Friday, July 2 – Happy 5th Anniversary to us!
Cape Town, RSA
We headed down to the waterfront and found parking near the Clock Tower. We were able to make it inside (through the line at the door) Paulaner after the 1st Brazil goal (10′). It is a Beer Hall style establishment and we joined two old German gentlemen, 68 and 72 years old. This was the 10th World Cup they had attended in a row – 40 years straight! We got to hear their great stories and we had a good time. We watched the Dutch beat Brazil! After the game, we walked around the V&A Waterfront, before settling in at Hildebrand (under Alba, the bar we went to with Claire and Ali when we first arrived in Cape Town) for our anniversary dinner. It is a grand, old waterfront restaurant. Formal enough for a 5 year anniversary dinner with candlelit tables outside, under a tent with a heat lamp, on the water, but it still had TVs tucked away in the corners so we could watch the late game! We had their carbonara and Cape Rock Lobster tail and tried our first Chenin Blanc. It was an AMAZING CRAZY World Cup game: a missed PK in the absolute last minute, last play of overtime, due to a handball, leading to a PK shoot out because it was still tied – where the Uruguay goalie then “guessed right” 4/4 times and managed to block 2! The Africans everywhere were displeased by the “cheater” who handballed it, leading to the PKs in the first place. All Africans were pretty much rooting for the last African team in the Cup – even our formal waiters were lined up at the back of the tent watching the final, tense minutes. After the craziness we headed home to recap our awesome day of Groot Constantia, District 6, Bo-Kaap, Paulaner Brauhaus, Hildebrand, the V&A Waterfront and two great soccer matches with Richard and Carol over more wine. We had a GREAT 5th anniversary and we were happy to be back in Cape Town! (And Josh was so glad soccer was back, a great anniversary gift!)
