South Africa: Cape Town, Part V - A New Year Gone

30.12.2013

• woke up late - back to Zebra - met up with Heather - planned out our trip up the coast with bus tickets and hotels
• Labia theater - Felix - too much seasoning on popcorn
• Tried to get to an African food restaurant - didn't work out - met Alex and Ainhoa on Kloof Street and went to Hudson's, a burger joint I had been to before - went for a drink at Kloof Street House - lovely, relaxed day - back to Train Lodge

31.12.2013

• Happy New Year! For many people in the world, today is the celebration of the start of a new calendar year. Woke up and got ready and headed back to Zebra - tried to get hair cut but that didn't work out - morning relaxing and working and then headed out to Camps Bay with Alex and Ainhoa to lie on the beach - got plenty of good sun - sand blowing strong so we ended up on the grass - went to coffee shop and got an iced coffee with soy, a rare treat for me - went for light lunch at a restaurant across from the water after a lot of searching to get Alex a burger
• Minibus home to clean up and meet Heather - walked down to find dinner on Long Street - Mesopotamia, Kurdish food - set course meal with a variety of meats and sauteed vegetables, a great mezze plate, and terrific baklava for dessert - belly dancer who balanced swords and fire among her poised moves
• Joined by Cynthia and walked back up Long, stopping at a party at another hostel - Long Street closed down and quickly filled with people - amazing crowds felt like French Quarter in New Orleans 
• Back at Zebra to meet up with friends - tried on a few midnight ideas but nothing was sticking - Heather and I tried to catch a cab to the cable car up to Table Mountain - running late tonight for people to ring in the New Year - couldn't get that together and not sure the cable car was even running after it has been shut down for wind 
• Ended up walking through town to the Grand Parade - giant concert with massive light and video show while ____ DJ'd - fireworks at midnight with video projected onto City Hall - parade of marching band started its procession - danced and crowd gazed - walked back to hostel to relax for a short bit
• Alex came to join us at the hostel at 3am - we all finished getting ready and went out to find a cab - the goal of the morning is to climb Lion's Head to watch the sun rise on the first day of 2014 - got to trailhead and cars were being turned away - had to talk our way onto the trail "at our own risk" - not worried about mugging, just safety in the climb ("Do you have flashlights? Have you done this hike before? Have you been drinking?" "Yes. Yes. No."). We were allowed to go up but asked to call the security agent when we got to the top to let him know we were ok (so sweet)... and to let him know if there was a man up there with two broken legs who went up at three in the afternoon but had not come back down. ?!?!
• Started the hike up in the dark with no wind and clear skies with amazing views of the stars and city lights - no moon - Heather was in Birkenstock sandals which proved to be bad for the rocky scramble - she ended up deciding it would be easier to do the hike barefoot and continued slowly up the hill - we reached a beautiful plateau and snacked while we watched the sun rise behind Devil's Peak on Table Mountain, illuminating the city and quickly warming the morning air - we greeted hikers as they ascended and toasted (water) the start of a wonderful 2014 ahead
• Hiked down (Heather still barefoot, becuase she is a rock star) and called for a cab - Ainhoa and Alex stopped at a restaurant for breakfast but Heather and I went home to clean up and sleep - I am moving back into Zebra this morning so I just slept on the couch as the New Year Day started buzzing around me. What a glorious start to the year, even without the midnight kiss I was hoping for. 

01.01.2014

• Slept until 9:30 - woke to call Kevin - bad connection - kiss and hello and I love you
• Back to sleep until noon - goodbye to Ainhoa - stayed up for a moment until my bed was ready at Zebra - officially checking back in today
• Back to sleep until 4pm - woke up and did some work on the computer - talked with Kevin - had a lovely chat 
• Heather and I took a mini bus down to Sea Point to find a French restaurant - all booked - walked back and decided to eat at Atlantic _____, a Durban Indian / European inspired restaurant in a train car on the street - from Train Lodge to train diner - masala spiced chicken and my first malva pudding with custard 
• walked down along the sea wall - caught a cab back to Zebra - road blocked at Bo-Kaap by the Cape Minstrel marching band, still out celebrating from last night - Cape Town keeps the party going
• Walked home and crashed out pretty quickly 

02.01.2014

• Worked on blog in the morning - went out to get my hair cut - one of the best cuts I have had! always love a head massage - went to coffee shop for an iced coffee to read my book
• Met up with Heather at home, Alex joined us and we walked down to meet Ally and Sayd for Ethiopian food at Little Ethiopia - amazing assortment of amazing dishes with wat and tibs and the crowning glory of any Ethiopian meal: the injera, a large sourdough rice pancake of a bread and one of my favourite foods - amazing videos in the background
• Tried to go see a movie at the VA Waterfront but, evidently, the movie was just in previews tonight so we missed it - ended up at a restaurant for drinks and dessert - limoncello panna cotta with strawberry sauce - the truth is that I am more often disappointed by food than I am impressed - the problem with trying too much amazing food in the world - I don't have high standards and almost always appreciate my food but, many time, the image in my mind of what something could be or has been somewhere else is often better than one finds at any given restaurant
• Ride home - up late reading - couldn't sleep - interviewing for jobs in Seattle in my brain - took a shower and back to bed by 3am

03.01.2014

• Up and had breakfast - talked to Amanda and Benjamin - PeaceCorps in Namibia - live in the Northwest
• Worked on blog and emails - went to Turkish Baths - super hot - only stayed an hour - deep exfoliation 
• Home to rest and eat and work more - 
• Alex, Heather, and I took a train out to Claremont - met Alley and Saydie at Food Lovers Market - 90 minute wait for sushi - offended by one of the sushi items and will email manager
• Walked to Cavendish mall - early for film - went to a Mug & Bean and ordered a chocolate caramel cake, caramel cheesecake, carrot cake, and pecan pie
• Move was Secret Life of Walter Mitty - empty theater when we arrived so did cartwheels and handstands in the front and decided to cuddle up on the carpet down front instead of finding seats - movie about taking risks and finding yourself in the process - realized watching the character walk through the Himalayas that my life is pretty great as I sit with new friends in South Africa
• Drive home and quickly to bed

04.01.2014

• Race day - Rosemarie from Namibia - runs a school there - will hope to connect again in-country - walked up for blessing of the boats - lined up and getting ready to go - such a buzz
• Ralph working on gearbox for Chateclear - took some time before we got out on the water - light winds - bay FULL of boats - many with spinaker sails up which are large and colorful - helicoptors - waited for countdowns until they set off the 2014 Cape to Rio race - 
• Back to shore and Ally and Sadie took us home - rested for a while and then walked to meet them for dinner at a Durban Indian restaurant, Vandiar, where Alex and I had eaten a couple of weeks ago - was closed - ended up going to Maharaja - excellent food including an eggplant and mushroom dish - 

05.01.2014

• hike with Farid, Ken, and Benjamin - around Lion's Head - down to The Glen - Roundhouse restaurant - Farid is organizational consultant and we had plenty to talk about - the spirituality of leadership and human work in organizational context
• Walk down into Camps Bay - raining - looked for restaurant to hide in - found Raj - had salad and gulab jamon - walked up to Umi to see Ivan - cambie bus home
• relaxed - talked with new roomie, Henning - linguist here from Germany to teach at Cape Town University 
• rest at home - back to dinner at Umi with Amanda, Benjamin, and Heather - amazing meal - sashimi, soft shelled crab, miso soup, yellow tail and salmon, yuzu cheesecake and a fodant cake - lovely atmosphere and best food I have had so far in Cape Town - bus ride home and some computer work