Vacation in the Cape

I have a belief, and raise your hand (or like/comment/post/something) if you share it - a holiday isn't a good one unless you come back exhausted.

I know, I know. People have this notions that holidays should be relaxing. My dad has this notion. When he is on holiday, he is happy to just stay in the hotel all day reading the newspaper and (possibly) lounging by the pool. I, on the other hand, seem to take after my mom - trying to fit in as much as I can in as little time as possible. Sure, I can spend a day relaxing, but any more than that and I just get bored and agitated, wanting to do things.

My Cape Town holiday is no different, and I tried to make it as fun-packed as possible. I bustled into town on Thursday afternoon for a short five day trip and intended to make the most of it. Of course, Thursday was pretty much a write-off. I arrived at 16:20 and it was around 5pm when I finally made my way out with my bags in tow. Just enough time to get home, greet the cats, chat with mom, go for a walk and head out to Chinese at Reddies with mom, dad and Michael. By the time I came home, Cherie was back with her visiting boyfriend and we caught up briefly before I decided that it was time to hit the hay.

Friday started off fairly early with Cherie and I dropping mom at gym and then making our way to Tygervalley. Not particularly keen for a shopping trip, I elected to stay in the car and make Cherie do the running around while I planned the rest of my day. By the time she returned (empty-handed), it was time to pick mom up again and make our way into town for the facials that mom had planned. I am not a person who particularly likes having my face touched and examined, but it was quite a relaxing hour and a half. The only part that I did not enjoy was having a mask that was two inches thick plastered onto my face and covering my mouth and eyes. I have never thought of myself as being claustrophobic, but I certainly felt it then! Once that was done, it was a stop at Kauai for a quick lunch before I had my mom drop me at the Adelphi centre in Sea Point. There I met up with Ryan and we took a short walk to his apartment before starting to pack it all into boxes. Yes, I chose to spend my holiday helping someone move, and I have no regrets. I got to see Ryan, and I felt really productive thereafter. Certainly not bored! After moving, Ryan took myself and the two other assistants out for a nice Italian dinner (gnocchi bolognaise for me) before dropping me back at my parents' house in Welgemoed.

I woke up nice and early on Saturday and spent much of the morning in a state of exuberance as I waited for Robyn to pick me up. We had ahead of us a day of catching up and chatting and just general enjoying each others company. We walked around the Slow Market in Willowbridge, had a lovely brunch at Woolies, a cup of coffee at the cafe that her sister works out (which included much mocking of a particular waitress in a teasing fashion) and then headed back to her place (in her new car!) to just have a proper catch up. By late afternoon it was time to head back home and get ready for the braai that was to come. It is traditional whenever I come and visit that the family get together for a braai. It meant that I got to see everyone, even if it was only for a little while, and hear the news and not have anyone feeling left out. It is also a great excuse for a good meal, and we had an awesome one. Once most of the family had left, I stayed up a little later chatting away to Jade and her husband Eric and hearing what was happening in their world. But unfortunately, I had to retire early as I was on medication that had a tendency of making me feel both nauseous and exhausted, a combination that tends to make for bad company.

Sunday was my day for sleeping in, and that I did! Until 8:30!! It was awesome. Then I woke up and started getting ready for the day. Another family tradition is going out for Sunday breakfasts, and the two favourite places are Franschoek and Claremont. As the family had been to Franschoek the week before with Cherie, it was decided that the Gardener's Cottage in Claremont was the place to go. We made our way there (mom, dad, Michael, Cherie and I) and had a lovely breakfast at the restaurant before making our way around the nursery. I'd had plans to have a movie-day with Ryan at my parents', but he had to change it to coffee instead, and he picked myself and Natasha (who was to join for the movie) up and took us to Tygervalley were we got some terrible service at Oppie Koffie. Thankfully, the company made up for it, and we had a good afternoon chatting and laughing away. When Ryan had to leave, Natasha and I made our way to the cinema where we booked three tickets for Midnight in Paris. Michael joined us for the movie and it turned out to be a lovely one! I will have to write a review at some point. After the movie, we made our way home, had a light dinner of leftovers from the braai and had an early night.

Monday was a particularly busy day, as it was essentially half a day spent enjoying myself and half a day spent travelling. It started early with taking my mom to gym, stopping in at the chemist to get pills for mom and dad and stopping in at my aunt's new shop to take some photos. From there it was a rush to the giant sports shop beside Tygervalley to get some running shoes (a job in itself considering how many people had decided that the Monday before school was the day to go uniform and sports good shopping), a stop at home to pick up Cherie and a dash to the airport. We got there on time and I was checked in with time to spare for some lunch, so we decided to go to Mugg and Bean, since it was the closest and healthiest place around. A bad idea if ever there was one. The service was terrible and slow, and I ended up having to scoff down what I could in 5 minutes before jumping up and hoofing it through security. I made it through, but not before being called by the announcer. This could have been highly embarrassing, but they pronounced my name wrong (as they always do) and so I felt far more worse for any Ms Solomon's in the building. An hour and a half later, I walked out of the airport and met Ashlea who took me to my car and I was back on my way to Grahamstown. Usually I drive as fast as possible to get back as soon as possible, but I'd heard that there were a huge number of policemen hiding on the road, so I tried my best to stick to the speed limit and made it in just over an hour and a half.

