South Africa, Part 2

On the morning of June 13th, we packed up our things and headed back to the airport for a quick 2 hour flight down to Cape Town. (We also spent 4 hours traipsing through the suburbs of Pretoria to get our digital camera fixed, so we could avoid having to buy a new one after having dropped ours earlier. Oops. But, after camping out at the personal residence of some tech guy we tracked down at the mall, the camera prevailed, and all was well.)

After our hectic day, we wound up just checking in to our hotel that evening, and then heading out for some Cuban food, followed by drinks at a local pub where a bunch of rowdy Germans were celebrating their win over Australia. Rowdy (drunk) Germans singing terribly accented and off key karaoke in English = priceless vacation memory.

The next morning we woke up to check out the first major sight on our agenda, the Cape Malay Quarter. This area was originally settled by people from Indonesia, India, and Malaysia, who were captured and brought to Cape Town as slaves. Today it retains much of its Muslim heritage and is known for great architecture and brightly colored buildings. Unfortunately, it was rainy and grey most of our first day in Cape Town, but we were still able to enjoy the neighborhood.

(The huge mountain in the background is Table Mountain, which we visit later.)

Later in the day it cleared up a little bit and we were able to stroll around town to enjoy some of the other sights, including The Company's Garden and some of the city's beautiful and funky architecture.

That night we attended our second live World Cup game: Italy vs. Paraguay. We joined the crowds and participated in the fan walk from our hotel to the stadium. The fan walk was a crazy spectacle full of marching bands, people in costumes, and general joyous mayhem.


Once inside the stadium, the rain started up with a vengeance again. Fortunately our nosebleed seats meant that we were way up at the top of the stadium under the small amount of covered area. The people with the really expensive tickets? Not so lucky. We stayed (mostly) dry during the game, but it was cold. Like hopping up and down and rubbing my hands together continuously cold.

I think Italy won this game. To be honest, since we weren't really cheering on any particular team (and because it was freezing!), this game was a lot less exciting than the US game. I expected to see some crazy Italian fans, but even they were subdued. On the walk home, we wound up getting soaked, but we warmed up with late night tapas and red wine at a little Spanish restaurant we ducked into on our way back. All in all a fun night.

My Russian babushka look... anything to stay warm!

The next day, June 15th, we had planned to take a boat out to Robben Island to visit the prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, but rough seas and high winds kept us land-locked. The good news is that the wind blew away the rain clouds and we were able to make a break for the gondola up to Table Mountain. There were clouds all around the periphery of Cape Town, but right at the top of Table Mountain it appeared to be clear, so we took advantage of what wound up being about a 45 minute sun break.

View from the mountain looking down on Cape Town before boarding the gondola.

When we made it to the top, we could see all the way down to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope. The views were amazing. We were lucky to go when we did because as soon as we got back on the gondola, the clouds came rushing back in.

Later that afternoon we headed back into town to watch another game on the big screen in Cape Town's fan park and do some shopping. We ran into this guy... see what I mean about crazy World Cup fans?

He was holding a phone up to his ear and kept saying "Hello, welcome to Cape Town" in this crazy voice. The tan, round objects to the upper right of his head (just above the soccer ball) are about two dozen eggs glued to his headdress. Amazing. And, because there just isn't an appropriate segue way, after that we went and ate an amazing northern Italian meal at 95 Keerom.

On our final full day in Cape Town, we finally made it out to Robben Island. It's about a 40 minute boat ride from the city out to the island, which originally served as a leper colony, and then eventually became a notorious prison where political dissidents were exiled during Apartheid. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years in prison in a tiny cell on Robben Island, where he was allowed only one visitor a year for 30 minutes, and where he could write and receive only one letter every six months. His daily routine included working in a quarry where he would have to dig up rock, carry it across to the other side of the quarry to build a big pile, and then once the pile was complete, he had to carry it back to the other side to create a new pile... and so on.

View from the boat as we were pulling away from Cape Town.

A very sad place, but I'm glad we got to see it.

View looking back to the mainland from the island.

On our final evening in Cape Town, we indulged in some fantastic Indian food at Bhukara. The dining in Cape Town is phenomenal... you can find cuisine from every corner of the world, and it's all amazing. Jason jokes that while he enjoyed soccer, I enjoyed the World Cup of dining. Very true.

