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A Foodie Tour of Cape Town

September 8, 2010 by 13 Comments
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(Alternate title: buying your baked goods and eating them too)

Okay, so a bunch of pictures of food and restaurants seems a little fru-fru after my last post about body image; but I can be all over the place, right? (And thanks for everyone who shared thoughts on the last one, I really enjoyed reading them!)

As you all probably know, I spent some time in Cape Town to enjoy the world cup and here, two months later, I am finally posting my last thing from that trip! I already got a chance to cover…

And I hadn’t quite gotten to the food yet so here you go. A foodie tour of Cape Town, by someone who was a poor backpacker and didn’t eat healthy at all, full disclosure. Sometimes, vacation just has to be vacation!

First of all, I should just say that Cape Town is foodie heaven as far as Africa is concerned. Why? It has stuff! Like falafel places open all night…that explain it to you in wall-sized chalk painting form.

And “gourmet” liquor stores who preach the truth.

Can I get an amen? For that window painting but also for the cute bottles of champagne and the complimentary wine tasting before noon. It was 5 o’clock somewhere.

Another thing: real supermarkets! We went into Spar at Cape Quarter our first morning and probably spent a whole hour in there. Poor, pathetic, deprived Peace Corps Volunteers.

Then we made our way to the V&A Waterfront which is really a huge tourist trap but for good reason. It is right on the water (if you couldn’t guess…), it is full of shops and restaurants and it is awesome. PLEASE look at this “sit down menu” at one of these places.

There were also more wine shops spouting more vino wisdom.

And Haagen—Daas. I don’t think I spelled that right, but wow.

I think this cookie sundae thing my friend got cost like ten dollars but it looked like it was worth every bite. I really didn’t know it was possible to miss ice cream so much.

Good thing they had froyo, or something resembling it aka the poor man’s H-D. No huge toppings bar but hey, beggars can’t be choosers!

There was another place called Melissa’s Food Shop which had the cutest pastries and products, and tons of tables with magazines and nice lighting and open space to sit and relax and enjoy your coffee or fresh baked goods. I am a baked good fiend. If you only need to know one thing about me, that would probably be it. Oh and besides the fact that I am a nice person and everything.

Thank goodness I am broke. That is really all that needs to be said.

A whole wing of the mall was basically foodie stores. Who else wishes that they had come up with the name of this store??

My six-month old sushi craving was satiated (its my favorite food and I hadn’t gotten to eat it since my trip home in December, except for once in Maputo and once when I tried and basically failed to make it). Store bought supermarket sushi but I hadn’t tasted anything so wonderful. Spicy tuna rolls complete me.

One restaurant EVERYONE MUST GO TO is Neighborhood on Long Street. It is basically a cute old apartment/house converted into a homey-yet-hip bar and grill. The burgers were dubbed by my fellow travelers as “the best.” Nacho burger, anyone?

I opted for the falafel burger. Sorry for the horrid picture but I just had to share it anyway. Falafel with hummus and tahini. Seriously. And a crap-ton of really, REALLY delicious French Fries. I forgot how much I LOVED fries! They are everywhere here, but soggy and oily and gross. These however…

Sometimes, a burger and fries is good for the soul. The other “best burger” in the Mother City was at The Waiting Room, another super-funky Long Street establishment. It actually used to be a literal waiting room for the club downstairs and then became an awesome restaurant. With beet salad.

I was super low on money so I had to forego the burger and get an Oreo shake for dinner. You do what you have to do. : )

Perhaps my favorite restaurant that we got to visit was Addis in Cape, also on Long Street. I LOVE Ethiopian food! If anyone reading has never tried it, find a way to get it ASAP! Any restaurant for which half of the menu is veggie and vegan is an A+ in my book.

I had wanted to go the whole time I was in CT, so finally one afternoon we wandered in for one of their specials. The setting inside was awesome… we weren’t on the floor like I was assuming, but it still seemed pretty well-done inside.

And they washed our hands, which was funny. Mozambican places do this too! Although it is a little less fancy…

Ethiopian food, for newbies, is served with injera, a fascinating sponge-like, nearly-flavorless-but-still-fun-to-eat bread substance. I appreciated that they included this explanation in the menu for the uninitiated. It basically comes in these HUGE pieces that are rolled up, and you use it to scoop up the food.

My friends and I got the lunch special, which came with seven different dishes. A couple were lentils, two were chicken, one was tomatoes, all were delicious. I couldn’t have told you what ANYTHING was more specifically, but that is part of the fun.

Clearly, we hated it.

A final Long Street restaurant definitely worth checking out is Mesopotamia, a Kurdish restaurant that offers hookah and on busy nights, belly dancers. Pictures were hard to come by, as we were sitting on pillows in a dark room very up close and personal with each other and the fellow diners.

However, any awkwardness was more than compensated for by the food. One of my pet peeves with blogs is when people say anything is “OMG the best EVERRRRR!!!!!!!” but this hummus really was the best ever. Okay, scratch that. The best that I personally can ever remember having. That is a little less dramatic.

I tried to take a picture of the menu so I could remember the name of what I got but they didn’t turn out due to the “intimate” lighting… it was spicy and it was lamb. Seriously, go here if you are ever in CT. I just wish they gave me more food!

Side note: we are always talking about restaurant portions being blown out of whack but since we have this amazing invention known as take away (or I guess its “to go” for Americans? I forget…) I personally get a little sad when my meal is small, if I feel like I am paying a lot for it. That is why I love Cheesecake Factory… you get three meals for the price of one! Okay, tangent over.

