Oh, the mother city!

I love Cape Town, no really, I LOVE Cape Town.

I've made it a tradition to go to Cape Town at least once every year for leisure... And this beautiful city never cease to amaze me. Every time I go I discover something totally amazing and different about the city.

This time around, me and the friends we decided to stay away from the typically tourist places mainly because of the time we were traveling - December is high season here so one might spend more time on the queue to get on the cable car than on top of table mountain. So we went to the beach, did some wine tours, ate at arb places (like a fish and chip place in Hout Bay) and me being me - I had to convince the bunch that Cape Point was worth all the trouble... That the drive there alone is to die for and yet again, I was reminded of why I love the spot...

A few things I love about Cape Town:

1. Everyone is chilled, I mean even the birds in Cape Town know how to have R&R

Left: Lil guy looking out at the Mariners Wharf Harbor. Top right: birdy taking in the sights from the Two Oceans restaurant in Cape Point and Mr and Mrs Bird contemplating about the year ahead in Clifton beach.... they all look chillaxed!

This kind of behavior is not appreciated by us Joburgers sometimes. I remember me and my friends getting frustrated over restaurant orders taking too long in our view until we overhead a conversation amongst a Cape Town couple making a joke over the fact that Johannesburg people are always on the run and always complaining about crappy service. Well, we decided to rewind a bit and exist on Cape Town time. It did us well.

2. Seemingly every drive you take is a scenic drive. Seriously, you can't get anywhere without being amazed by the wonders of nature. The contrast of the sea against the mountains. How everything seems to just fit in well together.

All these snap shots taken from a moving car

 3. How the city is made for tourist from all over the world to enjoy. I am truly amazed at truly world class Cape Town is. I would recommend is to everyone and no, you don't need a body guard to feel safe here. People walk at night, I was shocked. Its not something you do in Jozi, you can't say you are going out on the town and rely on your feet as your only mode of transportation.

Happy holidays and Cape Town is calling

Under the assumption that someone reads this blog.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS, I hope that yours I filled love,happiness and hope for a blessed 2012.

So,I've never travelled during the festive season. I'm always turned off by the idea that everyone is off so they'll be on the road too. I LOVE traveling but if I can avoid the crowds I will. But this year I decided to change traditions. Not only will I be travelling for the holidays but I'm going to be travelling with a group of friends. Nice one!!!! Our chosen destination is Cape Town! I've been to the mother city like a dozen times, I make a voyage there every year around my birthday month. But I love the place so much I get excited every time I have to heard there.

So this time around I'm not planning on doing the tourist thing (no sight seeing planned) I'll enjoy various restaurants, chill at the beach and since I'm going there with a group - will try out the party scene :). I'm over excited.

But before my trip to CT next week, I have to go to my moms for Christmas. I swear I might even enjoy the dinner because I'm sooooo looking forward to Kaapstad ( Cape Town in Afrikaans). Will write about my trip there when I come back.

Remembering Paris (Part 1)

Paris...

I won't lie and say I've dreamt of going to Paris all my life, but somewhere in my adult life this vision of me in Parrri dominated my thoughts. Through the movies and all the gah-gah about Paris being the most romantic city I became curious. I'm not a romantic person by any measure so I was also keen on finding out whether or not I'd see this city from a romantic perspective??? Who knows, if nothing could melt me maybe Paris could try?

I arrive in CDG airport early morning on an AirBerlin flight from Dusseldorf. After much unanticipated drama. Ooh the joys of traveling. I had my flight turned around mid flight because of engine problems so I had to spend an unplanned night in Germany? Who knew! So not only did I do a stop over in Germany - now I can actually claim I've been to Germany (technically) cause I spent a night there? lol.

