Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
Pre-day 1 Cape Town
We were picked up at the airport by our ABD representative and driven to the Table Bay Hotel. Cape Town is a very pretty city similar in many regards to other coastal cities like San Diego or Sydney. But right outside the airport we passed some of the townships where the poorest live in shacks they’ve mostly built themselves. This is definitely not something I’ve personally seen much of. I suppose you see these makeshift towns in many places, but these were very large communities. Much more about that tomorrow.
The Table Bay Hotel is a beautiful hotel right on the harbor. When we arrived they were serving tea in the lounge with a pianist there. It was lovely and I enjoyed spending a couple of evenings hanging out in the lounge for tea or later wine and just reading. Check in was painless and they offered refreshments. It was nice to finally arrive and relax. We checked out the room which was nice and walked along the waterfront behind the hotel. By this time it was around 4:30pm I knew we would want to eat early and get to bed early so I found an awesome restaurant - Chef’s Warehouse. They don’t take reservations, and it was recommended as one of the best restaurants in Cape Town. You have to get there early or the lines can be an hour or more. We Uber’d over which was cheap. I think it was a couple of dollars (in SA Rand of course).
Chef’s Warehouse was a small restaurant which has lots of food and spices and cooking items displayed. I guess they were for sell… It’s a chef’s warehouse after all, but the atmosphere was pretty cool and very casual. We were the first there for dinner (it did get crowded later) and they sat us by the window which was cool. The food is pre-fixe and is amazing. They bring out the food in groups. First was Kingklip sashimi, tuna, and fried calamari. All of which was outstanding. 2nd was gnocchi and risotto. To Gavin’s memory it was the first time he’s had either. He ate both, but really liked the risotto. They were both amazing. Last was pork croquettes, silverfish, and lamb. The waiter recommended a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and later a Shiraz. Both awesome. In fact I don’t think I’ve had a bad wine on this trip. South African wine is inexpensive and amazing. I’m certainly no expert, but it reminds me a lot of Australian wines. Here’s some pics. As you see, sometimes I started eating the dish before taking the photo. Gavin helped me remember.
Calamari, tuna, and a kingklip sashimi (or crudo is probably a better description)
The calamari was fresh and nice and light.
Gnocchi half eaten [hangs head in shame]
the silverfish (probably my least favorite of all the dishes)
the lamb hiding under there
and pork croquette
I’d strongly recommend this place. They were not screwing around with their food. Afterwards we grabbed an uber back. We walked around the Victoria and Alfred (not Albert) waterfront for a few minutes. There were street musicians playing African music which was cool. We stopped in a couple of shops and then headed back to the hotel.
the seal behind our hotel that I guess was the icon for the Table Bay Hotel?? We saw it a few different places around the hotel.
and majestic Table Mountain
overall a very nice hotel for ABD.
We hung out in the lounge for just a bit. Gavin got a Shirley Temple and I got a glass of red wine. I think it was a Pinotage. Pinotage is a grape created as a hybrid of Pinot Noir and Hermitage. It’s unique to South Africa and illegal to take the grapes or stems out of South Africa. Of course no problem with taking wine out. SA is just protecting its unique grape.
So, after getting off the plane it was pretty much a relaxed day. Tomorrow would be the official start of the ABD. Nothing is scheduled for the day per se. Many guests arrived on this day. I’d recommend arriving a bit earlier if you can to help with the jet lag or any travel delays. Our plan tomorrow was to go to the Old Biscuit Mill market and take a tour of the townships. More on that later…
We were picked up at the airport by our ABD representative and driven to the Table Bay Hotel. Cape Town is a very pretty city similar in many regards to other coastal cities like San Diego or Sydney. But right outside the airport we passed some of the townships where the poorest live in shacks they’ve mostly built themselves. This is definitely not something I’ve personally seen much of. I suppose you see these makeshift towns in many places, but these were very large communities. Much more about that tomorrow.
The Table Bay Hotel is a beautiful hotel right on the harbor. When we arrived they were serving tea in the lounge with a pianist there. It was lovely and I enjoyed spending a couple of evenings hanging out in the lounge for tea or later wine and just reading. Check in was painless and they offered refreshments. It was nice to finally arrive and relax. We checked out the room which was nice and walked along the waterfront behind the hotel. By this time it was around 4:30pm I knew we would want to eat early and get to bed early so I found an awesome restaurant - Chef’s Warehouse. They don’t take reservations, and it was recommended as one of the best restaurants in Cape Town. You have to get there early or the lines can be an hour or more. We Uber’d over which was cheap. I think it was a couple of dollars (in SA Rand of course).
Chef’s Warehouse was a small restaurant which has lots of food and spices and cooking items displayed. I guess they were for sell… It’s a chef’s warehouse after all, but the atmosphere was pretty cool and very casual. We were the first there for dinner (it did get crowded later) and they sat us by the window which was cool. The food is pre-fixe and is amazing. They bring out the food in groups. First was Kingklip sashimi, tuna, and fried calamari. All of which was outstanding. 2nd was gnocchi and risotto. To Gavin’s memory it was the first time he’s had either. He ate both, but really liked the risotto. They were both amazing. Last was pork croquettes, silverfish, and lamb. The waiter recommended a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and later a Shiraz. Both awesome. In fact I don’t think I’ve had a bad wine on this trip. South African wine is inexpensive and amazing. I’m certainly no expert, but it reminds me a lot of Australian wines. Here’s some pics. As you see, sometimes I started eating the dish before taking the photo. Gavin helped me remember.
Calamari, tuna, and a kingklip sashimi (or crudo is probably a better description)
The calamari was fresh and nice and light.
Gnocchi half eaten [hangs head in shame]
the silverfish (probably my least favorite of all the dishes)
the lamb hiding under there
and pork croquette
I’d strongly recommend this place. They were not screwing around with their food. Afterwards we grabbed an uber back. We walked around the Victoria and Alfred (not Albert) waterfront for a few minutes. There were street musicians playing African music which was cool. We stopped in a couple of shops and then headed back to the hotel.
the seal behind our hotel that I guess was the icon for the Table Bay Hotel?? We saw it a few different places around the hotel.
and majestic Table Mountain
overall a very nice hotel for ABD.
We hung out in the lounge for just a bit. Gavin got a Shirley Temple and I got a glass of red wine. I think it was a Pinotage. Pinotage is a grape created as a hybrid of Pinot Noir and Hermitage. It’s unique to South Africa and illegal to take the grapes or stems out of South Africa. Of course no problem with taking wine out. SA is just protecting its unique grape.
So, after getting off the plane it was pretty much a relaxed day. Tomorrow would be the official start of the ABD. Nothing is scheduled for the day per se. Many guests arrived on this day. I’d recommend arriving a bit earlier if you can to help with the jet lag or any travel delays. Our plan tomorrow was to go to the Old Biscuit Mill market and take a tour of the townships. More on that later…
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