On the morning of the 17th, we woke up to sunny, blue skies and warmer temps. We packed up the rental car and hit the road for a scenic trip out to the winelands. Our first stop was to drive all the way down and around the Cape of Good Hope (seen above from atop Table Mountain.) The views along the way were stunning.

Once at Cape Point, we hiked up to a light house at the furthest southern tip of the point. The Cape of Good Hope is frequently referenced as the furthest southern point in Africa, which we learned is not technically true-- that would be Cape Agulhas about 90 minutes southeast. But the Cape of Good Hope gets all the credit because Portuguese explorers once thought it was where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

Cape Town was gorgeous, but I was ready to continue my World Cup of dining and enjoy some fine South African wines. Next up, the winelands and our drive along the Western Cape coastline.

South Africa, Part 1

A year ago this week we were watching soccer and wine tasting in South Africa. It was an amazing, once (or hopefully twice) in a lifetime kind of trip, but I never blogged about it or documented it in any way. In honor of the one year anniversary of our trip (and so I can relive it in lieu of taking an actual vacation this summer!), I've decided to do a recap now. Fair warning: picture overload ahead.

Our trip began on June 8th, when we started the very arduous trek from Austin, TX to Johannesburg. We drove 3 hours to Houston, flew 15 hours to Dubai, "enjoyed" a 10 hour layover in Dubai, and then flew another 8 hours to Johannesburg, where we went through customs, gathered our baggage and then attempted to navigate an hour-plus through Johannesburg traffic on the wrong side of the road. After nearly two full days with little to no sleep. But we finally made to our hotel, with our marriage and sanity in tact.

Our first stop of the trip was technically Dubai, on the evening of June 9th. With 10 hours to kill, we figured we might as well sneak out of airport for a while and check out the city. Holy hotness batman! Neither one of us had ever experienced that kind of heat and humidity in our lives. The Celsius to Fahrenheit calculation is a little rough, but it was near 120 degrees well after 8pm. I guess that's summer in the Middle East.

With lots of time on our hands, we decided to visit the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the tallest building in the world. We went up the tower to the observation deck at the top, which was neat, but since it was dark, the views weren't quite what I'm sure they are in the daytime.

Afterwards, we took a cab to another area recommended by one of J's friends from business school (who is from the United Arab Emirates), and had an amazing Indian dinner. Much better than airplane food! By this point, the heat and jet lag were getting to us, so we cabbed it back to the airport to enjoy the AC. Around 4am we boarded our flight to South Africa. We were both able to catch a little shut-eye on this leg.

Finally, we arrived on June 10th! J attended the 2006 World Cup in Germany and had been talking about going to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa for about as long as I've known him. He may have shed a tear when we landed and he was able to pose in front of this sign.

After the aforementioned, bleary-eyed drive on the wrong side of the road through the not-so-nice parts of Johannesburg, we arrived at our first hotel. We showered, had an early dinner, and were in bed by about 7:30pm.

The next morning, we rose at 4 am (which was not at all difficult due to the jet lag), got ready, and headed out 3 hours NW of Johannesburg to Pilanesburg National Park. We had really wanted to do a real African safari during the trip, but because of the World Cup, they were all booked up months in advance (and they were wildly expensive, so it was probably for the best.) Instead, we read about Pilanesburg National Park, where you can drive yourself through the game park and view all kinds of animals in their natural habitat-- all for about $20 per car. We did have to sign away our rights to sue if, say, we were eaten by a lion, but we figured it just added to the excitement! Here we are, about to enter the park:




That is a full grown male lion. Sure enough, within about 10 minutes of driving into the park, we spot this guy strolling down the road. The picture isn't great, and unfortunately we don't have any better pictures because of what happened next. He walked right up to our car and stopped and stood so close that his mane was brushing against the driver side door (Jason's side.) I was holding the camera and wanted to take more pictures, but Jason was (understandably) freaking out a little bit and didn't want to startle the lion. So we just sat in the car for a few minutes... really still... and then he walked away. After we exited the park a few hours later, we asked one of the guards if it was normal to see lions (thinking maybe they just stocked the place with animals to entertain the tourists) and they assured us that, no, it was very rare to see a lion and they were surprised and impressed that we saw one. Who needs a real safari, huh? We also saw numerous elephants, zebras, rhinos, ostrich, wildebeest, and a bunch of other animals I'm probably forgetting.