After a few days in the city, I stumbled upon quite possibly the best store to grace the continent of Africa.

This is probably nothing to you all but when you keep in mind that I have been without real stores or Whole Foods for two years you can only imagine my excitement.

Bulk bins and my first trip to a salad bar in months and months and months? Definitely not in Kansas Mozambique anymore. I could have eaten every one of my meals here.

…except that I am the perpetually short-on-cash traveler. I found trail mix with cranberries and chocolate chips and splurged and tried to make that thing last as long as possible but I don’t think it made it out of South Africa. Oh well, I tried!

Popcorn is one of my favorite foods in the world. I probably have it for dinner once a week. I mean, as part of a balanced and healthy diet. (Pancakes and Popcorn was an alternative title for the blog.) I love going to movies to get popcorn. I have actually been known to go to see a movie just to get popcorn. Seriously. And it is funny because movie popcorn is not any better than the kind I make at home. It is just part of the experience for me. We went to see Sex and the City 2, my third movie in 21 months (the first being New Moon in Joburg the night before my flight home and the second being The Blind Side, the ONE movie I made it to back in the States.)

Anyway, the reason I am raving about popcorn is because I wanted to share one of my favorite things about South Africa: the theaters have popcorn toppings. Well, seasonings. Make it whatever flavor you wish! MSG included for free, woohoo! But this system did acquaint me with salt and vinegar popcorn. Try it, you will not be disappointed.

The elusive quest for the perfect chocolate baked good

 As already described here, I am a baked goods junkie. I like chocolate. Especially Cadbury, produced in South Africa and also readily available in Mozambique.

 

And I like baked goods. Pretty much any kind, so long as they are not dry and flavorless.

 

But when you combine the two, we have a winner.

 

Actually, this donut was not very good—and I LOVE donuts. But it marked my quest to find something delicious and chocolate before the end of my week. And it was this quest which brought me to one of the most ridiculous life moments that I have experienced in recent memory.

I was eating my face off in CT but tried to get some exercise by running several of the mornings. A nice attempt, but when you take in how freezing I was, I am not sure it was doing me more good than harm. But with one day to go in the find-chocolate-yumminess battle, I decided to bring some money and stop into this bakery on my way back and find a brownie. It was as amazing inside as I thought it would be.

Except for one small problem. No brownies. But this looked like the best bakery around, I didn’t want to give up hope. So I bought this. Chocolate inside, of course.

I said I would bring it home for breakfast, but then I was right across the street from Spar which had an amazing bakery so I figured I should at least check that out too. But wandering the aisles I got hungry so I figured just a bite of my pastry. And then another bite. And another. So here I am, a sweaty girl in her running clothes, iPod still in ear, wandering a grocery store and eating a chocolate croissant thing. And then I see this.

It was a chocolate brownie. I had to buy it. So, croissant eaten, I pay for my purchase and then run the 15 minutes home with this box in my hand. I must say I have never gone for an hour run and in that time bought two chocolate pastries, consumed one and gingerly supported the other home with me on my morning exercise.

I must say, I felt very alive at that moment. (And like a complete joke of a person. You try going running with a pastry box and tell me how it goes over.)

But all my baked good desires were finally answered at the end of my trip with a visit to Kauai. Kauai is an amazing healthy fast food chain in CT with delicious sandwiches, salads, smoothies and wraps. I probably bought a little fruit smoothie every day when I was out exploring just because I could, and they were delicious and healthy. But then, I had to submit to my desires before I left the land of plenty for the land of next-to-nothing… a frappacccino-like smoothie with a cappuccino muffin.

Reading all the healthy sayings on the napkin and the “find your balance,” I felt a little like a hypocrite. I want to be a healthy traveler who doesn’t find the need to buy something like this every day but I am chalking this one up to a necessary mental health break after 20 months in the Moz and a week of healthy eating later I was fine. Moderation in moderation, I think.  I need to find MY balance, but that is usually healthy. In Cape Town, it was 50-50. But I’ll take it. Balance.

After the days of indulgence I wanted to start off right for our departure day (goodbye, pastries…) so I headed to another Cape Town institution, Lola’s. Lola’s is a vegetarian café on Long Street popular with the gay crowd (Cape Town is pretty much the only city in Africa with a vibrant and relatively accepted gay scene).

They offered fresh juice and a variety of healthy vegetarian breakfast options. A couple of unknowing Americans walked in and crinkled their noses up at the menu and asked if they had bacon and sausage. The waitress, bless her heart, demurely replied that this was a vegetarian café. I probably would have laughed.

It was as good as I had expected. Fresh, delicious, and totally fun place to have my last meal in Cape Town.

So there you have it… a foodie adventure in the mother city. Not the healthiest week of my life, but I just wanted to share the FUN stuff : ) since everything else was boring… and such a big part of exploring a new place is exploring the food.

I may never go running with a baked good in hand again (please God, no!) but I WILL return to Cape Town again, mark my words. And now as I post this it is officially recapped on my blog, so I will just have to wait until the next opportunity I have to visit this absolutely amazing place.

What are your favorite indulgences when you travel?

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    Penguins and Baboons and Gatsbys, Oh My!

