Tourists in a New Home

Update: Still no internet. Still no baggage.

In other news, we finally got a feel for more of Cape Town yesterday. We met up with our landlady (she’s become a personal tour guide) and another one of her tenants for brunch at a market held each Saturday at the Old Biscuit Mill area in an area called Salt River. It was so incredible! There are all sorts of funky shops and street vendors, and when you go inside a nearby warehouse, there is what can only be described as a festival of food. Everything you can imagine was inside this place, and we settled on a pizza with a modern twist. We’ll definitely make a tradition of this one.

The Old Biscuit Mill

Lindsey E. enjoying lunch at the market

One of our landlady's other tenants - Jonathan, a 20 year old German

Observatory, where many young people live, including Jonathan

We spent our afternoon in an area called the Waterfront, where we went out to sea on a big tour boat. Having seen pictures of (stunningly beautiful) Cape Town from an aerial point of view online for close to a year and a half, it was incredible to see similar views in person. I’m convinced you could be in the worst mood ever here, take a look around, and instantly feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.

Just one view of this beautiful place

Lindsey E, Alex, Jonathan and our landlady, Sheray on the boat

Following our day, we were initiated into Cape Town culture with a braai hosted by Lindsey’s friends Leslie and Chris. They’ve just moved into a new house in a neighborhood called Newlands, and the braai served as a housewarming event. A braai, as we understand at least, is similar to what Americans would call a cookout. Each guest brings their own share of meat – we took burgers and an ostrich steak to try – and the host cooks it on the grill for you. This was especially fun because Chris is a Capetonian and Leslie is American, so there was a mixture of both cultures there. From there, we went out for traditional Cape Town drinks with our new friends, which was such a fun time! I'm looking forward to getting to know Leslie and Chris (and their friends) throughout our stay. 

Though we still have a handful of things to do, it was nice to take a break from our to do lists and see a bit more of the city. Each time I catch myself being halfway excited, though, I remember that I still don’t have my suitcases. Ugh.

As they say here, cheers!