Whirlwind Weekend

Thinking back on our weekend, it's a wonder we actually had time to sleep.  As such, I tried to put this in the most concise, organized way I thought possible (sounds like me, right?):

[Figured out how to add pics - so enjoy!]

Friday:
Kirsten, Mimi, and I were very productive at work so decided to take off a bit early and enjoy the beautiful weather (no wind, 70-ish degrees, and sunny).  Kirsten and I went running along the promenade, which is right along the coast, and watched the sun set over the water.

Afterwards, our whole group ventured down to Long Street (the bar/restaurant/young people part of town) and had great burgers while enjoying a few beers on the balcony of a bar.

Saturday:
Most of the crew got up early and went to the Old Biscuit Mill (Kirsten and I visited last weekend so we opted to sleep in) but the market is fantastic and is only open on Saturday mornings - it's sort of a mix between an upscale farmers market and every type of food you could ever want (pizza, crepes, paninis, burgers, pitas, wine, beer, cheese, meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc).  They have these great long tables with candles on them and everyone crowds in to share food - it's great.

In the afternoon, we were planning on hiking Table Mountain but the winds were crazy again plus they said there was zero visibility at the top so we opted to drive down the coast to the southern suburbs.  We started at Muizenberg beach - gorgeous, brightly painted wash houses on the beach.

Then made our way to Kalk Bay, a small fishing village on the coast of False Bay and found a fantastic marimba band that was playing on the wharf.

Our final destination was Boulder Beach, home to LOTS of jackass penguins (they bray like donkeys which is where they got their name).  Penguins are super cute and I feel like I could sit and watch them waddle forever, but, penguins stink.  Terribly.

We drove back to Kalk Bay for a fantastic seafood dinner (the mussels were the best I've ever had) before stopping by a bar by our apartment to watch the end of the Stormers' highly anticipated rugby match (we tried to get tickets when we got to CT but they had been sold out for awhile before our arrival).

Sunday:
Woke up and took a boat to Robben Island.  After about a 45 min boat ride we approached an island that was much bigger than I expected (I was thinking Alcatraz) and still currently houses 120 people who maintain the island for tours.  We took an hour ride around the island with a great guide who incorporated all our home countries into his stories about the fight for SA freedom (people on our bus were from Mexico, Saudi Arabia, England, Uruguay, Norway, Sweden, and, obviously, the US).  Afterwards, a former inmate from the prison, took us on our a tour around the prison itself.  It was pretty remarkable to hear the stories about the ways of life of the prisoners from Robben Island (as they were all political leaders) and compare to stories we've read about life in other prisons in South Africa (ie prison gangs, rape, violent beatings, etc.) - much more peaceful, as you can imagine.  We saw Mandela's garden, the limestone quarries where the prisoners were forced to work without sunglasses (many prisoners ended up with sight impairments as a result and to this day, you are not allowed to take a picture of Mandela with a flash for this reason), and his cell, which he writes about extensively in A Long Walk to Freedom.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and it seemed weird for me to be in such a depressing place on such a beautiful day.

We spent a lazy afternoon in Camps Bay, the ritziest part of Cape Town and absolutely where I would choose to live if I moved here, lounging on the beach and closed the weekend with a 3 course dinner overlooking the sunset.  [Since we're here in the winter, most of the expensive restaurants have a "winter special" which we are definitely taking advantage of.]  Perfect end to a great weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! :)