    August 24, 2010 by 13 Comments
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     Happy Tuesday, everyone! Thanks for the fun comments on my last post! I know I am a sporadic blogger at BEST out here in the Moz, but you lovely people stop by anyways, and I appreciate it :)

    Yes, I am STILL uploading stuff from Cape Town. Nearly two months later. To my credit, the internet has been MIA, but hey, who cares? I only have one post left after this and I still think they are worth posting. We call it “Africa time” here… 15 minutes late is early, an hour late is on time, and anything past that just isn’t worth being surprised about. So I am posting on African time.

    This post has pretty pictures of scenery and pictures of EXTREMELY unhealthy South African food. There are also baboons, and penguins. If that does not interest you, no offense will be taken. :)

    I have a series of non-world cup posts coming as soon as this is out on stuff that hopefully you all will find interesting, so I promise that I won’t be blogging about past trips for the next several months… just want to knock these out. So here goes!

    One of our last days in Cape Town we elected to rent a car so we could head to Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa, unreachable by public transport. Sarah was the only one with a valid license to drive (apparently mine expired…) so we set off with her at the helm.

    As we drove out of Cape Town proper it started feeling a little like the northern California coastline. Breathtakingly beautiful and a ton of adorable little towns I would like to explore slash move in to and never leave. We didn’t have too much time to chill, though, because the USA/Slovenia game was on at 4pm. Priorities.

      Not too long later we arrived at Boulders Beach, famous for its penguins. Am I the only one who LOVES penguins? There is just something about that waddle that I find utterly irresistable!

      And apparently they hang out under cars. I loved this sign.

      This pic didn’t come out so well, but it points to, among other things, “Cape Town,” “penguins”, “sunrise”, and “the moon.” It helped. Poor tourists who can´t find the moon!

     I don’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t imagining THIS many penguins… at such a close distance!

      After we had our fun observing the penguins (and being observed right back) we headed down to Cape Point.

      Here, no penguins (sad) but there were baboons.

      And apparently they love food? (We have that in common.) While we were there one ran up and grabbed a girl’s snack out of her hand and ate it. Haha. Wouldn’t have been so funny if it had been me, I guess…

      There was a funicular up to the top of the point, but it was expensive and plus, any hill to climb would seem easy after our Table Mountain adventure the previous day. So up we went!

      The views and scenery were seriously breathtaking. It was weird to realize that nothing was south of us besides Antarctica! (Note to self: must visit Antarctica next. On second thought, maybe somewhere warmer.)

      Plus, the baboons were fun.

      We were a little rushed which was unfortunate, but there was World Cup to be watched, so we prioritized. On our trip out, we had decided to eat lunch on the way back in one of the adorable little towns that we passed through. Fish and chips was mentioned, and that seemed pretty appropriate.

     When in Rome… so we stopped in Fish Hoek. Yes, that is the name of the town.

      This place seemed pretty straightforward and there was parking close by, so we went for it. Fish and chips!

    Inside the place was a bit weird. The dude working there had never eaten fish (ummm…) and you had to pay for napkins and plastic utensils. Okay, whatever. There was also some sort of extreme wrestling on TV, which aforementioned non-fish-eating dude mentioned was OUR type of TV. Actually not so much. Whatever, just feed us!

     So, there were two different types of fish to choose from as well as a bunch of different combos on the menu. Although most did involve fried fish, and French fries.

    There was something called a chili bite which looked like something I had to have, with some tartar sauce. And these might have been my favorite things I ate in all of Cape Town! Also probably the healthiest…

     I knew a couple of people who grew up in South Africa and I had heard of the elusive Gatsby, a type of sandwich that is a tradition in this Cape region. I saw this huge sign with a ton of options and decided I should go for it even though I had no idea what I was getting into. I figured it wouldn’t be healthy, but a half sandwich can’t be THAT bad, right, and it comes with salad. So I asked for a half fish Gatsby.

      And this is what I got. This is my half sandwich. Size of my head much?

      Yes, this is a huge piece of bread filled with a huge piece of fried fish, an entire order of fries, half a bottle of ketchup, and I think one piece of lettuce (that would be the “salad.”)

    Its funny, people talk about eating food that could kill you…. THIS COULD KILL YOU. I love fatty and fried foods, mind you, and usually they don’t make me feel too bad. But I think I died a bit inside after doing quite a number on this one. (I was really excited about the fried fish part… but the rest? Yeah.) We were all a little uncomfortable after our meals. But it’s okay… I tried a Gatsby. If you are in the Cape area… try one at your own risk!

    We jumped back in the car (okay, plodded with our full bellies) and made it back just in time to watch the USA game with a bunch of Americans. The picture below was taken right after we won. All those spots in the air are literally showers of beer that someone (or many someones) were throwing in celebration.

    We were happy too. America won something!

    This was an extremely memorable day in Cape Town and one of my favorite parts of our trip. After spending the week there I really felt at home, like it was “my city.” If it was not 10,000 miles away from everything else I would move there in a heartbeat and never leave. It is THAT wonderful. It is a bit more European, not very African, but a perfect mix of everything. And plus, there are penguins.

    Good times. Até a próxima, blog world!

    Have you ever tried something ridiculous in a foreign land? Or, have you ever visited someplace and felt that it was “your city”, or somewhere you could live forever? Where and why?

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    Table Mountain Day!

    July 30, 2010 by 8 Comments
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    So one of the things on the MUST-DO list for Cape Town was Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the iconic mountain basically located smack dab in the middle of the whole Cape Town area, giving the city one of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in the world, being sandwiched between the Indian and Atlantic oceans and a big flattop mountain (hence the name).