Back to Paris. The airport was like any other, so I was excited to go out an explore. The fast airport link plus the metro was sufficient in getting me to the closest stop (Cardinal Lemoine) from my hotel. My home for the few days I spent in the city of lights was Hotel Du Pantheon. Its a descent enough hotel and for what you get - very affordable by Paris standards. I was lucky (I think) to get a room with a view of the Patheon. Familiarity is a devil, just because the Patheon was in my door step - I never felt the urgency to check it out, except through my window. The other fun thing was that its also right across Sorbonne University. It was very nice to watch cool Parisian students - who most of the time looked like they just stepped off a runway - go about their normal student business.

View from my window

View of the Patheon from my window

So after settling into my hotel I had to go see the Eifel Tower? Isn't that the whole reason I came to Paris after all? To behold the engineering beauty that shall turn me into a mooshy romantic?

Le tour Eiffel

Besides the fact that Mr Eiffel was an engineering genius and its unimaginable how such a structure was built in 1889 in just under 3 year, with zero technological involvement or advanced safety equipment??? I did not find anything remotely romantic about this sight... But thank heavens I was not one of the 300 men involved in this construction. The long queues to the ticket counter discouraged me from going up. Plus I figured, why not save this experience for when I go to Paris with a romantic partner in that way, maybe I'll see the fluffiness in this steel structure.

The next day, I decided to use a voucher on my ParisPass that gave me access to the red bus. I always prefer a getting lost approach to seeing new places but I had a feeling that a city such a Paris might overwhelm me. So on to the bus I went to get a good feel of the place and also to note the spots I'd like to spend more time in. I did a full 2 hour round without getting off.

Funny enough (the tourist gods might never forgive me) my very first stop was along Chamos Elysees *hangs head in shame*. Yes, the very 1st thing I did on my first full day in Paris was to shop.

After some much needed retail therapy, I decided to try and make amends with the tourist gods by making my way up the Arc de Triomphe. And just to make 100% sure i get full redemption I took the stairs, all 284 of them. By the time I reached the top I was yet again reminded, Gustave Eiffel was a genius. The view of the tower from here showed me just how taaaall it is.

Paris is a beautiful city no doubt. I was there in winter - but I had a feeling that the city transforms itself each season. My pictures show amber leaves on trees, gray skies, snow falls in parts but I can imagine its a totally different view in summer. Which is why I've decided if there is one place I have to return to - it is Paris. I mean, hello - it is a basic girl right to see Paris in the summer, spring and autumn. 

The following days, which I'll write about in another entry were on full tourist mode.

Two things

I looove summer. In South Africa we have been blessed with four seasons, with Spring being my most favorite. I am a spring baby after all. But summer is my second best. For one, everyone comes Alive in summer and you get to enjoy the great outdoor with a lot of outdoor events....

1. Simple flower arrangements at outdoor restaurants

I love going to a restaurant and finding a cute flower arrangement, the simpler - the better. I always imagine that they probable picked the flower from somebodys garden. Like this one, I saw at Canteen a chic restaurant on "Arts On Main". I went there with a girl friend one weekend and we absolutely LOVED the food. We'll be going back. Its not much, but its things like this that make me believe that the restaurant is at least making an effort, not only are they committed in serving you descent food but they want you to enjoy the experience. Canteen does that very well.

2.  Vovo Telo

There is a 'new' bread cafe in town and I'm in love with it. Well, its not exactly new but I only discovered it a couple of weeks ago thanks to a colleague who recommended it. Being a girl, I try and limit my bread intake but I sure do love me some sour dough bread *hangs head in shame*

Anyway, I dragged yet another friend of mine to try and sample the place with me. I was not armed with my camera just my phone as I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to scare my friend. Anyway, almost 30 minutes into the drive searching for 4th Avenue in Parkmore we finally found it. Oh by the way, 4th Avenue is a must for anyone looking a non-pretentious hangout in the 'North'...

