An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
No weird dreams from our mefloquin, maybe next time. Milton left after breakfast to see a dentist for a slight toothache he’d been having (certainly no emergency, but we won’t be home for over three weeks, and will be getting progressively further away from reliable medical care). We’d originally gotten a (seemingly lukewarm) recomendation from our host at the Inn, but then hit on the clever idea of asking our friend Richard, the curator of the Jewish museum. He suggested one who was not only his dentist, but was married to his niece. Dr. Scher turned out to be quite good, but he couldn’t find anything amiss, even after an x-ray, so he said maybe it was just a bruised ligament and suggested just giving it a rest.
We then lugged the duffel bag (full of our cool weather and biking clothes, and some of Wendy’s duplicates) over to Mailboxes, etc., where we packed it into a box (weighing 18kg) and shipped it home. We were then too close to the Greenmarket (actually a flea market) to not go back in search of more socks and Dead Beat clothes. The sock lady wasn’t there today, but the Dead Beat guy was, so we picked up another shirt. Then it was time to bid adieu to Capetown (and the overly-solicitous Paddy and Trevor), and we drove off toward our picnic lunch - after watching on TV the crushing loss by S. Africa to Australia in their cricket match - at Buitenverwachting (”beyond expectations”) Vineyards, about 30 minutes south of the city.
Beyond, indeed! Big white buildings with thatched roofs, in a most idyllic setting of lush vineyards at the base of the mountains. We lunched in a large field amidst the buildings, under a big tree (where we were kept company by two of the local big, beautiful dogs). Our picnic was a variety of cold meats, a salmon mousse, various cheeses, pasta salad, a big baguette and some fruit and traditional S. African desserts, and of course a Buitenverwachting Chardonnay. All was just perfect; perfect enough to even match the resplendant setting. (We should also comment on how inexpensive everything is here — our meals, with three courses and wine, have been averaging around $50, including tax and tip. The most expensive bottle of wine on any menu (and the wine here is quite good) is usually around $20). Thus sated and mellow, we leisurely motored off to Paarl, about an hour away.
We were looking for a grocery to stock up on car provisions (paper towels, water, cookies), and en route we saw a ShopRite!! We went in, and boy, this ain’t the ShopRite we know! (disorganized and playing fairly loud hip-hop music!) Found what we were looking for, though, and drove on to our next residence. If the city we just left is the San Francisco of yore, the Winelands is the Napa of today (or is it the Tuscany?). A verdant valley with endless vineyards rising up each side of big mountains crowned with sheer cliffs. We checked into this place - a Dutch manor house that had been built around 1700. There are 35 rooms spread among the several old buildings (the original winery, stable, etc.) which are white with brown thatch roofs and foot-thick walls. We were immediately welcomed by Nadine, whose rapid and non-stop speaking had us feeling right at home. Milton went for a ride on the lifecycle in their (lame) excercise room, then the two of us took a lovely dusk stroll around the beautiful grounds (gardens -formal and herb, rows and rows of grapes) with the majestic mountains and their carpets of vineyards in the distance, with a lovely summer breeze.
We dined on room service, which was a spinach salad with tiny potato croutons, a chicken club sandwich, and thin asian noodles with vegetables and duck, each of which couldn’t have been better.