    There are two options for a visit to Table Mountain: schlep up it or take the cable car. At first we were all for hiking, then I started getting a little nervous with the freezing and unpredictable weather. Were we prepared? Would we get stuck? Could we carry enough food and water with us? Etc. but then when our hostel owner said, screw the cable car, that was all we needed to hear. And plus, I was excited to get in some intense exercise. I was running half the mornings, but those runs often ended at a bakery (no joke… more on that later) so this would provide a welcome opportunity for some active sightseeing.

    Fuelled up with some oatmeal—can you believe this is an instant oatmeal packet, just made with milk and water in the microwave, with some nutella and banana added in? it is like, A FULL BOWL! When I make instant packets with hot water (much more common for convenience when I am in, say, Swaziland or in the bush of Africa far away from any kitchen appliances) it takes like three bites to eat the whole thing. This my friends, is a new way of life. Anyways.

    We splurged on a cab to head out to the base of the mountain, which was actually really high up as it was. There we saw the line of people waiting to take the cable car. It was a TON of people. Plus, the cable car was ascending into a mass of clouds—no visibility from the top, it seemed. I started wondering if they knew something we didn’t, no one seemed to be hiking.

    But that is because those people are not as badass as us.

    The route we took had been described as “walk straight up the mountain for half an hour and you will want to kill yourself, but then you cut across the side of the mountain and it is basically flat and pleasant for like an hour, and then another half of hour up to the top.” Sounds simple enough. So off we went!

    The path was pretty steep—nothing like I have encountered on other mountains or hikes but enough to get to that point where you just want to STOP walking up huge stairs made of rock while all these other people are passing overhead in the comfortable cable car. I started getting sweaty and grumpy.

    Yeah, basically that.

    But before long we reached the intersection with the other trail that would afford us a bit of a break as we cut across the mountain. Got some nice views of the city bowl below us and got to walk through a waterfall at some point… nothing like a little refreshing blitz of freezing cold water when you are sweaty and goosebumpy.

    The views were really nice and we had a decently easy stroll across the mountain before it was time to start heading up again.

    Not gonna lie, I was TIRED! I am also the WORST person with temperature, I think my internal regulator does not function well. I am either freezing with goosebumps or sweating. The in-between does exist, but it is a fine line. Walking up that mountain in the freezing cold, chilled to the bone, but while also sweating and then having it dry right away and give me chills, I felt like the hugest wimp! Does this happen to anyone else? It reminds me of skiing, getting SO hot on your way down the mountain, but one you are back on the lift you are freezing again. Or maybe I am the only one whose body screams in protest in these situations. Ha.

    Before long, we reached the summit! While the views were beautiful on the way up, nothing could have prepared me for the amazingness at the top. I love that about climbing mountains. No matter what, the view is always better at the top. (Unless you get caught in a cloud cover or a whiteout or a lightning storm, I can personally say that all three of those situations kind of blow).

    We took the requisite pictures and then some.

    We had been hiking near another group of American dudes who brought their vuvuzelas all the way to the top with them, just so they could do this. It reminded me of the 20-something American dude version of those old Riccola commercials… anyone know what I’m talking about??

    We had snacked some (I brought trail mix and an apple) on the way up but once we got to the top we were HUNGRY and I couldn’t wait to crack open my summit sandwich!

    We had been at the mall the day before and there was a Subway (!!!) I wasn’t hungry at the time, but I got a Pastrami to bring up the mountain with me. Paired with the hot chocolate I am pretty sure it was the best sandwich ever. Okay, a day-old slightly squished subway sandwich that is supposed to be hot and fresh is not exactly gourmet, but we don’t really get sandwiches where I live so paired with the overpriced and underchocolated hot cocoa this was pretty perfect.

    We did what all true athletes do: take the cable car down. There was no way I was walking back down that thing. We rushed the cable car line to get “good spots,” but what we didn’t know before is that the whole cable car actually rotates throughout the whole trip up and down the mountain. Pretty awesome.

    GREAT day. Anyone who ever visits Cape Town MUST climb the mountain. I don´t even remember what we did the rest of the day. If it was anything like every other day in Cape Town, we probably ate and watched World Cup.

    I think if I lived here, I would come up this mountain all the time. Definitely a place of zen, if you take out all of the tourists. Ha.

    Only have a few Cape Town posts left (including the foodie ones and the one about penguins and baboons) and then I can get back to Mozambique life… there is a LOT I have to post about that, too. No internet for weeks definitely gets in the way. But here´s to trying, anyways!

    Have a WONDERFUL weekend, everybody!

    Do you like to hike? Where can you get “a taste of nature” near where you are? What outdoor workouts are your favorites?

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    Wine Tasting (for dummies) in the Western Cape

    July 28, 2010 by 7 Comments
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    GUESS WHO IS BACK?? Okay, I am probably not REALLY back, but I have short term access to internet so I figured I should throw SOMETHING up here. It is funny, I have all the time in the world in Mozambique AND no shortage of fascinating stuff to post about but technology always seems to throw a kink in everything… watch, once I move back to California I will FINALLY be able to actually blog regularly but then my life will once again be boring :) Can´t win em all.

    Much of Moz has been without any internet access or cell phone communication for several days now. In fact, I went like 12 days without going through my Gmail inbox. Please just imagine that. (Conclusion: I need to unsubscribe from a lot of crap). But it hopefully will improve soon.

    In my life, things are going pretty well. I went to the beach this weekend and went for a 32K run (19 miles!!!) for the first time EVER so that felt pretty bomb. More on running later, post-return to civilization (or at least access to the interwebs). Next week is my Close of Service Conference for Peace Corps (our last big thing together) and the ushering in of my LAST THREE MONTHS as a Peace Corps Volunteer… this I cannot really conceptualize, so I will save it for another post.

