On Tuesday evening, Cobie and Bjorn invited us to Goblets & Gourmets at Hartenberg Wine Estate www.hartenbergestate.com in Stellenbosch. Goblets & Gourmets is part of a wine club that meets once a month for a wine tasting and a three course meal. We received a glass of Riesling 2011 on arrival. I am not a…
Sample over 100 wines at The Taste of Helderberg, taking place tomorrow evening, 12 June 2014 at the NH Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset-West. Tickets are R70 per person and includes wine tasting and a branded tasting glass. Book on WineRoute.co.za or buy tickets at the door (subject to availability). For more information visit: WineRoute.co.za
On Sunday morning we took the MyCiti bus from Camps Bay to Kloof Street in Cape Town. We wandered through the gardens of the Mount Nelson Hotel and then down the company gardens to the National Gallery and popped in to browse the George Hallett exhibition – A Nomad’s Harvest. www.iziko.org.za We ambled up the…
Boyhood is written and directed by Richard Linklater and starring Patricia Arguette, Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke. It was shot intermittently over a 12 year period: filming began in 2002 and completed in 2013.
We have so many lemons at the moment that I am always looking for recipes to use up the lemons. I have never had key lime pie before. I decided to bake the pie substituting the limes with lemons. Here is my recipe: 300g Tennis biscuits 150g butter, melted 1 x tin of condensed milk…
As I am writing, it is drizzling outside. I love winters in Cape Town but saying that, rain has been forecast for the rest of the week and by then, I might have changed my mind. Camps Bay is a great place to be in winter. There is no traffic, you can always get a…
Last night, Deanne and I went to try NV-80. It is in the shopping centre above the newly revamped Checkers at the end of Seapoint. The restaurant is owned by Naldo and Victor Conçalves from the Pigalle group. The NV-80 reminds me of an old fashioned New York style restaurant. There is a very large…
Bali Place is available at this moment @ a winter special rate of R5900 per night, a large four en suite bedroom, four storey villa situated opposite the sea and 600 meters to the beach and Camps Bay Village. Offering breath-taking views, a cellar, double garage, unlimited free wireless internet (line speed 2 Mb/s), jacuzzi, private…
My favourite event this week is the Robertson Winery Mountain Bike Challenge. It is held at the Paru Farm in McGregor Road. Robertson is 1.5 to 2 hours drive from Cape Town. The mountain bike race is held on Saturday and has a long route of 57 km’s that start at 07:30, a 42 km,…
We Are One – Ole Ola – The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Song
Following the success of Downtown Abbey – period dramas are very popular at the moment. The lead actress Gugu Mbatha Raw is half South African. Her mother is British and her father was from South Africa. The film was inspired by a true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle the illegitimate mixed race girl. Raised by her…
House swop or home exchange A great way to make holidays abroad more affordable is to do a house swop or home exchange. Instead of renting a villa or an apartment you can offer your house in exchange for someone else’s. There are quite a few website where you can list your holiday home. Obviously…
Back in England, we met up with Mike’s family in York, we all stayed in a house in Osbaldwick. The village has been in existence since the 11th century, and was declared a conservation area in 1978. Yorkshire has recently been chosen as the best place to visit in Europe. They call it God’s Own…
Travelling on the Eurostar is definitely the way to travel between London and Paris. You only need to arrive 45 minutes before and security and customs are as calm as can be hoped for with international travel. I took a my Italian friends booked in Le Marais. We immediately set off for coffee and sandwiches…
After touching down in England, I took the train to Grantham where Mike’s dad came to collect me. We drove down tiny country lanes to their house which is near the tiny village of Pickworth. The village consists of a church, graveyard and a few beautiful large old stone houses complete with gravel driveways. His…
I flew to Johannesburg to see my mum for a couple of days and then met Mike at the Tsogo Sun Hotel at Oliver Tambo as he was flying in from Kenya. I have stayed at the airport hotel a few times and I am always amazed how well the hotel is built to block…