Kalk Bay scenes

One of our favorite bookshops (below)... and some other street scenes. Oops didn't look to the left and take any photos of the ocean and harbour!! (But we've posted those before)

A year ago this lot was empty, but now this cute 'girly' shop, "Anthology", has been built.

Lots of fun antique stores in this town. Hey, anybody need a big cast-iron pan?

Former church now converted to a theatre, where apparently "Theatre Sports" is a regular show. (I think it's an improv show.)

Train trip down to Kalk Bay

A few shots taken during a recent trip down to Kalk Bay, one of our favorite little towns on the peninsula. (And location of Olympia Cafe, where we met Randy and Heather for breakfast.) We took the train this time instead of driving - now that it's getting to be nice weather, the roads down to these oceanside towns are very busy on the weekends.
Here we are sitting at Rosebank station, waiting for the train. This station is just two blocks from our flat, so it's easy to hop on. It cost R11 each (or currently about $1) for return tickets to Kalk Bay, a 40 minute train ride. Hey, that's cheaper than paying for petrol and parking!

Side view of a mosque, taken out the window as we passed through the southern suburbs. (Definitely not a sight you'd see riding the Metro through the Chicagoland suburbs.) Not sure but I'm told the billboard says something like, "tasty, yummy, will make your stomach happy" ... we've recently tried Pilchards and realize we quite like them. Very healthy.

Now the train has made it through the suburbs and is hugging the coastline. We leaned out the windows and watched surfers, people walking on the paths, kids swimming, young men fishing and even a few whales puffing and rising above the water a little ways out from the surfers.

Okay now we've made it to Kalk Bay. Time to go meet the Gauthiers for our breakfast. Bring on the Americanos and the baked ham-cheese croissants.

View along Jim's Jog

A year ago we posted very similar pictures of Rondebosch Common and the UCT campus on the back slopes of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. Now here we are again in spring in the 'southern suburbs' of Cape Town - beautiful! Jim usually jogs around the Common, as our flat is 1/2 block away - here's the view from the far side on an early morning last week.

Flowers of late winter and spring

Strawberries and Spring

On a Wednesday afternoon: bright spring sun and a glorious strawberry harvest! Since Randy and Heather's place in Stellenbosch is literally next door to a strawberry farm - Polkadraai Farm Stall, we spent a leisurely 30 minutes picking and easily filled our buckets. And hey, yeah, that's Jul actually bending over to pick - evident improvement for my back!


For some reason in this field there are numerous scarecrows, which you just see a few of in the background. Not sure if this is to keep away certain birds or just to give a smile (or grimace) to the pickers.

Heather made her delicious Italian Creme Cake for the occasion and we proceeded to consume large amounts of cake and strawberries. (yeah for the cravings of a pregnant woman...)

Sunday with Tobi: an afternoon in the gardens

Last weekend Sunday we spent the afternoon (with a picnic) at Kirstenbosch Gardens. It turned out to be quite warm and the flowers were amazing!! That's Jim and Tobi lying on the blanket.






Above, a pincushion protea. These only bloom in winter - and they only grow in the Western Cape!! No where else in the world!! (oh wait that applies to 1,400 flowers. Incredible, isn't it?)

Visit with Tobias: Peninsula Tour, part 2

More photos from our Saturday excursion with Tobi...

Lunch (fish 'n chips, YUMMY) at Mariner's wharf (below). Right when Jim was taking this photo, I was standing at the car and a big gust of wind came up and blew a huge amount of sand through the open doors into the car. Oh well, a sacrifice for the photo.


Above and below, Camp's Bay Beach. Yes, that's a body builder. He was having some kind of photo shoot and so people gathered around to get a close-up view. Everyone was making comments and the women were hooting and laughing. (So were we.)

Of course no day trip would be complete without a stop for coffee!

Visit with Tobias: Peninsula Tour, part 1

This past weekend we met and hosted Tobias (Tobi), who travelled all the way from Karlsruhe, Germany for a week in the Cape Town area - five days for a conference, and two great days with us. Tobi is engaged to be married to Ethel-Maria, who we met in 2003 when she visited BFA (we've stayed connected since then) and so we feel privileged to now meet Tobi - the wedding is in less than three weeks!

Saturday was a beatiful day, sunny and warm but with a nice breeze, so we spent the day touring the Cape Peninsula and seeing some popular sights. Here are some photos, part 1.





Yes, those are African penguins! They are the only penguins in Africa and are endangered, which is why this small colony on the peninsula is now protected and their home is a national park.

Homemade Pasta

Inspired by Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef, his first cookbook, which Jim received from Jul's coworkers for his 30th birthday) and enabled by Anthony Buratovich (friend from church who loaned his pasta maker): homemade pasta!

"Making pasta was really fun," Jim effused upon reflection. "It was very easy, just eggs and flour. And it tastes so different from store-bought pasta."

"He showed such confidence and deftness in the kitchen. Tasty! I hope he does it again soon," commented his enthusiastic wife.




(Thanks to Rachel for the apron; as you may recall it was a Christmas Gift to Jul. So thanks also to Jul for letting Jim wear it.)

Spring...slowly springing...

Now that the 'rainiest September on record' is in the past, we are hoping that October will bring the full arrival of spring to Cape Town. Warmer weather and sun, in particular! Fortunately we have had occasional sunny days and are seeing new flowers blooming. And one day last week Jim even wore short-sleeves as he walked up to campus to go to the library and meet with his thesis advisor. Jim took the photos of these beautiful flowers on a short walk through the neighborhood (I - Jul - am up to 15 minute walks now. Back healing slowly but surely!).

(not sure why it got messed up but this photo is supposed to be horizontal)




A neighbor told me that these are "Dragon Trees", originally from west Africa (perhaps Cape Verde islands?) and grow very slowly, so these trees must be over a hundred years old. Aren't they amazing!!