    I still have so much Cape Town content that I have not yet posted due to the internet gods conspiring against me, so here comes another one: WINE TASTING DAY! Who does not love wine tasting? Or starting Wine Tasting Day out with nutella-banana oatmeal and chocolate milk?

    We signed up for a backpacker-oriented wine tour through our hostel, Two Oceans, and got picked up bright and early and headed out of the city. We met our enthusiastic guide, who actually drives tourist types around to wineries all day every day and makes quite a hefty profit doing so. Although I am sure the charm fades quickly! Our group that day was made up of a handful of Germans and two groups of Americans, all enjoying the glory days of the World Cup.

    We stopped at a gas station on the way out towards Stellenbosch to meet up with some others and grab breakfast at Wimpy, a South African chain offering hearty fare. The night before had been a rough night for the partying crowd, and greasy hangover food was MUCH needed. I personally was glad for having pushed the what, 11 BEERS or something that were bought for me along down the table because I was bright eyed and bushy tailed! Kind of.

    However it was day three of vaycay and since my favorite thing in the world (well, one of them?) is hot chocolate and pasteries, I couldn´t pass up the opportunity to grab a snackie… I called it sympathy hangover food. How´s THAT for a new excuse?

    The road out towards Stellenbosch (which is a picturesque and very famous wine region only 40 kilometers outside of Cape Town) was beautiful and reminded me very much of my home in California. To think that I had called Cali home for YEARS and that my first time doing any sort of official wine tasting was in Africa, was somewhat silly. Better late than never!

    Finally the group of us arrived at the first winery that we would be visiting, Fairview. The winery had wines on offer from three different wineries close by in the region and we would get to sample several… after learning how to look like we knew what we were doing.

    We walked into a big and very cold  room inside the winery full of vats and other exciting wine-making machinery that I do not know the names of, and were greeted with a small glass of sauvignon blanc and a list of all the wines available for tasting.

    It was clear that a lot of people just wanted to get drunk (but feel classy doing so), but we all listened attentively to our guide´s explanation of what exactly we were supposed to do.

    His explanation (perhaps it could be called “Wine Tasting for Dummies and/or Backpackers Who Think It Sounds Awesome to Go on A Wine Tour”?) was as follows:

    First, recognize that there IS a right and wrong way to hold a wine glass. White wine should be held by the stem, carefully, so as not to warm the wine (as white wine is generally served chilled). Women, pop that pinkie out! Men, don’t. (I am not sure if this is true but I thought it was funny anyways.) Red wine should be cradled by the bowl.

    He said the things we needed to focus on, in order, were COLOR, AROMA (or “bouquet” for those who know what you are talking about), the TASTE (in your mouth), the AFTERTASTE, and then the fifth optional judging criteria could be how it makes you feel THE MORNING AFTER. Ha, ha.

    The first thing you do is tilt the glass away from you to check out the COLOR. It is good to do this over some sort of white background so that you can see the wine color clearly. Analyze the color, which tells you something about the grapes the wine is made from. (If you are me, declare, “It is white/red” and feel like you can move on to the next section). The streaks that the wine leaves on the side of the glass after being tilted (thick, or nonexistent, or somewhere in between) give hints about the body of the wine.

    The next and much more important step is the SMELL. It is crucial to swirl the wine in your glass for several seconds to fully release the aromas and allow it to oxygenate. And then… take a big whiff. Not so difficult. Well technically, take a light whiff to get an idea and then basically try to inhale the wine—first and second impressions, perhaps? This step is crucial and very much affects how we TASTE the wine. Crazy how our nose works…

    Next (FINALLY) take a sip. Swirl it around in your mouth, give your palate some time to recognize the different complex flavors. The flavors may change after a few seconds as the different aspects of the wine merge on your tongue—so it is important to give it a few moments. Remember we have different taste buds on different areas of our tongue, so we need to make sure everything gets a chance.

    The FINISH (aftertaste) can be completely different from the initial taste of the wine in your mouth—he told us to breathe in while swallowing to swallow air along with the wine to get the true aftertaste. This was extremely awkward at first and I stopped doing it eventually got used to it.

    Then we were turned loose in the tasting room to sample several wines of our own selection. I tried very intensely to really TASTE the wines but I honestly could not notice too much more than “I really like this one!” and “this one is okay!” I would like to have more refined taste buds but I think that will take some time… and for now, my wallet is happy that my favorite bottle of wine is Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio : )

    One of the things I had wondered about with wine tasting when people talk about not swallowing the wine was… where does it go?? Question answered… you throw it into these basins. I felt guilty taking a sip or two of each tasting and then dumping it, but I did not want to be intoxicated… luckily, I soon found a fellow taster who was more than willing to take all of my undrinken (undrank? undrunk? not drunk? I seriously no longer speak English…) off of my hands.

    After milling about for some time in the tasting room, it was time to scamper over to the other side for something equally exciting: CHEESE TASTING!!! So to be honest I am not really a cheese person (I know, I know). I love it on my pizza and my burgers but cheese by itself? I will eat it, but eh. I would just as soon leave it. I understand why people are crazy about cheese, but I am just so much more of a sweet person that cheese often gets left by the wayside for me. But cheese tasting? Yes please.

