Lovely

 

Day 2

We’ve Been to the Mountain Top

First, I must correct myself. In previous blogs I have been using the appellation Capetown when in fact it should be Cape Town. So, henceforth, it’s Cape Town as the locals and everyone else in the world seems to know except me … until now.

Our first adventure was to travel to the top of Table Mountain, which overlooks the city of Cape Town (remember: two words). But first was a lovely breakfast from which we could see the Mountain from our table. 

Skies had cleared completely, and we had a full, breath-taking view from our breakfast table. Our breakfast was excellent and the service impeccable. Two-for-two (dinner last night and breakfast this morning).

We Ubered (yes, it is now a verb; and yes it is something someone named RUBERG must do) to the cable car station and stood in line for about an hour to get into the cable car to ascend the mountain.

Now the cable car was maximum cool; it was circular and rotated as we went on the long cable ride up the mountain, thereby allowing us to get a 360 degree lovely view of the surroundings. What a simple but great idea! The mountain is somewhere between 450-510,000,000 years old (I like to write out the numbers just to emphasize how big and almost unfathomable they are). It is 1087 meters high (or 3566.27 feet for those still far behind the rest of the world and using the imperial system of measurement).

Once atop the mountain there are many lovely viewing sites and rugged trails to wander.

It was sunny and mild (55 degrees Fahrenheit or 12.8 degrees Celsius – just to make this all understandable to a global audience. Of course, the views were quite lovely in all directions, and I could post 50 pictures, but these few will have to do to give you the idea. Also of course, the pictures do not do justice to the vast landscape and scale of the mountains etc. You will just have to use your imagination. After a hike, a drink and a snack on a patio overlooking the mountains, cliffs and beaches below, we headed back down the mountain.

   

After returning to the hotel for a brief respite and a change of clothes, it was off to the Mount Nelson Hotel for Afternoon Tea (sometimes called ‘high tea’) at 3pm. Now, high tea is an invention of Anna Russell, the 7^th Duchess of Bedford, in 1840 as a way to have an afternoon snack since dinners were served so late. It quickly became a fashionable thing and by the 1880’s was routine for high society (read British aristocrats). Our experience at Mount Nelson was nothing short of lovely. The hotel lobby and dining areas where the high tea takes place was absolutely lovely. There was a selection of 40 lovely teas and we were served several courses of snacks that were the equivalent of about 20 bite sized appetizers – finger sandwiches, seafood on crackers, sweets of all sorts. The artistic presentation of each appetizer was completely lovely, not to mention they were all very tasty. We sampled African teas, fruity teas (e.g., strawberry vanilla, forest berries, jasmine peach).

   

   

Now Adam is an avowed tea misanthropist and wanted only black coffee (what a bore!). But, to his credit, he tried some of Maria’s African teas with some success, and our server, Emma, convinced him to try a tea that was a “whiskey tea” (Adam is an avowed whiskey enthusiast). The whiskey tea had a smoky smell and flavor and was acceptable to Adam, but he still ordered black coffee.

We relaxed and drank and snacked for almost 2 hours (don’t be judgmental … that’s how long high tea is supposed to last) while we listened to a pianist play lovely contemporary music on a grand piano with an elegant flair. We were stuffed so we went back to our hotel (the V&A) and walked the waterfront. Congratulations to the city planners and developers of that real estate! What a lovely environment with many shops, restaurants, and street musicians. The evening weather was lovely as well – high 50’s (20 degrees C) and calm.

We finished the day at Quay 4 (pronounced 'key 4') for some drinks and appetizers (we were pretty full from the high tea). There were oysters for the very brave (or rather the gastronomically insane), seafood chowder and lots of sushi to share - YES, the Browning children love sushi. Then it was back to the V&A to retire for the evening (and for me to write this blog). So far, the food has been lovely, and despite Connor's incessant requests, we have managed to avoid the McDonald's across the street from our hotel.

Side note: You can thank Maria for the "lovely."