Very classy safari rest stop!

After our DIY safari, we drove back to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa about 45 minutes north of Johannesburg. We stayed at a hotel there for two nights. The first night (June 11th) we went to the local fan park to watch the inaugural World Cup game between South Africa and Mexico. The South African fans were out in full regalia to cheer on Bafana Bafana (the team's nickname).


Afterwards, we enjoyed a traditional South African feast:

The next day, June 12th, was the day Jason had been anticipating since he won World Cup tickets in the ticket lottery months prior-- the US vs. England game. We drove another two hours NW to Rustenburg to watch it. J was all geared out with an official US warm up jacket and jersey, but I made do with a red scarf and a flag I bought in the parking lot. (Oh, and June in South Africa-- particularly the northern part-- is cold. We kind of thought "it's winter in Africa-- how cold can it be?" Wrong. It was about 35 that night. If you stick with me long enough to read my future recaps of the trip you will see that I appear to be wearing the same thing every day. That is because I essentially wore all of my clothes, every day.)


Here I am in front of the stadium with a bunch of US fans. This was a great game for us to see live because a.) it was a US game, so it was obviously fun for us to cheer our team on; and b.) the fans went all out. Soccer is definitely a second tier sport within the US, but the small group of US soccer fans are intense. England is obviously a very serious soccer (football) nation, and the US fans played up all kinds of revolutionary war / Patriot themes with costumes and old colonial flags. The excitement and fanaticism of the crowds at World Cup games actually even exceeds what you will find at your biggest football rivalry in the United States. It's truly a spectacle.

We saw guys like this all over the place.

What's even better is that the US had an amazing game and tied 1-1, which was a slap in the face to the English fans who thought they were going to eat us for dinner. All in all, it was a fantastic game and such a fun atmosphere.

The first leg of our trip was off to a great start, but it actually got better... (like that cliff hanger?) Next up... Cape Town.

He Accepted!

Just popping on to say hi and, more importantly, that earlier this week J accepted a fantastic offer from an Austin-based tech company. Hallelujah, the job search is over! This means that we'll be staying in Austin for the next couple years. I am disappointed that his new role won't be taking us back closer to family and friends on the West Coast, but I am thrilled that he found a great job at a great company-- a job that he is excited to have. And, we've agreed that this job doesn't have to be forever, but it's a good fit for right now. So, we're heading out tonight to enjoy a celebratory dinner, and then we begin (rental) house hunting in Austin tomorrow. I am so looking forward to being more settled!

I hope your weekend is off to a great start, too!

Answers!

OK, so answers... (Thanks, Laurie, for humoring me!)

What are you reading now, and would you recommend anything you've read lately?

Right now I am finishing up Bossypants by Tina Fey. Very funny. I also recently read Suite Francaise, which was written by a French woman (Irene Nemirovsky) about the German occupation of France during WWII as these events were occurring, up until she was deported to a concentration camp. She died and her manuscripts were lost for 50 years only to be discovered and recently published. She only completed two parts of what was meant to be a five part story. The background behind the novel (which is really two little novellas) makes it really interesting. The stories themselves are written in an older, classic style that I would liken to that of Russians like Dostoevsky, so they are a bit dense and take some time getting into. But if you like WWII history and/or France, I think you would enjoy it.

Another recent favorite, which it seems like just about everyone has read and loved, was The Help. I think the movie is coming out later this month. It's about relationships between African American maids and the women they served in Mississippi at the dawn of the Civil Rights movement. Pretty fascinating stuff and great characters.

What are some little goals you're working on?

Unfortunately, I'm not really good at "little goals." I tend to go big or not at all. I would like to say that I'm actively working on keeping our home more organized and tidy, which is always a goal, but I tend to approach that one with kind of a binge and purge mentality. I may clean for 4 hours one weekend, resulting in a perfect, spotless house. But then by the next weekend there are piles of unfolded laundry all over the place, dirty dishes in the sink, and overflowing recycling containers in our pantry. So I don't think that really counts.

One of my "big goals" is to find a way to transition my job into something that is more writing oriented. Again, I go through spurts of effort where I do a lot of research and make strides in the right direction, and then suddenly weeks go by where the only writing I do are a few spotty blog postings. So perhaps my goal should be to be more consistent in pursuing my goals, even if it means lots of little baby steps. Maybe I should avoid the big goals (which can easily seem overwhelming) and make more of the little goals you asked about above.

