Amazing Wine Festival in Stellenbosch !!!!

Trip Start Jun 29, 2008
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Trip End Aug 31, 2008


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Flag of South Africa  , Western Cape,
Monday, August 4, 2008

Sniiiif! everybody has decided to go away on the same date!! well, one of my colleague is at home because she collapsed and was badly injured another one left for Zimbabwe (i am going to join her this Friday!!) and so only the boss and me are at the company and usually I am all alone in my office. Moreover, many people from the building where I live in left because their own internships, studies or whatever ended. So, one of my roommate went back to her natal missouri, USA and I am now also all alone in my room at home. Not to mention that it rains continuously!!The sun has definitely decided to part away for the week and come back for the week-end. Usually, whatever the weather the sun always shone in our office, where you could find joy and happiness in abundance (pics are better testimonials..). Anyway, things are getting better, I have a new flat mate since saturday and I think one of my colleague is coming back this week pfiouu!). So, actually I went to the Stellenbosch Wine Festival. It was also gorgeous to discover this small university town which is so completely different from Cape Town. A best description would be the white city, all the houses are in white and you also have this famous street (I do not remember its name but I do have a picture of it) where the trees have red linen around their trunks. It is a typical old city with its Cape Dutch style of architecture and how amazing it was for me to hear so much Afrikaans almost everywhere. Indeed, I guess that when you go out of the big cities like CPT or Jo'Burg you find  yourself in more truely Afrikaaners environment, where the Boers outnumber the rest. Hana and her oh so lovely accessories store!
Hana and her oh so lovely accessories store!
 How beautiful it was to stroll about the wineyards and the many wineries of the city. This is mostly why Stellenbosch is so famous, it is an important part of the Wine Route in the Western Cape. The ticket of R120 is really worth as you can then have free wine tastings of more than 500 producers!!! not to mention that free food of all sort -honey, pesto, salads, olive oil, chocolates, chips, cheese even organic products, etc etc- does accompagny the whole thing! the setting is pretty cool and of course a lot of people were there. I tasted a "Vetkoek" (Fatty sandwich actually!) which is basically a completely fried doughnut-like sandwich with meat in it! Gosh that was fulling! anyway, the good life as it should be with ood food, good wines and amazing entertainment like a fashion show (of course where you sit and can for free again different sorts of wines, meats, cheese and vegetables), demo kitchens where a chef gives a sort of cuisine course and again free samples of food and wine do accompany the whole lecture. People queued for more than 45 minutes to get in! Anyway, it is really worth going there if you have the opportunity. You will have a great time with your friends sipping drinks under a bohemian-like tent, playing chess, or listening to vibrant African music under a traditional African hut and so much more! As reagrds to the fact that Stellenbosch is a huge student town, there where loads of students who came there. I also took a look at the university and it really has nothing to envy to the European or American ones, here the only problem may be cultural as you are in your rights to ask that the course be delivered in your own language and as there are 11 official languages here it may become quite an administrative brain-teaser to sort all things out! i went there with the train: Metrorail, Metro for the 2nd and Metro Plus for the 1st class, although you may take the first for a second class if you are used to higher comfort standards, the journey was very safe -contrarily to what most of the people may tell you here, especially if they are white!- you just have to be careful not to miss your stop as they stops are not announced on the microphone. Anyway, on my way back home it was interesting to meet a family who has lived here for quite a while and share their impressions on everything from the Apartheid regime to the making of the famous "Pap" a national culinary institution here!! Sunday was even sunnier and this was perfect to just walk around. I went on the top of my building where you have a pool, it was filled with water but it was ice cold actually, so...I actually went to the Planetarium for a lecture over whether the stars do really influence our lives with scientifc evidence and the answer is: NO, sorry to break all your dreams and lust for mysticism like that but it is the truth, sorry, sorry!! The V&A Waterfront is also always a nice place to go as there are open air concerts and entertainment for all there!!
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