This morning we are attempting to go up on Table Mountain.  It is – as it has been since we arrived – very windy, and Charl is not sure if the cable car will be open.  We take a nice little jaunt through town and head up to the mountain funicular station where we hop out for some photos, but unfortunately the funicular isn’t open yet.  They are testing it but aren’t sure if they will open.  We hang around a bit, snapping photos from the road below the funicular and then it is onto Plan B.  We’re off to Signal Hill where at least we can have some nice views over the really choppy seas.

There are a ton of hiking trails up here – and there are also a ton of people using those hiking trails!  Charl explains that Capetonians are very much an outdoorsy sort of people, they love being able to access the outdoors within a few minutes of their home in the city.  It is wonderful to be able to get here or even some of the areas of the Cape in no time at all to be out in the wilderness.

It’s beautiful up there, too, with panoramic views across the wide open ocean as well as across the city.  We get a bird’s eye view of the stadium, the V&A Waterfront all the way out to the Flats really.  Picture perfect – and we make good use of it!

Now, we’re back to the Mountain cable car!  Charl got a call and they think they will open – so back we go to stand in line and finally make our way up to the boarding platform.  The cable cars are really wild, the floor rotates!  So you get a 360 degree view of all the surroundings without even moving an inch.  Fabulous idea!  We virtually have a private car, with only a few others on it and the views are spectacular – even if the ride up is a bit scary – I mean there is are no pillars supporting this cable, just the top and bottom stations….and it’s windy….yikes.

We make it up to the top, where….it is SUPER windy.  And I mean take your breath away cold and windy.  You know us, we are troopers, we go anywhere and do anything – but not up there!  Charl takes us around a quick little walk along the pathways, then shows us how to continue on out to the side of the mountain and back.  He was planning to go to the washroom, but someone asked him to walk them around, and, well, he acquiesced (the wonderfully accommodating guide that he is!) but we are like, um, no.  It is wicked cold, it is wicked windy, I’m snapping pictures as fast as my frozen little hands will allow (even my gloves aren’t keeping the cold out)…..and we are going to the washrooms.  Well, Ed is – and I am going to wait outside for him, then we are going to the coffee shop.

Well, the washroom worked, the coffee shop did not!  The line inside there was so long, and taking so so very long to get anything bought or ordered, we gave it up and tried to just find a leeward spot near the funicular station to wait for the others.  Turns out some folks were already back and in the gift shop there, so we joined them and waited for the rest of our group. 

The ride down the funicular was just as spectacular as up – and this time we only had 2 other folks with us – who actually had hiked up to the top.  Oh my gosh!  That is a hike – we could see the path on the way up and Charl has done it before so he pointed out all the spots, but essentially it is right up the side of the mountain.  And near the top you are literally climbing hand over hand over a “rock staircase” (well, sort of, at least this was Charl’s description) and then you had to navigate around this big rock….oh no, no, no.  We love to hike – but that is a bit extreme, thank you!

(As a side note – the brother/sister couple on the tour didn’t join us today because, well they had a little bit too much fun the night before.  So, what do they do in the afternoon after they have gotten back on their feet?  Hike up Table Mountain!!!!  Amazing those two – and totally, terribly fun to be with…but all that will come later in the blog…)

Back in the thankfully warm van, we take a very quick little city tour, riding around the main bus station (where we walked yesterday), company gardens (where we walked yesterday), Bo-Kaap (where we couldn’t go to the museum yesterday), finishing at the V&A waterfront for a Diamond/Jewelry store/factory tour.  Um, thanks.  We’re opting out of that!

And opt out we do – because right across from the Diamond store is Kapstadt Brauhaus – our planned lunch spot!  This is where we snacked before our Robben’s Island tour in 2020 and we loved it, so figured, what the heck?  We’re here, it is a wonderful setting right by the clock tower and overlooking the water – and well – might as well.

We snagged a great table on the balcony and proceeded to order our beer and wine and a pretzel (had to, couldn’t resist), Lamb croquettes (again, couldn’t resist!) and a chicken Caesar salad to share.  Perfect!  Couldn’t have asked for a better lunch.

Wandering through the waterfront on our way back to the hotel is a total shock though!  It is packed, as in you can barely move packed.  We have to wind our way through a bazillion people just to get into the food hall, and then it is so peopley, there is no way we are staying in there!  Even the craft shops are teeming with people, and well, there isn’t really anything we want to bring back anyway.  Although we do stock at the little shops at the entrance to the market where we had purchased bracelets and things before – and restock my wrist with some cool beads.  Otherwise – eh – we’re out of here! 

Since we are close to Greenpoint, we just walk back that way, checking out

Misfits, the new restaurant that took the place of Beluga (which we loved).  The menu looks good – but we don’t know if we want to walk all this way for dinner.  We’ll see how we feel.  Next we hit the Spar grocery store again and Tops, then stop for a drink at  Cubana, where we think maybe we could have dinner.  But it is a total night club, more so than a Cuban restaurant.  I mean their Cubano sandwich doesn’t even have pork on it.  The whole thing is a mish mash of Tex Mex food – but with weird ingredients.  So, the drink was fine.  Dinner. Nah.  We’ll figure something else out.

As it turns out, we decide to hit all our old haunts and go to Vasco de Gama for dinner.  It’s right around the corner from the Cubana place and while yes, it’s really a sports pub, we love the food.  And they don’t disappoint tonight. 

We literally sit at the same table we did in 2020.  Scary!  And Ed had same main! The schnitzel grilled!  We also make the mistake of ordering Portuguese poppers – which are jalapenos stuffed with chorizo, feta and cheddar. Spicy!!!  The waiter tells us that during the pandemic, this was the most ordered dish coz it was so spicy it got rid of the COVID!  LOL.  If only!!!  I had a starter portion of Chicken Trinchado, which was huge!!!  It was basically 2 sandwiches with chicken breast and this great Trinchado sauce.  I asked the waiter what the main meal portion would be – and he said it came with sides – like you needed that!  Awesome – but huge!  Not to mention, they automatically bring you Portuguese bread!  So we are carbed out – for sure!  But it is all oh so good  and we both thoroughly enjoyed it all – well – except for the poppers, COVID slaying or not!  We decide to be bad and order a Pasteis de Nata to go – for tomorrow as a snack – and our evening is complete. 

Wandering back, we walk off a little of our food intake and then hang out in our room for a bit, then hit the hay and get ready for our all day Wine tour.