From 2007-02-17 Ka...

After checking out the docks and a few of the restaurants on the water we headed back to Cape to Cuba literally feet from the railroad tracks. We had headed over to Kalk Bay down the M3 a little early since traffic clogs up the major arteries in the city from 4:30 to 6:30 and there was also a Stormers (local rugby team) game that evening. Capetonians are avid rugby fans, even more so than cricket I am thinking. At any rate, the first places we checked out were definitely upscale and somewhat pretentious (and also not very kid friendly), and mostly booked. So we headed back to the original destination which we had walked by before, a restaurant made up of different shacks, tin roofs, and a lounge on the sand, the Cape to Cuba. After entering through the staff entrance by accident, we made our way to see Kate, Carla's research assistant, in the lounge. She was happy to see us and had a little package for me, some Biltong which is South Africa's version of jerky or smoked meat. We then found our way into the dining area and found some seats with a view of the harbour. The décor was so tacky it was stylish; second tables, old chandeliers, mish mashed chairs and Cuban pictures and Che Guevara made up the interior. The mussels were delicious as was the rest of the meal. I had the blue fish, while the others stayed away from seafood. Katy did enjoy the mussels that we shared for starters. The kids also had huge mock strawberry iced drinks

Tonight we are having friends from the Flats come over for finger food and cake. Mr Rondi is making chocolate chip cookies as well.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful posts, emails, phone calls on my birthday. It makes everyone feel so much closer.

Birthday boy

With a breakfast meal of fresh homemade cinnamon buns and Mr. Rondi’s brown bread, I awoke to a feast. There were nice cards waiting by my placemat and a nice book on South African birds. Today’s agenda includes going to the Rondebosch athletics championship at the high school. What a place! There at least a thousand kids plus parents, grandparents and siblings lingering about one of the four sports fields, the first being rugby/soccer, then crickets, athletics, and a larger multipurpose field, not to mention the cricket training field and the outdoor swimming pool. The kids were wearing pinnies/jerseys according to which “house” they belonged to. Henry was in light blue. He was competing in the “under 7” 50 meter dash – b division. I guess they had divided them up at some point with preliminaries. Well the time came for Henry to race and it was hard to concentrate since there were older boys running 800 meters, high jumps, long jumps all going on around us. In the end, Henry won his race but the announcer said, winner Henry Ers! Well nobody around would’ve known any better, so we didn’t go correct him.

On the way to school we saw an interesting site, which we hadn’t seen before. Just a couple of blocks from our house, we saw an armed policeman with his rifle out discreetly looking for a suspect on the Main Road, he then made his way up a side street to his vehicle.

Tonight we are going to Kalk Bay for hopefully a seafood feast at a Cuban restaurant, From Cape to Cuba. We’ll see how that goes.

Groot Constantia

2007-02-15 Groot Constantia

Valentine’s Day was special as Katy’s school had a fund raising event at a fancy vineyard in Cape Town. Nobody knew exactly where the event was taking place as it was kept secret until the kids brought home the special notices. Everyone had loaded their picnic baskets and the kids were excited (there were loads of them) since there was special entertainment later in the evening. This turned out to be a Robin Williamsesque clown who performed tricks with fire.

Henry’s school had a “wear one of your dad’s ties” days as a fund raiser. He was stuck with either a FLC tie or Grandpa Schroeder tie which he wore very proudly even though it went down to his knees.

Harrison and I made our way to Wynberg, south of us down the Main Rd to get a window fixed which had broken unexpectedly on the Civic/Ballade. This seemed to be very normal for them, so we left the car and went off to find a haircut for both of us. We ended up just on an off street at the Fantasy Hair Salon. This proved to be an experience. “Aunt Carol” cut Harry’s hair as I went to find a cash machine at the nearby betting facility. When I got back he was almost finished with gel in his hair. My hair was cut by a very “happy” man. He made small talk, asked about weather in Canada, etc. while he trimmed my eyebrows (like they needed it), shaved my side burns (is that your real colour?), and gelled and sprayed my hair. It sure wasn’t a salon experience I am used to or will forget.

Carla met with hospice sisters at a meeting in Kenilworth, just north of Wynberg…she received some good responses and got some strong leads.

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Al! we love you very much.

Paarl

From 2007-02-12 Paarl

Carla’s interviews took us to the striking metropolis of Paarl this morning. The hospice itself was based it town, but the nurses would use vehicles to go to their patients in house (the patients). Harry and I had about three hours to check out the town, so we meandered around all the way to a winery! Imagine that…a vineyard inside a small city. They really had to twist my arm to do some testing, which I ultimately succumbed to. They also seemed to be able to sell me a bottle of their finest 2003 Merlot/Cabernet. The grounds were kept in stunning shape. The town itself gets its’ name from the rock formation at the top of the mountain around it (see pictures). We then had to stop for some coffee while we sat overlooking the valley. Apparently there is a world class Gary Player designed golf course, but we couldn’t see it.

Tomorrow Carla is going to the Breede River Valley to a town called Robertson. I won’t be joining her since the interviews go beyond the afternoon.

We spent the evening practicing our cricket skills in our courtyard area. Dad can still hit the long bomb even with the flat bat.

Two Oceans Aquarium

From 2007-02-10 Tw...

After picking Henry up from his friend’s birthday party at an indoor cricket pitch, we took the train home to get the napping family and head over to the Waterfront to visit the Aquarium. This is a family oriented attraction that includes over 8000 living animals, including fishes, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles and birds. Ragged tooth sharks, large spider crabs, seahorse, penguins, seals, jellyfish and more were all on display. One can even dive into the shark tank granted one has scuba credentials. There is a touch pool, a kelp forest and a 2 million seawater tank home to rays, sharks, a loggerhead turtle and shoals of other predators. We bought a year pass since after two visits it would pay for itself, and the waterfront is only a ten minute drive from our flat, I can see Harry and I whiling away some cold winter mornings watching the seals play. Chip and Ranch provided some good supper grub of curry rice and chicken for 12rand.