    The shop area where the tasting was held had a TON of different cheeses and artisanal breads for sale. I wanted to buy everything, but remembering that the wine tour cost about two days of my daily budget for my South Africa trip was enough to keep it in check.

    There were about seven or so cheeses to taste. I think you were supposed to proceed around the circle once in an orderly fashion, but it definitely got a little crowded in there which was fine… more cheese for me. Some of my favorites were the sundried tomato and basil goat cheese made on site…

    This blue cheese that was pretty much to die for (and I don´t even care too much for blue cheese, unless I am dipping my hot wings in it!)…

    And my favorite was this Camembert. That is often my favorite cheese anyway, and this was so delicious and paired with some sort of chili/pepper jelly. I don´t want to be one of those bloggers who writes things like “you have no idea how good this was omg omg omg holy yum party in my mouth!”, but, this was really good. Note to self: become more sophisticated and knowledgable about cheese.

    The rest of our time was spent exploring the grounds. I could definitely retire to someplace like this. Wine country, mountains, a nice cottage, cheese… not so bad.

    Also not so bad: gourmet pizza. As you MUST do when you have large groups of boisterous, roudy twenty-somethings who are potentially intoxicated or at least got a very solid buzz going: give them pizza and don´t let them make decisions.

    Three choices: Mexican, something with ham and artichoke, and vegetarian. Drink: beer, no substitutions. I was one of the two people out of twenty-something who ordered the veggie and was deemed LAME. Whatever, my pizza was awesome.

    And what wine tour doesn´t include a stop by a… cheetah outreach center? This place has rescued and raised cheetahs that were either injured or orphaned or born in domesticity, and we got the chance to see some of these amazing creatures.

    YAWN!!!

    I love animals with all my heart, but I think I am over seeing them in captivity. I am really glad I got to see these cheetahs… many people who go on safaris all over Africa never get to (they often prove elusive)… but it felt like cheating (cheeting? haha. I slay me) God, these crazy cats being in a pen! They get exercise and love, but still. Who´s with me?

    What was the point of today? Oh yeah, more wine.

    Our next/last winery (we only went to two, because it was a Sunday. Conveniently no one told us that on Sunday you visit two wineries instead of four and the drinking-wine-while-on-safari option is not available…) featured not only wine but champagne. Who else was told that champagne is what is actually processed in the Champagne region of France and everywhere else that makes it has to call it “sparkling wine”? This was definitely something I believed to be true. However, we were told otherwise. 

    How he explained it to us was that “champagne” refers to the actual process of fermentation—the wine is fermented a second time in the bottle to produce carbonation—while sparkling wine has artificial carbonation added. Wines not made in Champagne cannot say “champagne” on label but CAN say “champagne method.” I was a little skeptical and even tried to look this all up on Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge) but couldn’t come to a proven conclusion. Oh well. The mystery remains.

    The day was winding down, but it was pleasant and a bit chilly… God knows I spent about 70% percent of my trip shivering. In about 70-degree weather. (In Moz this “winter”, I am often walking several unshaded miles a day in the African sun, wearing pants, long sleeve shirts, and jackets, and often scarves, to battle the bitter cold of… 68 degrees. Sometimes 75.)

    After not letting myself splurge on the cheese this morning, I shelled out for a two-dollar bottle of white wine to bring back with us.

    Sarah bought a bag of wine as well, but it came to a bitter end as the result of an unsuccessful attempt to balance it on her head like a true Mozambican. Let´s just say those bags are NOT very well made.

    Broken bags of wine or not, we all had a great time and stayed classy.

    Our last stop was at what we were told was a Mexican place. I was really excited until I realized it was just a bar with a “Mexican theme.” There were no margaritas on offer, and when I asked if they had chips and salsa, the scantily-clad waitresses all looked at me like I was an idiot and said “no.” Raised eyebrow and all. Who does this girl think she is, asking for CHIPS? But all is well that ends well, and the day was definitely a success.

    If I went again I would rent my own car and visit more wineries (it would have probably come out to be cheaper) but it was fun to meet people and not have to worry about anything while driving around the region. It was fun to learn that just stopping in for a tasting at any of these places would only cost in between $3-4! (I think the cheese tasting was like, two bucks). So if/when I move to Cape Town, I will take better advantage of this. Or maybe just at home in northern California. :)

    Have you ever been wine tasting? What did you think of the experience? Are there any wine “snobs”/people who know a lot about wine out there? What do I need to know? : )

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    Scenes from a World Cup Game!

    July 14, 2010 by 7 Comments
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    Wow. So TOTALLY neglected the blog this week, and not by choice—this is my first time getting access to Internet for more than 1 minute since last Wednesday. Well, actually NO access minus two minutes on Monday morning to introduce you all to Simon. Annoying, but I also like that I can be cut off from the world for a week and totally survive. I think it’s funny when people say “Sorry I have been M.I.A…” I am pretty sure no one actually notices, so life goes on.

    Anyway, I wanted to post this this weekend in honor of the World Cup final (woooo!) but the no-internet thing made that impossible, so I am posting it now!

    Anyone who reads my blog knows I recently went to Cape Town, South Africa. I have shared some pictures and stories already but most of the best are still waiting to be shared. (Wine tasting… penguin petting… well kind of…) so paciencia is the word. For me, at least. As stated before, I do not think any one else cares. : )

    What brought me to Cape Town in the first place was the World Cup, and I got to go to the Portugal vs. North Korea game on June 21st. I had high hopes for what this day would be like and I was NOT disappointed.

