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South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Cape Town Day 3: Table Mountain
24
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 3: Table Mountain

Thursday, June 24

Cape Town, RSA

We said our goodbyes to Claire at breakfast, and then we drove to Table Mountain.   Once we were there, we were inundated by Dutch fans wearing all orange (bathrobes, full dress suits, wingtip shoes, wigs, and then “normal” orange clothing like shorts, shirts, ties, socks, flip flops, etc. as well).  There was also a Dutch hype safari-type vehicle driving up and down the public access route blaring their anthem and jingles, painted in all orange and covered in about 50 Dutch flags.  It was pretty funny.  It was nice to have entertainment while we waited in line.  We rode a rotating cable car up to the top and then we spent a few hours exploring the top of the mountain, seeing the views from all sides and trying to catch a glimpse of the Cape of Good Hope – this landmark held special significance to Josh in his formative years and he was very excited to see it for the first time.

Lion’s Head from Table Mountain:

Looking up (with some of Josh’s favorite African trees):

I see Dutch fans!:

Our cable car ride!

View from the top of Camps Bay:

Dassies!  One of our favorite South African animals!  We got to see these little guys sun themselves on the rocks in various Parks, but this was our first introduction.  Their other name is the rock hyrax.  The fun tidbit of trivia for the day is: the dassie’s closest known genetic relative is the elephant! How is that for fun?!

JFJ, with the Cape of Good Hope way out behind us:

Pretty, tiny bird:

Jeannette, figuring out Cape Town and what we’re looking at:

Beautiful views were found in 360:

Jeannette:

Deep crevasses:

Table Bay:

Jeannette, overlooking Table Bay:

Duncan Dock and the City Bowl:

Super fun, pagoda-like flora:

Walking back towards the Cableway terminus:

Our last views from the top of Table Mountain were of Signal Hill and Green Point Stadium:

Signal Hill, Table Bay, City Center and Suburbs:

South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Cape Town Day 2: The Dubliner for USA Win!
23
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 2: The Dubliner for USA Win!

Wednesday, June 23

Cape Town, RSA

It was the final game of the first round so there were two games on at the same time, and many places were showing the England game instead of the USA game.  We found a place on Long Street, The Dubliner, that was showing England-Slovenia on the first floor and USA-Algeria on the second floor.  It was fun to have camaraderie with other American soccer fans.  Everyone stood and sang the American National Anthem together at the beginning of the game.  It was pretty exciting because we knew we needed to score and we could hear the cheer from below when England scored first.  There were lots of USA fans gathered there and it erupted when Donovan scored his late goal for the win!  While the camera was protected, we were covered in beer by the end.  It was great, fabulous fun!

South Africa / Travel — 1 Comment
23
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 2: Downtown, Greenmarket Sq., St. George’s Mall, Company’s Gardens

Wednesday, June 23

Cape Town, RSA

After breakfast we drove downtown and explored ALL over.  We walked through Greenmarket Square (a flea market with nice cobbled streets), St. George’s Mall (a pedestrianized street full of traders and shops) and rested in the Company’s Gardens (a gorgeous landscaped city park).  We found street pies for a snack in one of the plazas and had samosas and curry pies.  By now we needed to figure out a good place to watch the USA game…

Long Street & The Mountains:

A Church near St. George’s Mall:

St. George’s Mall:

Greenmarket Square:

Company’s Garden:

South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Jo’Burg Day 2: Train to Soccer City
20
Jun 10

Jo’Burg Day 2: Train to Soccer City

Sunday, June 20

Johannesburg, RSA

We got to Park Station at 3pm.  The station gates were all guarded but it was free to pass through.  We asked around about which platform we needed to be at for Soccer City and were pointed towards Platform 11.  The signs above the platform were for two trains, at different times, both headed to Pretoria – which is in the opposite direction of Soccer City.  There weren’t many people down there waiting – but there were a couple people dressed for the game, so we decided to stick it out.  A few cycles of 12 minutes came and went, but no trains came through Platform 11- though a few more soccer fans did arrive.  More and more though, it seemed, we were all wondering the same thing about if we were in the right place.  After awhile we tried out some South African train station restrooms – the women’s restroom was rural China-style.  All the men’s restrooms were shut down for construction, so Josh had to leave the main terminal to go find one.  By now a fellow soccer fan had gone to confirm that we were indeed at the right track (around 4pm).  We were comforted by the slowly growing number of soccer fans.  Finally, at 5pm, word came through the crowds that we needed to shift to the other side, over to Platform 12, and hop on the train that was arriving there.  As we looked around, we realized it was now fully packed with fans wearing yellow Brazil gear, yellow Bafana Bafana gear, and orange Ivory Coast gear.  And vuvuzelas!  Needless to say, since we were at the front end of the platform we were able to quickly hop on a car while there were still seats.  Within minutes, the train took off for Soccer City and we were on our way with a lively raucous crowd!  We deduced later that the trains DO run every 12 minutes, but the trains didn’t start until 5pm for an 8:30pm kick off. So while we had gotten a little nervous during the lull, it worked AWESOME and we got to the game quite early and we were glad to be a part of the masses traveling to the game together.

We were a bit early, apparently…

Waiting patiently:

On our way!

Some scenes from the ride:

South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Jo’Burg Day 1: Soccer City, The City, & Suburbs
19
Jun 10

Jo’Burg Day 1: Soccer City, The City, & Suburbs

Saturday, June 19

Johannesburg, RSA

At this point, we were museum-ed out.  We asked Justice to drive us around the city so we could get a lay of the land.  First, he swung by the nearby Soccer City Stadium, which is outside the city near Soweto.  We were able to get close since it wasn’t a game day.  Then he showed us around the CBD.  When he found out that Josh was an architect, he was quick to take us to all the varied types of cool architecture in the city.  We also went to Joubert Park where there was a FanFest set up with the Ghana-Australia game showing on a huge screen.  Afterward, we went past Ellis Park Stadium – this was important because we didn’t have tickets to a game there and we really wanted to see it.  It is in the heart of the city and even though it wasn’t a game day, the security wouldn’t let us too close – but we were happy to have seen it in person nonetheless! By now we were hungry and Justice dropped us off at a FanFest in the suburb of Melrose.  They had a huge screen set up in the middle of Melrose Square showing the games.  After the second game ended we were able to get a table at a restaurant that had tables set up along one side of the square.  We had a great view of the screen for the third game of the day.  It got chilly when the sun went down, but they had heat lamps and handed out blankets.  We had a great evening and when the game was over, Justice came to take us home to Zoo Lake.

Soccer City:

CBD:

Joubert Park:

FIFA sign (at Ellis Park) “Vuvuzelas are allowed“:

Melrose Square:

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