Have you ever had lunch in a cave facing the Atlantic Ocean with whales breeching out in the distance? Mike and I drove about 2 hours southeast to the beach side town of Hermanus, their version of Carmel or Leucadia (San Diego). Along the way, we passed the many townships, a sad sight indeed. I was thinking that the aluminum business would be quite lucrative here, for that is the primary building material in that neck of the woods. It was an eye opener, and I shall try to never complain about my little condo again!
South Africa is quite happy with their latest gold medal swimmer, who aced out Michael Phelps by an eyelash. And Chrissie is a Brit, so she is quite happy with the ladies who won a rowing contest for gold. Of course, the US is doing well, though the men’s gymnasts were a big flop. I did enjoy seeing our girls gymnastics spank both the Russkies and the Chinese. And we do root very seldom for Barry’s team from
Israel, like the swimmer Yakov.
When watching the Olympics in a foreign land, I think we tend to be a little more ‘international’ in our cheering for sportsmen and women. I really did enjoy the South African’s joy in beating Phelps. It means so much to him, and he gets 400,000 Rand from the government here. Phelps is a multi-millionaire, with or without that gold medal, right? They were amazed when I told them that gold medal swimmer Nathan Adrian was half Asian when he took the medal stand. Sure enough, after the anthem, they walked around the pool, and he gave his Asian mother a bouquet of flowers.
Chrissie made some English comfort food for dinner, and we can hardly wait. Of course, we did a course of bubbly, and some local Chenin Blanc to grease the taste buds first. Again, we are just having the time of our lives here. We may never leave!
It is rather cold here for me, as I am using a small heater in my bedroom, and seem to be walking around in bundles. But I much prefer this weather to the swelter of summer. Much like here on the Cape, as well as the cute beach town of Hermanus, it is mostly ours, in other words, few tourists, and eve fewer screaming children.
Thursday morning (now), we plan to hike up to Table Mountain. Wish us good weather and a hearty walk. It is sunny and clear. We stuffed ourselves with a nice Cape/Jewish breakfast of toast, eggs and baked beans. Perhaps Barry knows we will need the extra propulsion to get up to the top. I can’t wait to see the view.
Tomorrow, we are headed to the famous Stellenbosch wine area, or Winelands as they are called here. We have already tasted some of Barry and Chrissie’s favorites. Our Chenin Blanc last night was not much, even though in SA they do some oak for this varietal. Hey, if I am only complaining about the finish of a wine I never drink, life is good!
