‘Wicked Chocolate’ cake with rose petals.  We picked up the cake, in a pink and white striped box, and sat down to rest our feet, taking in the ambience of the place. 

(Wicked Chocolate Cake)

I bought a few other treats and then we moved on to our final stop.

(Red Velvet cupcake, Mini cakes with fondant-'eat me', 'fuck')

The Green Market Square.  The square is a Mecca of souvenirs and gifts.  Shops were set up with four poles, each with their own makeshift walls and ceilings of tarp, fabric, or no ceiling and walls at all.  The tables were hidden in jewelry, wood figures, stone figures, paintings, and numerous other trinkets.  Everything was fascinating to look at, yet it was not the place to just stand and watch.  Each vender continued to harass us, ‘Sister, I see you are looking at these, take what you like,’ or ‘For you, sister, a special price.’  I was more than overwhelmed. 

(One of the many venders I bought from)

(Another vender)

The market was busy and crowded, as the venders were starting to pack up.  Eventually the tree of us got into rhythm, helping each other negotiate down the prices.  The trick is this…they name a price.  You go much lower.  They say no.  You tell them you just met some one who could give you that price.  They say no again, and most often name a price lower than their first offer, but still higher than yours.  You say you will not pay more than some price, a little higher than you first offered.  They say no.  You leave and more often than not they call you back and take your deal.  We proceeded to bargain in this manner until most of the shops had closed down, and it was dinnertime.

The three of us walked back down Long Street and caught a Jammie home where SarahCatherine and I finally put our feet up and planned our next day of activities.

(Long Street)

9 days until I'm in Oregon!