A Week With Family!

As you know, I spent last week with my older brother Erik and his wife Jana. It felt like we had a packed week of doing things, but we also took it easy. They were on the last leg of a Spring Break through Europe as well, and all three of us felt sick at some point of the week. It retrospect, we visited lots of restaurants, but they were all delicious and varied.

For a change of pace, I made a video slideshow to show what we did over this week of relaxation. Make sure you watch it in HD, since the photos will be much better. I also love the song!

Click here to watch in HD!
For those desiring the back story on the photos, here's a list of things we did:

• Started out at the V&A Waterfront with sightseeing and seafood.
• A tour of my house and neighborhood, Observatory, as well as a stop at a nearby restaurant. This was followed by pool at a local bar (the billiard balls are much smaller here, like Snooker balls).
• Dinner at Mama Africa! It is a popular restaurant on Long Street, downtown, featuring African cuisine and game. Our dishes included crocodile, ostrich, Springbok, and chicken curry. This was followed by hanging out with the live Marimba band.
• A visit to the Stellenbosch vineyards. We went back to some of the wine farms that I toured and posted about. We had an intimate tasting with the actual winemaker of Hoopenburg Wines. After a day of visiting, we had a Cuban dinner and walked around in the town of Stellenbosch.
• Cape Point. Erik and Jana went to the Cape of Good Hope while I was in class one day. They saw the baboons... fighting, being monkeys, doing how they do.
• Fork Restaurant. This was another unique restaurant, that served only small Tapas dishes. Some of the best food I've had since arriving though (and most expensive, unfortunately). We had fried goats cheese, kudu, prawns, ostrich fillet on spiced potatoes, fondue, yellow tail, among other things. Yumm! (Great mojitos, too)
• Surfing at Muizenberg. As I mentioned on Twitter, we were hoping for good weather and waves. Amazingly, both were delivered, and Erik and I hit some waves while Jana lived in the sun.
• Took the train to Kalk Bay. It is a unique ocean-side town further down the coast, with a beautiful view and a fishing industry. We had fish and chips at Kalkies, and then saw all the fresh fish laid out by some of the local fisherman. A very drunk guy, claiming to be the skipper of a boat) had large seals hanging out, while he threw them chunks of bloody fish and told them to do things for the tourists. I had no idea that seals here spoke Afrikaans. At Kalkies, I got the prawns... they were too graphic for me, all the pieces and body parts and such.
• Another night of dinner and Long Street. This time we enjoyed a large sushi dinner before meandering over to Long Street for another night at Mama Africa. The marimba band was so good before, we decided to just hang out at the bar and enjoy the music. Things got a little out of control when I had a few drinks and was invited up with the band to play. I was fearless at the time, and also thought I had the best rhythm in the world. Honestly, in my head, I thought I was on fire. After seeing the video, not so much. I would later be asked out by two prostitutes, and not knowing their profession and thinking they just wanted to party, started talking to them until Erik took me away. Too many cocktails. "They were just being nice!"
  
• Beach Bums! We spent a few hours the next day at Clifton Beach, one of the most beautiful and popping beaches in the area. It was gorgeous, except for the few leathery-skinned, old, bronze men that were sitting out naked with their damaged, bleached hair. Eeek, go inside and let your skin heal! I wanted to buy them aloe vera and a fire blanket.
  
• Addis in Cape. This traditional Ethiopian restaurant is similar to Buraka in Madison, but a bit more beefed up (as you could expect in Africa). We got a fixed menu, three course meal, trying lots of different entrees and a few appetizers. Dessert followed, with a coffee ceremony where they burned Frankincense.
• Hemisphere. We got dressed up and visited Hemisphere, a posh club on the 31st floor of the ABSA building, which towers over the center of downtown Cape Town. It was a bit odd, but a fun experience. I'm not sure how the strict "dress code" exempted the overweight lady in the red "Jeep" t-shirt with Crocs on. She must have been super-VIP.
  
• The township tour. You can't very well visit Cape Town without visiting a township to see the other side of life here. My friend Andrew brought us through Nyanga for a few hours, which was really nice. I might post more about it later. Highlights included visiting a huge braai, a community gardening project, drinking homemade beer, seeing a bed and breakfast, and lunch at Andrew's.

Enjoy the video!

Addis in Cape Ethiopian restaurant.