This is what I could get of the place, my phone does not have an excellent camera but:

This place makes the freshest food in town. I had a freshly squeezed carrot, apple and ginger juice and I'm telling you it felt like they just took the carrot out of their backyard garden. Oh, they bake bread in the open, check the top right picture... You are sure you are getting some fresh bread too. And the waiters are super friendly, it was our first time there and they made us feel like regulars at the place. Shhh, yes - you can buy the bread to take home. If you ask nicely, they can cut it for you :) Until this day, I still have not mastered the art of cutting bread.

Verdict from me and my girl, this shall be our official Sunday brunch spot. Well until I discover a new germ. I'm an explorer at heart, I cannot be tied down to one place for long.

Song of the week:
I've been listening to the Alicia Keys Superwoman track and am loving it....

Everywhere I'm turning
Nothing seems complete
I stand up and I'm searching
For the better part of me
I hang my head from sorrow
state of humanity
I wear it on my shoulders
Gotta find the strength in me

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I'm a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I'm a Superwoman

For all the mothers fighting
For better days to come
And all my women, all my women sitting here trying
To come home before the sun
And all my sisters
Coming together
Say yes I will
Yes I can

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I'm a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I'm a Superwoman

When I'm breaking down
And I can't be found
And I start to get weak
Cause no one knows
Me underneath these clothes
But I can fly
We can fly, Oh

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I'm a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I'm a Superwoman


Songs like this really inspire me when I'm feeling down, really speak truth about most women I know. Very strong, manage to wear a smile even when times are tough without wearing their sorrows on their faces. I'm reminded of my mom's best friend. That woman is my hero!!!

There's Newtown on my stoep!

I'll be running a weekly segment on my blog called "there's a...... on my stoep". The title is from one of South Africa's famous comedy movies called there's Zulu on my stoep. Stoep in Afrikaans means doorstep or veranda! I will use this to rave about all the beauty in Johannesburg and South Africa at large. Before I focus on the rest of the world, which by all means fascinates me I've decided - I should highlight a few things just outside my stoep (doorstep)...

First up is Newtown...

Public art around Newtown

Newtown is known as THE cultural hub of Jo'burg. There are dance studios, art galleries, museums, music venues, theaters, restaurants etc to satisfy any appetite.. And best of all IT IS SAFE!!! Yes, extremely safe.

A bit of trivia: The name Newtown was adopted in 1904 after the city's first forced removal of the residents in the then multiracial slums.

I'll be honest, until the idea of me starting and maintaining this blog came up I had very little interest in exploring the Jo'burg inner city. It was not that I was concerned about safety, or maybe thought there would be nothing to see or anything like that. It's just that it's very hard to appreciate your own town. I think its the familiarity of everything that just drains the curiosity out of you. But then when I decided to share a little about my travel experiences it just occurred to me, maybe I should take a moment and shine the spotlight on this beautiful country... So the journey has begun, me being a tourist in my own town... Ok back to Newtown.

When you come to Newtown from the northern suburbs, chances are the first thing you will admire up close is the Nelson Mandela bridge... I am yet to park my car and take a descent picture of the bridge but something I find amazing about the engineering process is that: the bridge is built over 42 railway lines and during construction the railway traffic was not disrupted??? Talk about good engineering meeting great planning!!!

Anyway once you are over the bridge you leave Braamfontein behind you and welcome Newtown. As a newbie into the area I decided to park at the public parking area and forget civilisation in favour of walking around and that way I got to see and experience so much in one afternoon.

As I left the parking lot, there it was.... the market theater

Literally the first pic I took

Founded in the 70s with a significant part in the history of South Africa (story for another day) theater lovers can still come to this day and watch beautiful productions here. Those in the know call it SA theater of struggle. I should treat myself to a show one of these days.

Around the corner on the same building is museum Africa. I'm not a museum person so I went in briefly just see what they had to show. I enjoyed the exhibition they had showing Jo'burg from stone age people, to the life of the miners in the Soweo hostels to shack or as we know it "mkhukhu - m_coo_coo" living. It felt so real. I had an emotional moment realising that millions of my people still live under such conditions.

