Cape Town

We are having a lovely time in Cape Town. Up until today it has been absolutely beautiful weather, despite the BBC's predictions otherwise! On Thursday we went to St George's Cathedral - the oldest cathedral in Southern Africa, and where Desmond Tutu was bishop. From there we walked along Government Lane, with botanical gardens on one side, and important buildings (like presidential residence) on the other, with Table Mountain in the background. Along there we went to the South African National Gallery (5 Rand entrance - about 40p!). It was so sunny when we came out that we decided to take the opportunity to do Table Mountain - so many people told us to grab the chance if we got a nice day. So we got a taxi (a truly hilariously retro car!) to the cable car. The views from all around the top were beautiful, especially on one side where cloud hung around a mountain top. We had tea and cake at the cafe at the top :). Back at the hostel, we went for a wander, including some cool little shops and a bead shop where I got some nice necklace beads. Our hostel has a balcony overlooking the street, so we sat there, threaded beads, wrote our journals, then made dinner.
Yesterday it was another beautiful day, so we walked down to the V & A Waterfront (we thought there might have been a major historical miscommunication when we found that everything was Victoria and Alfred, but it turns out that Alfred was one of Victoria and Albert's sons, and was involved in the harbour here!) We wandered around the harbour and some shops, and went to a small Maritime museum. Really enjoyed some music groups that were playing around there - marimba and steel pans, plus sunshine really make you feel on holiday!! We bought tickets for going to Robben Island next week, and went to an amazing pancake place for lunch (with entertainment on the street outside, which was really funny).
The hostel is very busy at the moment, as lots of people have come for the Lions rugby tour (we saw their tour bus outside a posh hotel as we walked to the waterfront yesterday!). In fact, Caroline and I have just been watching the match (Western Province - Cape Town, vs. British and Irish Lions)on tv in an Irish pub along the road. We won (just). I'm sure there will be lots of celebrations in the hostel tonight!
We have booked lots of exciting things for the coming week in Cape Town - we are going on a wine tour on Monday and a tour to Cape Point on Wed. Going to Robben Island on Friday, and we have already chosen our museums etc for the days in between!
Will put up a few photos soon, but that's all for now folks!
Love to everyone xxxxx