Traveling as much as we do right now, you can't stop to compare the cities you visit. Views, architecture, culture, music, shops, bars, hotels, restaurants and their food......
We are 'stationed' in Johannesburg at the moment, but took a short trip to Cape Town this weekend. And, what can I say, compared to Joburg, Cape Town is fantastic! The way the city is situated is just incomparable with any world city. Imagine a city with the Atlantic Ocean on one side, with cold, fresh water, very nice beaches and a harbor that has been restored into a vibrant shopping area with bars, restaurant and entertainment.
Outside the harbor you can see the Robben Island, mostly famous for the years Mandela spent there. Today the prison host a museum and there's a ferry will take you out daily. And then follow the long green cape with the cape Peninsula mountains.Around the city you feel the Cape Peninsula mountains presence. On one side is the Table Mountain with its flat structure and on the other side the Lion Head. If you follow the Cape all the way out you get to the Cape of Good Hope, where the star shaped fort from 1645 is still standing, also as a museum today. At that point the Atlantic ocean meets the Indian Ocean which brings in warmer water.
On top of this the city has a lot of pretty old buildings with a heritage in Victorian and Dutch architecture, but with added colours, blue, yellow and a lot of purple.
You can't really tell what kind of city or country you are in though. Some streets reminds you of New York. There was even a film production a block from our hotel (Grand Daddy, very cool hotel by the way) on Long Street, with a fake traffic jam made up of New York plated cars. Then you have the white villas and apartmentbuildings along the beaches (prices ranging from 3 million Rands to 40mR (1R=0,8Sek=0,08 Eur), recembeling the hills of LA, Rio.... And then of course the downtown...
Outside the down town you have vineyards producing the famous South African wine, but you also have the very poor townships like Alexandria, just as Joburg. Again Diversity is the word. And you can pick what you want to see and what you rather not want to see...
So how much can you see in a weekend? We chose to stay downtown on the most lively street (Long street), packed with bars, cafés and shops and just a block away from the Green Market square as well as the St George Mall street with the African markets.
We had breakfast at a German café with garden zwergs as table decour, being hosted by a guy from Portugal - not speaking german....very international ;) Then we cruised the streets around and bought some very cool african christmas tree-angels.
Then we had a coffee at a smaller street listening to African Street music.
After a while we took a taxi to the Waterfront (the new harbor area).
The mall there is really great and I bought some very nice christmas gifts and we had an EXCELLENT lunch made up by oysters as entree (for Philipp) and lobsters, king tiger prawns and line fish as main, topped with a SA Riesling...mmmmmmmums!
After the lunch we went to one of the beaches on the same side of the mountains, Clifton beach and watched the sunset.
Beautiful.....
The evening we spent on Long Street, sitting at the Cape Cuba on top of Che Bar,
watching the street life and enjoying our food (giant prawns again :). The crime level is not even comparable with Jobourg but you should stay on the streets and watch out at the ATM when you withdraw money. We didn't see any crime up front, but there was a lot of patrols walking the street constantly.
Sunday morning we took a taxi over the mountains and had our breakfast at Camps Bay. A really nice beach suburb. House climing up all with ocean view. White sand. Beachvolley actions and a mix group of people all ethnic groups, which felt good. It really feels like Cape Town has come further with the integration than Joburg. So a couple of hours in the sun to relax was really nice, especially for the hard working husband of mine.
Before we left we had prawns(!) at the Blues restaurant overlooking the beach....it's all so beautiful....
On our way back to the hotel we asked the taxi driver to take us for a drive up on the mountains to get a better view of the city and the
new stadion they are building for the World Cup 2010.
And I must say, it's really dramatic views. We had a fantastic weekend and really want to go back soon to see more and enjoy it again....