And so, my holiday completed, I arrived at my house and practically collapsed on the bed. It was the best sleep that I have had in ages. Imagine just how good the holiday must have been!

Deck the Halls!

I love this time of the year, and I know that is a little weird what with me being Jewish and all, but it is true. Christmas always brings back the best memories – decorating the Christmas tree with Granny Ellen, baking (and eating) mince pies and Christmas pudding, Christmas lunches with Uncle Ashley and my mom’s side of the family and, on the few occasions that I haven’t been home, spending Christmas with friends.

This year, Grant and I are staying in Grahamstown, which means that we aren’t going to be with our families. Our friends are spreading out around the country to celebrate with their own families, some going to Zimbabwe or Cape Town and others just visiting nearby Boknes. Even Jono (our housemate) is travelling to Limpopo to be with his family, leaving Grant and I on our own! This will be a first for me. But we weren’t going to let that get us down! All that it really meant is that we had to celebrate Christmas earlier than usual this year, while our friends and family are around!

This last week has been the week of Christmas for us. The festivities started on Wednesday with a Christmas/Birthday dinner at Mike and Vicky’s. Vicky has always seen her birthday as the start of the Christmas season, since it was only after her birthday that her family started putting up the trees and decorations and started getting ready for Christmas proper. So what better time to celebrate the festive season than with a Birthday dinner including all of the Christmas favourites? Well, some of the favourites and some of their own modern twists! Dinner kicked off with homemade sushi which was followed by a turkey-sized chicken, gammon, roasted sweet potatoes and veg. Once we were all filled to the brim, it was Secret Santa time and we unwrapped gifts galore before finishing off the night with some mince pies and custard. Yum!

With Friday being a public holiday, Thursday became the Friday of the week and we were all in great moods by the end of the day. Grant was in a particularly good mood as his dad and stepmom were arriving on Thursday evening. A little shuffling was in order as Jono’s sister was also staying with us at the time, but with a ton of space in the new house it was no problem getting everything in order! Natalie moved into what will soon be Grant’s bar and Grant’s dad moved into our Study with Sharon. Everything was back in order and our long weekend began with a trip to the driving range where Rob, Grant, Jono, Natalie and I swung away at golf balls. It has been way too long since I last did this and I was completely out of practice – picture balls bouncing in every direction but at the course – but by the end of it I was back in the swing of things and balls were flying into the distance (though not nearly as far as Rob’s, Grant’s and Jono’s. Clearly I need more practice.) Having had a late breakfast of scrambled eggs, no one was particularly hungry at lunch time, but we made up for it by having a homemade lasagne dinner which was delicious as always.

Saturday dawned nice and early as Sharon and I had to drive Jono and Natalie to PE airport stopping for some coffee, some shopping and a Nanaga break on our way. When we arrived back, I was surprised by a small LED Christmas tree together with decorations that Grant and his dad had bought just for me! I spent a good portion of the afternoon decorating it and presents were then brought out of the woodwork and put beneath it. Saturday has become Grant’s favourite day for a braai (we have had one every week since we arrived at the new house and even had two on the weekend that we arrived thanks to a power outage) and this one was no exception. Mike and Vicky came over and an abundance of meat ensued – chicken sosaties, kudu steaks and wors – with the potato and table salads becoming the fillers. But Saturday was nothing compared to what was to come on Sunday!

With Grant’s family down for the weekend, we decided to take the opportunity to have our own Christmas celebrations by having a Christmas lunch. Or what was supposed to be a Christmas lunch and ended up being a Christmas linner (lupper? lunner? sunch? dinch?) The day started nice and early with everyone waking up at 8 and starting on the dishes from the braai so that we could have something to cook with. With dishes ready, Grant started preparing the turkey. And my God was it a big one. So big that we weren’t sure that it was going to fit into our teeny tiny oven. Which it thankfully did. The gammon that we bought was also pre-cooked, which meant that we didn’t have to worry about that having to go into the oven. What we did have to worry about were the potatoes, stuffing and veg, all of which did require oven and stove-top cooking in an oven that could barely fit the turkey on its own and a stove that could only have two plates on while the oven was going. Not fun. Preparations were also halted when Grant sent his dad out to get toothpicks that were essential for the turkey cooking and his dad ended up getting distracted and chatting in the street for an hour while we waited for the toothpicks to arrive. 

Nonetheless, dinner was ready by 4 and it was certainly a great one! Our linner of turkey, gammon, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots and cauliflower was followed by pressie opening which in turn was followed, a good while later, by dessert of mince pies, Christmas pudding and fruit cake with custard and ice cream. Of course, the ice cream was all that anyone wanted to eat since Sunday ended up being an absolute scorcher of a day, and by the time it was all over I was ready to collapse into a food coma. It is now almost 24 hours later and I am still full!

And so, our Christmas celebrations have come to an end. Grant and I are still looking forward to celebrating actual Christmas together, but the big gespiel has been completed and we are looking forward to a relaxing Christmas day rather than a rushed frenzy of food.

Here’s hoping that everyone else’s Christmas is as merry as our early one and looking forward to speaking to and seeing you all in the new year!