My Adventures in Cape Town: Days 14-16

As you all know, I have not been blogging that much throughout this past week since I have not been doing much, and I know you have all been on the edge of your seats WAITING for me to blog, but believe me, this will be one hell of a blog since I did so many things this weekend. Here we go.

Friday: Friday was another normal day in the life of Brett. Woke up, got ready for work, went to work, and then came home (the day crawled by because I was so excited for the weekend.) When I came home, I found everyone making plans to go out to the club (there is this place called Chrome that is basically our African version of Ricks.) We went out and had a few drink, then came back to the apartment.....typical Friday in Cape Town. Onto the next day.

Saturday: We all woke up early on Saturday because it was finally time for our vineyard wine tour to Stellenbosch. The roommates and I decided to dress a little bit classier (suit jackets and bow ties) and we when we were ready, we met up with the other MSU kids (we are referred to as "the cult" by others kids here because there is so many of us.) Once we got outside of the city, the views of different vineyards stretched for miles and after a forty five minute car bus ride, we pulled into the first vineyard, Neethlingshof. Right away we walked in and sat in a big room with wine glasses and lists of different wines long tables. Once everyone was settled, two people stood at the front of the room and began telling us about the vineyards history. After a brief introduction, they walked around and poured us different wines to taste, each with a different background and story. After the tasting ended, we were released into the vineyards store and were able to shop for a few minutes if we wanted (Mom, you would have went bankrupt.) After we piled back into the bus, we continued on to the second vineyard on the agenda, and pulled into the beautifully landscaped vineyard called Spier. This vineyard was not as pretty, but I would agree that we all had a better time because it was not as formal (and they also gave you a lot more wine to taste.) After our second tasting, we went to a restaurant located at the vineyard called Moyo, which was set up buffet style and was under a giant tent. When we sat down, they took our drink orders and told us to go get our food and it turned out to be nothing that we expected. It was our first "African" meal and the food was excellent. I tried different meats like Impala and some other weird chili that made me nervous, and had some great chicken. After a few minutes of eating, the women who worked there walked around to the tables and painted some type of African designs on our faces, and everyone's was different. We finished our meals and headed back to Cape Town after a long day of wine tasting, but decided to keep the adventure going once we got back. at 3:30, we took a cab down to the VA Waterfront (this is one of my favorite places in Cape Town) and bought tickets to a sunset champagne cruise. At 5:00, we boarded the Spirit of Victoria and headed into the deep blue for our sunset adventure. The cruise turned out to be one of the best excursions that I have done on this trip. As the sun was setting, we were able to see a huge portion of the South African coastline while we sipped in complimentary champagne. After an hour and a half of cruising in the ocean, we headed out for some more drinks (off the Chrome once again) and then called it a night. Saturday easily goes down as one of the best days of my life.

Sunday: Sunday was our day of recovery. We all got up, hungover yet again, and went to the waterfront the watch the South Africa vs. Ethiopia soccer game (South Africa lost.) We ended up leaving halfway through because we were all so tired, and then came back and watched a movie. We took full advantage of Sunday being the day of rest and did not do anything.

Monday: Today, it was Youth Day in South Africa, which is a public holiday in which everyone has work off! We decided that, since we didn't drink the night before, we would take on Table Mountain. After arriving on sight at the bottom of the mountain at 9:45am, we started our hike up the 3563 foot mountain, and planned for it to take a few hours (we didn't know that the expected 4 hour trick would turn into an 8 hour hike.) The hike was one of the most intense things that I have ever done. A few times throughout the hike, I found myself about 2000 feet up in the air with only a few feet between me and the edge of the cliff. We got lost a few times, but ended up finding our way to the top. The view from the top was the greatest view that I have ever seen. I could see miles and miles of ocean on one side, and tons of mountains on the other. After hiking down (which was another intense adventure) we made it to the bottom and went out to eat. It is now 8:00pm and I feel like I am going to sleep for three days, but the hike today was an unforgettable experience.

Overall, this past weekend has been one of the best weekends of my life. I tried new foods, climbed mountains, and visited places that I never thought I would before. I am so excited for the next adventure that I go on here in Cape Town, and hope everyone is excited to hear about it! Love and miss you all!