Town and Country in Cape Town

Last week the office flew Jess to Cape Town for work: one of the portfolio companies based in the area had run in to a bit of trouble and a large part of her internship has been working on the turnaround.  Since she had to be down there Monday and Tuesday anyway, we figured why not make a weekend of it?  The office was not only so supportive that it scheduled our flights, but thanks to a clerical error I was booked on the very early *Tuesday* flight back, giving me an extra day of wandering the city.  Perfect.

After a quick flight down [1], we hopped in our rental car (the rental company asked if we knew where we were going, looked at our directions, and then insisted on printing up a series of maps for us – no unplanned “meanders” this trip!) and got to our gorgeous B&B [2] around 1am.  We woke up at the foot of Table Mountain, the city spread out before us.

This trip really drove home for us how much I love cities – the mash up of people and buildings, art and graffiti – and how much Jess loves unspoiled nature.  This trip had plenty for both of us.

 We started our first day with a walking tour of the city center, moving down the monument-studded pedestrian boulevard (yes, I read every single brass plaque, but did restrain myself from pulling Jess into the museum) before we cut over to the Green Market Square and the series of street markets that run parallel to famous nightlife hot-spot that is Long Street. 

Done with the city, we decided to wander down the Atlantic Coast toward the Cape of Good Hope.  The trip went from incredibly scenic to outright breathtaking on increasingly narrow and curvy roads.  In fact, the beauty of the scenery and the narrowness of the roads continued right up until we cut one corner a bit too tightly, the car shuddered, and a hub cap went flying down the road behind us.  I hopped out of the passenger’s seat and ran back about 100 yards down the highway to retrieve it.  We then decided to skip the rest of the long, wandering coastal drive, and cut across the cape to the Indian Ocean side, stopping at the little town of Kalk Bay. 

If I were physically capable of using “cute” in a non-ironic fashion, the town of Kalk Bay would qualify.  Its buildings and landscapes were beautiful, its people friendly and talkative, its tourist trap shops actually full of interesting and below-reasonably priced wares.  We were tempted to stop in at the Cuban restaurant (advertising “the sexy new Hemmingway Lounge”) but decided on the Brass Bell, a much-recommended restaurant built jutting out into the sea so that large waves crash against the restaurant’s glass walls.  We feasted on oysters and wine and watched the sun set.

Jess’s Footnotes:

[1] – The flight was definitely quick for me – I slept through the whole thing, including take-off and landings!

[2] – The Acorn House is a beautiful B&B originally built in 1903 by a then-famous architect. The house features wide-planked hardwood floors, charmingly gabled ceilings, the best breakfast buffet I’ve encountered in my entire life (served in a room lit by ostrich-egg chandeliers), complimentary port in a crystal decanter, and proprietors who never failed to offer suggestions when we were heading out or hot tea when we returned.