Walking across Mary Fitzgerald square, I was on my way to the SAB world of beer. I had dragged a friend of mine along for this trip and had promised him that we can go to the world of beer where he pays the entrance fee and gets free beer. He was sold... I digress. On the way there, you pass Bassline - one of the country's prominent live music venues. Outside the venue is a life size sculpture of one South Africa's greatest musicians, the late Brenda Fassie. I grew up listening to her music, I was dancing to "weekend special" before I even knew what it really meant.

This is a beautiful piece of work and the detail on it is amazing. Angus Taylor (whomever her is) did a great job in giving us a true image of Ma-Brrrrrr. And what I found more interesting was the writing all across the sculpture, quotes by the songstress.

Across a small public park I bumped into this piece of art. It's amazing really. It took a lot of convincing from my side get my friend to see that this is the South African flag jumbled up. Colorful, a true rainbow nation.

Banner of Hope

And we were finally here, the part that my friend was mainly looking forward to... The SAB world of beer - voted the number 1 tourist attraction in all of South Africa.

I'm not an alcohol drinker so I was less enthusiastic walking into this place. But I must say I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. They give you a complete history in beer brewing from Egyptian days to what we know today. The presentation is also very interesting, when you are in the Egyptian era - or Germany or South Africa you can feel the difference in the deco. You go through an English style pub and see the SA version, what we know as the tavern. Very interesting place to visit even for non-drinkers. After the 90 minute presentation you end up in a pub where you can claim your complimentary drinks (they have soft drinks on offer too) and you can have a pub lunch there too. We opted to go have a snack somewhere else.

We went to the Sophiatown Lounge, a nice chill out spot with an afro feel and good food.

There is so much to see in Newtown and one afternoon does not do it justice. Go out there experience it for yourself and fall in love with Jo'burg

More trivia: All the streets in Newtown are named after South African artists. eg. Mirriam Makeba

Remembering Rome

This Euro trip holds a lot of significance for me as it was my first non-work related solo trip. A few years back my 1st ever overseas trip though solo, was work related. I spent 7 months on the channel Islands courtesy of my employer. And that would be the time the travel bug really bit.

After coming back to my homeland I was itching to travel but I had a problem, for some reason I thought I have to do it with someone. So I spent 2 years in waiting - and I could not find anyone to go wit. And then last November - it hit me. I'll go gray waiting for a travel buddy and I'll never get to experience the world. So I went ahead an planned my first voluntary solo trip. Italy (Rome, Milan and Venice) and France (Paris) was on my agenda.

My first stop was Roma!!!

After a long flight including a stop over in Dubai, I was pleased to land at Rome's Fiumicino aka Leonardo Da Vinci airport. Going through customs was reasonably painless and I was officially in Rome. I had mixed emotions getting through the airport - a little scared and excited at the same time. Having booked the entire trip myself over the internet with no travel agent assistance I knew if anything went wrong it was all on me and I would have no one to call. So my mild stress was understandable. What if I try find a hotel and I'm led to a bogus location.

Getting to the city center was relatively easy. I took the bus from the Airport to Termini station, then from there was the metro to the Colosseum stop.

I stayed at a hotel pretty close to the Colosseum, so after a few minutes walking in the wrong direction out of the metro station - I was headed towards my beautiful hotel :). With a view of the Colosseum for breakfast - I couldn't have asked for a better spot. The 1st thing I did after settling into my room was to walk around the neighborhood to try find a grocery shop, get acquainted with my surroundings etc.

Colosseum early morning

The next morning I woke up early to see the Col while its still tourist free and take some pretty pictures. 

After a full breakfast at the hotel, I was on full tourist mode. On my agenda for that day was a full tour of the Colosseum, Forum, and the Vatican in the afternoon (oh, Vatican City is actually a country, in my view - ridiculous).

Ancient Rome

I spent a few hours at the Colosseum with the audio guide taking me through the place and pointing out areas of historic significance. The Forum audio guide is worth it. Either that or just get into a tour. There's so many things worth noting, you can't do it via history books and google alone.

