Great excitement as we heard our first bus chug into sight up the hill, and we did our boarding pass thing and headed for the upper deck, there best to see the sights of our beautiful Mother City from new heights. The commentary over the headphones is most interesting, even to resident Capetonians, and we learnt a thing or two about our home town we'd never known before we disembarked at Constantia Nek for the Wine Tour Bus. (Great idea this, all before 11am!) We so enjoyed the views and the colours of the vineyards all aglow in shades of orange, and met many cheerful tourists en route, but, sadly no locals. This is definitely a trip we should all do, just for fun, for knowledge, to support a fantastic local initiative or disappear for a day. In fact, like the Circle Line in London, you could actually just keep going all day...
Having visited Groot Constantia many times before, we opted to stay on board for the next stop at Eagles' Nest, to try uncharted waters, so to speak. This was a most enjoyable visit to a scenic and stylish boutique winery, halfway up Constantia Nek. Chantal gave us a friendly and generous tasting for our R30 a head, and the wines proved to be worthy of Kobus Jordaan, the viticulturist, who set up the vineyards at Klein Constantia in the 80's, although sadly no MCC to toast our birthday boy. The Viognier is an interesting single varietal bottling of an unusual cultivar, and the Shiraz is a little local triumph. They offer picnics on their spacious lawns at R300 per couple, including a bottle of their sumptious Sauvignon Blanc, for which we returned for a fun day out on Mother's Day. The tasting terrace is (HOORAY) non smoking, but people did of course, smoke on the lawns, as they deem themselves to be "in the fresh air". The hamper was, ummm, not very inspiring, with some random selections of biltongy meat, (which Rex enjoyed on our return) a packet of handfried crisps, a whole hard camembert, some sludgy pate, strange tasting pesto, two tiny baguettes and two pain chocolats. The wine, service and the setting were all so wonderful, so I wish we could have just taken our own picnic and bought a bottle of their wine. However, I was simply so thrilled to be taken out and treated on this day dedicated to mothers, that ne'er a whinge shall pass my lips, however, should the proprietors read this, I hope that a kindly meant word will be taken. My daughters could have done better at Woollys, for a lot less, so perhaps they should reconsider their picnic supplier, as it is outsourced.
But I digress, back at our bus stop, our faithful red rooster arrived on time and took us to reconnect with the Blue Route Bus, and continue through Hout Bay and up over Suikerbossie and on to the Waterfront. No, I did not want to hop off at the World of Birds, been there and done that when the Misses SQ's were infants and we were all left gagging having been there when the pelicans were fed chicken heads and worse bits, nor did the township tour appeal. Enough township dwellers visiting the burbs by night from what I hear to warrant a return visit from us. Uh oh, sad state of the nation that gangs seem to be operating all round us again. Bad enough for us living in fear of crime behind our security services, worse for the decent citizens of the same townships who live cheek by jowl with the criminals.
Anyway, back on the bus, we drank in the elevated views going past Llandundo, singing the praises of our city to all our newfound friends (no mention of crime and the recent horrendous attack on Fr Andrew Cox in the Constantia Catholic Church and the fear we have for our future to them of course) as tourism keeps people in jobs and off the crime beat. We arrived back at the VnA, and one small flaw here, the bus stops at the Aquarium, so it is actually a bit of a trek back to the main areas to eat if you are planning on moving on shortly. Surprize surprize, we found ourselves having a hearty, and very reasonable fish and chip lunch at a super table with one of the best settings at the Waterfront, all for R70 including a glass of house wine. Try that at one of the overrated and overpriced places next to the amphitheatre. I had so hoped to do the mini boat tour through the canals, but time would not permit, so hopefully next time. We did however, get lured into an Irish pub, O'Driscoll's (dirty) Pub in Burg Street on the way home for a celebratory glass of Guinness, which, surroundings and patrons aside, served a fairly decent pint, but not a place I'd rush back to. However, the German bookshop over the road was a treat hard to beat, with a charming bookseller of the old school and a most interesting selection of Africana and local books on sale.
From there, we headed back to our car at Kirstenbosch, and an evening cooking and celebrating with the Misses SQ's. It was a great day, and something I wouldn't just save for a high day or holiday. Do it for yourself, do it for our city, do it with family and friends, do it to celebrate our Mother City.
With love from,
Suzy Q
www.citysightseeing.co.za
www.eaglesnestwines.com
No comments:
Post a Comment