Adventures in South Africa: Relaxing weekend in Cape Town

We had many days off this last week due to Pubic Holidays, so we took advantage of it an explored South Africa. On Thursday, Rachel, Katie and I went with Matt, our mentor, to Cape Town and then Kirstenbosch, "The most beautiful gardens in Africa". We had a lovely picnic on the lawn, performed acrobatic moves down the hill, then proceeded to get lost in the gardens. All in all, it was a good time.

Katie rolling down the hill. I proceeded to do somersaults down the hill after this. Great idea.

Us lost in the gardens!

After this little fun adventure, I came back to Stellenbosch to immediately return to Cape Town with Lindsay. We went on the train which only took about and hour and a half and cost $1.50. We got a room at the Fountains Hotel, which ended up being in the mist centralized part of the city. It was a perfect location.

The view from our balcony.

The first night we went to the Waterfront which is where the shopping is. At the mall here there is a Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Burberry, Armani, etc. There are also stores that normal people, such as ourselves, shop in. I found my new favorite store and it is essentially the J Crew of Africa. I was in heaven. Before shopping, we shared a bottle of wine and sushi. This was my first sushi experience, well for that matter my first fish experience. Why would I eat cooked fish for the first time? That makes too much sense. I just went for the raw slimy stuff! And I actually really liked it!! I can now say that I have one up on my Mother (get on my level, Mom!). Lindsay documented my whole sushi experience:

About to take the first bite of my Philly roll.

Not so sure about Lindsay's roll. It had tuna, salmon, AND caviar!!

Surprisingly, it was good too!!

After our shopping adventure, we ate yet again and had a late, romantic dinner at the harbor. We ate at this wonderful restaurant where we had butternut squash and feta salads. Delish. The next morning we missed breakfast but made it to a wonderful hippy place recommended by South African Cosmo where we had a wonderful late brunch followed by playing with their vintage clothing that is sold there. We walked along the sidewalk for about 6 hours going into most stores, trying to find our way back to the hotel's direction. We walked down all of Long Street, I believe, and that is one long street. After a nice swim in the pool and a detox session in the sauna, we ventured back out for dinner to an Ethiopian place, as recommended by the girls who waited on us at brunch. This place was called Timbuktu and was sooooo good (Mom, Dad, and Ben, we WILL be going here when you visit). After walking up a few flights of stairs, we were seated on a balcony that looked very middle eastern. We ordered our food and were told to wash our hands at the washing station right before our food arrived. Apparently we were going to eat with our hands. The food was delicious and authentic. I am so glad we had this wonderful cultural experience.

Enjoying the atmosphere.

Indulging on the Ethiopian food.

The next morning we missed breakfast, again. So we ventured back down to the Waterfront to check out an area we missed and saw some wonderful views of Table Mountain and gorgeous jewelry made of elephant hair.