Vatican City

After some nice salad and water at McDonald's (I know!), I made my way to a pre-arranged tour of the Vatican City. Because I had read the Dan Brown books and watched the movies so many times, I was more curious than ever to see the Vatican. I needed someone who knew it intimately to show me around. Needless to say, based on my research and as expected Brown's book - I'm sure the tour guide had had enough of my many questions by the time we made it to St Peters Square. I would do a tour of this place 10 times over and I still would not be able to capture everything about it.

Villa Borghese Gardens

 I spent a half of my last full day in Rome at the Villa Borghese Gardens, simple put - my most favourite place in all of Rome. It is soooo charming. Trust me! The Galleria Bhorgese, what can I say really? What an amazing collection. I won't pretend to be an art expect on my own blog - but I got it. Art has a life of its own and the collection as the gallery spoke to me. GO see it.

Walking through the gardens is an experience on its own, beautiful fountains, accordion players, lush and well manicured gardens. I can't rave enough about this place. Next time you go to Rome, make sure to go.

I saw and experienced a lot in Rome, this is just a snapshot of my favourite spots... I could write 30 or more blog entries and still would not capture into words how amazing it is and how much you need to see it!

Two things

Two things is a weekly feature I'll run on my blog, obviously every week :) This is really to share two things that I love. So to kick off things...

1. The world's street lights.

I've been fascinated with street lights for the longest time. Not because of the basic function they provide, but rather how pretty they can look if you pay attention. Last year I visited a few countries in Europe and these are some of my favourite street light photos...



Gondola Station lights



Look at this one taken during my time in Venice. How cute is the pink. Imagine a row of these lit up at night time, now see how pretty that look. The first day I arrived in Venice there was high tides (Aqua Alta), what I found fascinating were the walkthrough bridges built that had everybody walkig on single file lines. It was quite a site. Luckily though, the water levels dropped the next days and I was able to do some good 'getting lost' advisable the best way to see Venice.

Venice lights

Venice is a really beautiful city... You have to see it to believe it. The city is pretty much occupied by tourists 24/7 and by the people who work in the tourism industry. So, I didn't really see any unique local culture. But it is charming... I managed to see it better 'in peace' early morning and in the evening. During the day, I spent my days in cafe's and churches. There is just way too many people off the cruise ships to even try make your way through. And this was winter time, I wonder how it is in Summer. But Venice is on my go to again list, if I ever run our of places to see :)



Louvre courtyard



Paris, paris, paris!!! Oh wow... I got two pictures of street lights from this city

1. The one at the Lourve. In my view this place houses the the world's greatest anti-climax. Leonardo's Mona Lisa... How is it that the painting I've heard of since I was a child became the smallest in the room??? I was left grossly underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa. But that didn't mean that I would not take my must take pic with the lady.



Hotel des Invalides

2. The building that houses the war meuseum (Hotel des Invalides)... It is one of my most favourite buildings in the city. I love the street lights on each side of the road as you approach the building.





2. Song of the week

The song I've been playing almost daily on my iPod this week has been Adele's cover of a Bob Dylan song: "Make you feel my love"

I fell in love with the song actually when I heard another artist names Leroy Bell sang it on XFactor USA, he did it with such purity that I had to go onto the copy I had on my iPod by Adele and listen to it over and over again.... It is an amazing and emotional song, with such power in the lyrics.

When the rain Is blowing in your face
And the whole world Is on your case
I could offer you A warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows And the stars appear
And there is no - one there To dry your tears
I could hold you For a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you Haven't made Your mind up yet
But I would never Do you wrong
I've known it From the moment That we met
No doubt in my mind Where you belong

I'd go hungry I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling Down the avenue
No, there's nothing That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
Though winds of change Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing Like me yet

I could make you happy Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love, To make you feel my love

How many people these days are prepared to offer such kind of love to their loved ones??? To really go to teh ends of the earth for the one you so love.