Are you watching The Bachelorette?

Um, is today a day that ends in "y"? Yes, I am watching the train wreck that is Ashley H. looking for love. I can't seem to pull myself away (and let's be honest, I never try very hard anyway!) I hope she finds a great guy, although I realize the odds of that happening are extremely low. The whole Bentley fiasco was hard to watch. That was definitely a low point in Bachelor/Bachelorette history. I'm still shocked Chris Harrison didn't pull her aside and clue her in. Hopefully there are better things in store for our intrepid bachelorette.

Questions?

I've seen some other bloggers offer up Q & As recently, and I always like reading them, so I thought I would extend the same offer to anyone out there who is curious about the inner workings of life over here at Berry & Bramble. I know there are probably only a handful of you that read the blog regularly, but if you've got any burning questions for me, send 'em my way and I'll answer them on ye olde blog next week. And, if not, I won't be offended... I'll just think of some more creative blog content in the meantime.

Happy Friday!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend-- much needed after our two weeks of house guests (!) and all the festivities surrounding Jason's graduation. We kicked off the weekend with dinner on Friday night at Hop Doddy (I seriously cannot get enough of that place-- best. burgers. ever.), followed by a movie at the new Violet Crown Cinema in downtown Austin. The Violet Crown is kind of similar to Austin's Alamo Drafthouse theaters in that they have a full bar and lots of gourmet concessions, but it's a lot swankier. The lobby feels like a lounge-y downtown bar. We saw Everything Must Go with Will Ferrell. It was good, and nice to see Will in a more serious role, but definitely a little depressing.

On Saturday we attended a BBQ with some of J's business school friends, which was really an excuse for all the guys to get together and watch the European Champions Cup. I totally just made up the name of that soccer game. Something like that. All I know is that it was between Manchester United and Barcelona, and we are happy Barca won because we (meaning J) do not like ManU. (See, like how I use the abbreviated nicknames, as though I am a legit fan?)

Afterwards, he and I left to watch another movie. For Christmas my boss gave me a gift card to Austin's Gold Class Cinemas (I think they have them in other cities too), which are basically really fancy movie theaters. The seats are leather recliners. They give you fleece blankets. And you have a server who waits on you during the movie to bring you any variety of beverages (alcoholic and non) and gourmet treats. The ticket prices are astronomical, but it was a fun treat with a gift card. We saw The Hangover Part II. Meh. Definitely nowhere near as good as the original (and significantly more raunchy), but it had some funny parts.

We capped off the evening with a light dinner at Whole Foods. It's already so hot here that all I'm craving these days is fruit and big salads. Although we'll see how long that lasts. And clearly the heat didn't dissuade me from Friday's burger and shake. Ha.

On Sunday, a big group of our business school friends got together and made the trek out to Hamilton Pool, about 45 minutes southwest of town in the Hill Country, for a day of picnicking and swimming. We arrived around 10:45am, but at that point the lot was completely full and the park ranger estimated we wouldn't be able to get in until late afternoon. Fortunately Cassie saved the day by remembering a nearby swimming hole in the Pedernales River at Milton Reimer's Ranch Park. We would up finding a nice empty (sandy!) stretch of riverbank and the river was the perfect temperature (and depth) for swimming.

I was clearly too busy having fun because this is the only picture I managed to take of this beautiful spot. We decided a nice stretch of river and a sandy beach was far better than the obviously overcrowded, and apparently much smaller, Hamilton Pool.

Sunday night, we were completely wiped out after a full day of sun, so we tried out a new Indian place and then crashed on the couch and caught up on FNL episodes. Unfortunately I also wound up getting a pretty bad sunburn on my back. Ugh. It's all faded now, but I have to agree with Kate over at EA: getting a sunburn as an adult kind of feels like a major failure in "being a grown up 101."

On Monday (yes, I promise this post is coming to an end soon...), we woke up early and had a super productive morning: meal planning & grocery shopping, a turbo house-cleaning session, and a good workout-- all before lunch. Then Anne came up from San Antonio and we enjoyed yummy salads at Zocalo and a little bit of shopping.

I guess my weekend was actually pretty packed... but it felt nice and relaxing. And, now we're almost 3/4 of the way through the short work week... the best part of a long weekend! How soon until 4th of July?? Who's with me?