Tour d'Bubbly

Some of our faithful blog readers might think that the only thing that we do for fun here in Cape Town is go to wineries.  Well, I am here to tell you that it is not all fun and games.  We embarked on our most recent tour with a noble mission: find a suitable amount of quality bubbly to quench the thirst of the New Years Eve army.  Jared and I took this mission particularly seriously since we knew that our particular NYE squadron would consist of no fewer than 10 thirsty Americans.  Luckily, we had a random national holiday and a seasoned group of tasters on our side to ensure that the mission was a success. 

And what a success it was! One winery was even nice enough to stack all of our bottles into a Christmas tree formation!

Just kidding.  We didn't buy that many. But we bought quite a few bottles of the sparkly stuff and even walked away with three "magnum" sized bottles (take a wild guess whose idea those were...).

We're Famous!

Well, not exactly... but our apartment is!  The South Seas Apartments got a brief moment of fame in the new movie "Invictus," which takes place in South Africa.  Just before the big match, Matt Damon and crew are shown running along Beach Road and for a brief moment, you can see our apartment!  Although I was unable to get an exact screen shot, I was able to create a pretty close replica for you....

Lazy Sunday - The Vergelegen Remix

You thinking what I'm the thinking, Vergelegen, man its happenin'...

No doubt we were scenicaly taken to a dreamworld of magic, highlighted by titanic royal oak trees, huge hydrangea groves, and gnarly bamboo forests....

But, Vergelegen (Ver-ga-lee-kan ...which is how I incorrectly pronounce it) Wine Estate, just south of Stellenbosh in Somerset West, turned out to be quite a dud when it comes to churning out wines. Which you could never tell from looking at their website...

Turns out our old trusty guide, Mr. John Platter, who drops 4-5 stars on the majority of Vergelegen wines, must be getting some type of kickback or pleasure pass here cause his numbers don't add up. We did walk away with one bottle, but that doesn't fix the fact that the majority of the other 11 wines we tasted were flat out bad.

Overall, the Vergelegen estate is tough to compete with in terms of landscape, but this 309-year-old has gotten lazy when it comes to pimping grapes.

Fish Like an Egyptian

In addition to the presence of a star-studded cast of characters in Cape Town for the World Cup draw, some soccer/futbol-related excitement was had as well.  Most notably, the soccer gods answered my prayers and gave us the ultimate dream matchup in Group G opening round play: Brazil vs North Korea.  Looks like the boys downstairs may want to revisit their championship prediction now that the Canarinhos are going to be banging cleats with Kim Jong Il's mysterious Pyongyang Nightstalker squadron.  I can't wait.

On the tail of such exciting news, I decided to let Lindsay and Co. hunt down Charlize, the Beckhams, Corey Feldman and all the other mega-celebrities roaming around town, while I hit Langebaan Lagoon for some late-night fishing with my Egyptian friend Hesham and our Afrikaans boat captain, Anton.  Talk about a fishing dream team.  How'd we do, you ask? 

Well, we may have set a new national record for most Brown Shy Sharks with about 54.  The first couple were pretty interetesting since its got a cool pattern and strangely curls into a ball and covers its eyes with its tail once it senses trouble.  But, they quickly started to wear out their welcome.  Overall, pretty lame shark.  Here's Hesham and one of the 42 he caught....

The real prize of the night was my Kabeljou...

Which turned into prime braai material....

All in all pretty nice little Saturday...

Looking for a scapegoat

Looks innocent, doesn't she?  Well if that is the case, why did she make us stay up drinking until 4 am at her house, yet again?  I am sure that it has nothing to do with the generosity and graciousness of her owners as hosts, the stunning setting of their house overlooking the sea, and nothing at all to do with their impressive South African wine selection...

Sorry Roxy, until I can find another reason for last weekend's insanity, you are to blame.

World Cup Madness

Well, there are a number of things that I could blame my total ignorance of the huge event to take place here in Cape Town this week: a) I was out of the country for the last 2 weeks b) Americans don't understand soccer (football) hype anyway or c) I am just dense.