    We woke up and it was cold and rainy. Of course. We got really lucky for the first few days with NO rain and decent warmth (it was freezing and wet the whole week prior) but we weren’t going to let it dampen our spirits. Sarah and I headed out early to the ticketing center to pick up our tickets.

    We thought it might be complicated but it was easy as pie. The girl working there was giddy and excited like we were and even offered to take our picture!

    A big part of the “event” that was World Cup was walking the Fan Walk towards the stadium. It was only about two miles, but you could have made a day of it! As we started to move, we were treated to a variety of entertainment, including a rocking group of older women beating the crap out of some djembes. I was impressed.

    Something I didn’t realize was that all the fans got decked out for EVERY game. Pretty much EVERYONE was in some sort of Portugal gear even though a good chunk of them were probably there to support other teams… but it was just for the spirit of it all. I was wearing green, but I bought a Portugal scarf on the fan walk… much better.

    Lining the last stretch of road to the stadium were DOZENS of brightly painted “shacks” offering all different kinds of goodies, including vuvuzelas, Portugal gear, arts and souvenirs, and food. The boerwors (very popular, slightly spicy South African sausage) filled the air with the sent of delicious barbeque.

    Perhaps the most popular stand was the face painting, which Colin and Sarah happily took advantage of.

    I turned down the spicy meat (it is hard for me, believe me) but then I saw this sign and I knew my willpower was totally gone. Especially when they gave me “two for the price of one…” I’m a sucker for a deal but the next time I walked by that was the price they were giving everyone, but still.

    Nutella-ish spread, maple syrup and sugar on a pancake, and then covered with another one. Pancake sandwich! The perfect fuel for a world cup game if you ask me…

    Not surprisingly, there were no North Korea fans. Having a closed country makes it a bit hard to go cheer on your team when you cannot really leave… rumors were flying, including that North Korea hired Chinese to come serve as “fans” at their games. I cannot speak to what the truth IS, but the whole situation was a bit weird. Luckily, the mood was lightened by the four or five American dudes who came decked out to support North Korea. Good for you, guys. It really made me want to research and learn more about North Korea, though, and the situation there.

    McDonalds was a big sponsor of the World Cup and there was even one built right at the stadium. Smart move… the line was huge for people trying to grab a Big Mac (if that is even what they are called in ZA…) before the game. Not so smart move: the McDonalds was ONLY open for the games! A few days later, I was on a run and tried to grab a McMuffin to take back with me (its been YEARS…) and after running around like an idiot, I asked a guard and found out that no, I wasn’t totally inept, it just wasn’t open at all. Weird.

    We got through the line pretty fast and the rain (which was kind enough to almost stop for us during our strut down fan walk) started up again, HARD. There was still time to snap a few pictures and hope the downpour didn’t ruin my camera…

    And then time to find our seats. We were SO blessed in that the Cape Town stadium was covered so we were nice and dry for the whole game… unlike the players, who got to play in a torrential downpour. It was seriously like a slip n slide out there.

    Our seats were HIGH up, but almost perfectly in the center, so we had a great view of all the action.

    At half, Portugal was only up 1-0 and North Korea was really staying in it. I thought it might be down to the wire… until somewhere in the 60-somethingth minute when Portugal scored. And then scored again. And then AGAIN. Three times in seven minutes. That was right about when we stopped feeling bad for North Korea and wanted a blowout. And that is what we got.

    Several minutes later, we got another three goals, including one that pretty much bounced in off of Christiano Ronaldo’s neck. He was lazy and whiny the first half, but the second half he was awesome and I have decided that I still do like him and the part about him being completely beautiful doesn’t hurt either.

    Final score: seven to nothing. It was a huge party leaving the stadium. Everyone just had so much fun and the mood was jovial.

    It was one of the most electric experiences of my entire life. I don’t think I have ever really experienced that fervor, that feeling of being a part of something special, with people from all over the world sharing an experience. It is kind of weird being in a moment that you KNOW you will remember forever… besides from maybe your wedding day or the birth of your child, how many of those moments are there? When you KNOW, at that very time, that what you are experiencing now is going to be ingrained in your memory for a long, long time? Not many… so it was nice to be able to savor that.

    I took a bunch of videos of the stadium erupting during the goals but haven’t been able to post them, maybe later.

    Basically, it was completely, totally, and utterly awesome and I am already daydreaming about the awesome beach house I am renting in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 for the Brazil world cup. If anyone wants to come with, let me know : )

    More posts coming soon I promise! Still waiting on the foodie ones, I know…

    Have you experienced anything recently that you think will stick with you forever?

     

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    Happy July and the Cape Town Pictures Continue!

    July 2, 2010 by 9 Comments
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    It’s July! Happy July!

    First of all, I just want to tell the like-minded soul who recently reached my blog by searching “how many calories in licking leftover icing,” to not worry. There are no calories in icing because it is made of love.

    Anyways.

    I am going to continue on with my Cape Town posts but since it is the beginning of another month it always seems to spurn some reflection for me (and across the blog world). May was a month of goals—this was one of my first “real” blog posts! But the stress of that month (not because I had set goals) really got to me and in June I declared I was just going to let it go. Now it’s July. HOW IS IT JULY ALREADY??

    This is going to be a crazy month for me. Also a comparably cold one, because we are in the depths of winter (aka daytime temps are down to the mid-seventies, but hey, that cold shower BITES!).

