A Weekend of Tastings

This was definitely a weekend where you still feel full into Wednesday. With Eliot's parents in town we have been doing A LOT of tasting. Needless to say, I'm feeling quite motivated to get my butt up at 4:30am this week to help balance everything out a bit.

Saturday I had my first taste of kite boarding! It was a lot of fun. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I have this paralyzing fear of sharks, (yeah, even after spending most of my life in the ocean) and South Africa isn't short of them in any way. Saturday wasn't about trying to get up on the board, but was mainly just working on kite control and doing body dragging exercises with the kite. The boat dropped me off in the middle of the lagoon (by myself) and the instructor told me to go for it and practice body dragging to the left. It was all fine and good when the kite was up in the air, but when it crashed into the water (which happened often) and I had to work on re-launching it, I started getting the sharkies*. I couldn't help but think I was the perfect bait in the middle of this lagoon. Despite all that, flying the kite and launching my whole body out of the water, even without a board, was really fun. I have the second half of my lesson today where I'm going to try and get up on the board. Stay tuned to hear if I survive another day in Cape Town waters without being gobbled by something.

While I was at my lesson, Eliot and his parents headed to our favorite Saturday farmer's market in the city. It's mostly vendors who are cooking up delicious mouth watering meals dishes. But there's also lots of breads (which we can't seem to get enough of these days) and sweets. The three of them tasted lots of great food and, proof that he loves me, Eliot brought me home two beautiful little cupcakes since I missed out on those activities. The first one I tasted too quickly to snap a photo, but this one hung around just long enough, before it was tasted and gone.

~Vanilla Sponge Cake with a Marshmellow Frosting (the other was chocolate; you uderstand why it didn't last)~

Sunday, the weather wasn't great with little spits of rain everywhere. But we decided to venture out into Stellenbosch to do some wine tasting, which is always a fun thing to do no matter what the weather is like (and a must-do when we have visitors in town). There are so many wineries around, and within them there is a lot of rich history. I love the buildings that hold these estates, very rustic and warm with the casual sense of being at home when you walk through the old farmhouse doors. Also knowing that some of them have been here since the first Dutch settlers arrived and planted their first vines back in the 17th century, a lovely taste of history they are.

~Vines waking up after the winter and getting ready for summer~

After our first tasting we headed to another winery that I've been wanting to taste since we arrived here. We've tried to go there before, but it's always packed with people for lunch. The place is called Fairview and they're known not only for their great wines, but they also have goats! And they magic up a wide range of cheeses and other deliciousness from goat's milk. For lunch we all had paninis, mine was made with salami, a creamy brie, tomato and pesto. And we ordered a large platter of different cheeses to taste and share. The overall favorite at the table was the cream cheese with Chakalaka (malaysian curry spices). All the cheese was tasted up in no time, so afterwards we had to venture into their little market and stock up on some of the gems that Fairview offered.

~This guy posed so nicely for me, doesn't he look proud?~

~Our tasted cheeses~



~Eliot~

A really wonderful weekend, with lots of new foods, wines and experiences to savor. Now just to get through the week, and hope for another great weekend to arrive on our doorstep.

*sharkies- thinking too much about what may or may not be moving around beneath you when you're in the ocean.