Either way, Cape Town is gearing up for the 2010 World Cup in a serious way (and no, we won't be here so you can't stay with me).  Today is the final draw which determines which teams play one another.  It is taking place here in town and right now, it is all people are talking about.  Not to mention that we have just a few celebrities in town, including:

Ms. South Africa, Charlize Theron

as well as the celebrity royal couple themselves, Posh + Becks:

oh, and let me just say that this last one was a personal sighting from bootcamp on Wed morning:

Thats right girls, it is Percy Montgomery the all-time record holder for caps (?) and points for the Springboks (SA's national rugby team).  Ok, full disclosure: I had no idea who he was and it took me a bit of googling to get his name right (Preston Winston? Monty Preston? Percy Wimberley?).  But I saw him, and he is here.

So tonight is the big night and although we did not make the guest list for the exclusive parties, I am sure that Posh and Becks will just be strolling around town later tonight and I will be able to see if he really is as tiny as they say and if her boobs really do make her pencil thin body float as the media states.  Wish me luck!

Let me count the ways I love thee...

Gosh, its good to be home....

What Happened?

Everything started out so sophisticated and mature....  Here's Jared, reading from the famous Platter's guide while comparing notes on the lovely offerings at the Thelema vinyard.  Glasses were swirled, subtle notes detected, aftertastes lingered upon...

I would like to recount exactly what happend next, but I am not sure that I can do that very accurately as the details are a bit hazy.  I remember a lovely lunch at Tokara, complimented by two bottles of the finest Thelema Chardonnay, the successful German Wedding cup challenge, and well... sometime after two more wineries and a lot more wine, the ride back to Cape Town ended up looking like this:

Now you might notice that a certain guest from Texas is missing from this lovely photo collage.... and that is because not only was Libby talented enough to hold a camera in one hand and the wine bottle in the other, but also because she was smart enough not to turn the camera on herself!

Together Forever!

Its confirmed: Jared and Lindsay are going to be together forever.  Although the wedding was quite an important step in this process, the German Wedding Cup was a challenge that we had been putting off for fear that we might not be successful and the marriage would be cursed.  Although we were actually given one of these beautiful silver cups as a gift for our wedding by David Zwerner, we had yet to drink out of the glass.  For some reason, we decided it was a good time to try after a few visits to wineries on Friday.  Despite the wobbly start, it was a success- not one drop spilled and our union remains solid as a rock.

Cousin Lib in Cape Town!

After months of waiting, cajoling, and outright lobbying, we have a visitor!  Cousin Libby arrived last Sunday night and the adventure has been non-stop since.  Whether checking out local flora and fauna or getting a little crazy with our new expat friends, we have done our best to show her what Cape Town has to offer. 

Rock Star Halloween

Although Halloween in another country is bit dissappointing in some ways (no trick or treating, no decorations, no themed candy), our little group of expats managed to go all out for the celebration.  The theme of a "Rock Star" Halloween was determined early on and all of the participants really showed their true colors. 

Ozzy, Cher, and Axle Rose

Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes

Billy Idol, Gwen Stefani, Debbie Harry, Amy Winehouse and Frank Zappa

And of course: Dolly Parton and Ted Nugent

Proof at Last

Although though we might have spoken of these alleged “friends,” we haven’t been able to provide any photo evidence up until this time. Well those days are over and here they are, in all of their glory--our friends in Cape Town!

These pictures were taken over the weekend in Gansbai, at an amazing house overlooking Walker Bay in the Indian Ocean. Luckily, it also happened to be whale season and an average of 6-8 whales were hanging out in the bay, enjoying the beautiful weather with us all weekend.

But more on the whales later, let’s focus on the existence of our super-cool friends and the fact that we were able to play corn-hole all weekend in South Africa! So thank you to Liz, John, Meg, Trey, Daria, Mike, Chris, Anna, Paul, Addie, and of course Stella and Maya for including us in your circle of fun. 

"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."  Artistotle