    At work, I have my second-to-last trimester planning (at which I conduct activities) and I NEED to put it 110% to make sure that the work I do is not only being executed well NOW, but that there will be continuation after I leave in November. This is stressing me out the most, realizing that I am leaving SO soon and I don’t want to look back and feel like I failed or that I didn’t put in enough. I want to feel like I have contributed in a meaningful and lasting way here.

    In terms of health, I need to get serious. I had been up until mid-May, where stress got the best of me and then continued through two vacations. I feel sloppy and not up to form, and really need to take this month to get back to where I should be and make smarter decisions. Registering for my marathon on July 15th should hopefully provide some more motivation… even though it’s not until May 1st!

    In terms of the future, this is the month that the ball gets rolling on graduate school and scholarship applications (I need to start early because I have to have them all done by October!). That can also be a source of stress so I just need to concentrate on following my heart and not getting too caught up in the future’s uncertainties.

    Personally, I need to reconnect with myself. I feel like I have lost sight of a lot of what is important: my relationship with God, the importance of constantly outpouring love not only to others but also to myself. If I am to get through these last four (four!!!) months of Peace Corps successfully, it needs to start on the inside.

    Phew. Let’s see how it goes!

    SO, on to my next Cape Town update. I ventured out on the morning of our first “real” day in the city to explore it more. Our hostel, on Long Street, really was the ideal jumping-off point to explore basically everywhere you would want to go.

    I woke up in the morning, ready for a run. Okay, I love to exercise but am definitely not one of those at-all-costs people, and the night before margaritas and freezing cold (for me) made it hard, but the fact that I had basically been sitting for the past 72 hours made me anxious for a run. And plus, I could explore the city!

    Sea Point is beautiful, and there is a PARK! Where people WALK and RUN! Lots of people!!! This does not exist in Mozambique, and it was SO amazing to go for a run and not get stared at or followed, and not have to run in ankle-deep sand.

    Later we did some more exploring—there is actually a good amount of art around the city, which I loved! And flags were everywhere.

    What made me even more excited were the RECYCLING BINS and the FREE DRINKING WATER stations that were absolutely everywhere! Mozambique doesn’t recycle and it pains me every time I throw away cans and plastic bottles… it felt SO good to be able to recycle.

    Also, to cut down on more plastic waste from people buying bottled water, they had these faucets all over the place for free drinking water! I just carried a bottle and refilled it everywhere. Apparently South Africa´s tap water is the third cleanest in the world?? WHO KNEW?? You can´t drink the water in Moz, and this might have been one of our greatest luxuries on the trip. Unlimited water! Without boiling or filtering! Seriously, I almost died of happiness every time I refilled my water bottle in the sink in the hostel kitchen. It was that exciting to me.

    As we were walking we stopped into various places along the way (exploring), including a wine shop that basically forced us with kindness into a tasting. Wine tasting before noon is okay, right?

    Of course, I made us run into a gourmet-looking supermarket where we proceeded to wander aisles, dumbfounded (or maybe that was just me) where they had REAL THINGS! I saw quinoa! And tons of different veggies! And hummus! And GREEK YOGURT! These things do not exist in my life and for a moment I felt like I was in the real world… which felt weird in itself. I live in a hut. I do not eat greek yogurt with honey. This is just how life is.

    We headed over to V&A Waterfront which is a HUGE mall/shopping area and a TON of fancy restaurants right on the water. Basically it is an overpriced tourist trap, but for good reason. It is a great place to hang out and people-watch and eat.

    The mall is full of crazy stores, from names you might recognize (Guess, Gucci, Louis Vuitton) to other more interesting shops such as this designer clothes botique, Marlboro Originals. Yup…

    Basically there is a huge outdoor area as well as a ginormous mall inside, where, as the sign requests, people don´t blow vuvuzelas. Totally did NOT work to keep any order, but hey, it´s the World Cup.

    Colin wanted a beer, so we stopped in the first place we saw, Mitchell’s Waterfront Brewery, which my friend Nick informed me was on the list of Top 150 Places in the World to Drink a Beer. I didn’t know this at the time, but when in Rome…

    …Order the beer sampler.

    I tasted each one. Honestly nothing was too exciting to me, but hey, its beer! Pretty decent but nothing I will be writing home about. It was just fun though.

    Roommate got the fish and chips which kind of looked amazing. Wait for me to get to MY fish and chips experience. That one will send you healthy-living types running for the door!

    Next stop was the FIFA store, where Colin and Sarah got suited up in team USA gear (a jacket and jersey, respectively). I envied their awesomeness but was content to check out the vuvuzelas, which I am sure you heard in the background if you watched any WC games. Most annoying invention ever. It can seriously make you go deaf. But of course now I wish I brought one back as a souvenir…

    That first night was full of some beers, some burgers (mine was falafel), and a 3:30AM snack as I stumbled home. (Completely sober, mind you… stumbling due to being up 6 hours past my bedtime and having spent the last five hours on my feet dancing and singing along to a live band… unhealthy food was necessary. Because hey, I was on vaycay…as you can tell, I spent a decent amount of time on this trip making excuses!)

    I have a muffin addiction. This will be discussed in upcoming entries as you see variations on this picture in pretty much every post.

    Okay, I know this was not the most exciting update but I had to get the ball rolling! Upcoming World Cup posts will be about climbing a mountain, playing with penguins, driving to the southern tip of Africa, going wine tasting, and of course, the foodie tour of cape town. Don´t worry, it´s coming. I take no responsibility if anyone gains five pounds by simply looking at the pictures : )

    Have a WONDERFUL day everybody!

    What does July hold for you?

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