When parents come to visit, it usually means days of museums, tours, and fancy lunches, it usually means hotels and mature, censured conversations and saying goodbye to friends for a little family time. When Sarah Kass comes to visit, it means normal life plus one. Whether or not she enjoyed every moment of the usual, she saw and experienced it all, and I’m so grateful she did.
Rafe and I picked my mom up early on a Thursday morning. Much to my surprise, she was ready to go right away (I’ve got energetic genes, you know). We took a walk into town, picked up our rental car, went to a flow yoga class, at YoYoga and went to dinner on Long St at a restaurant called Fork. Mom soon found that driving here is not quite like it is in the states, simple because of the fact that most rules don’t apply. Oh, and the whole driving on the left side of the road but on the right side of the car made a slight difference. It didn’t make things any better that I am completely comfortable with driving without knowing exactly where I’m going, seeing as this is inevitable. So, needless to say, we saw much more of Cape Town than we had intended in that week.
On Friday, we took a tour of Robben Island—what a testament to human strength, that museum is. As usual, I parked in the furthest parking lot from the dock and there we were, running to the boat (I wish I could tell you this is unusual). Just as standard, I fell asleep on the beautiful boat ride there. Then, to continue the amazing normalness of the situation, we were so busy talking that we couldn’t get a seat on the bus after the walking tour and instead sat on the steps in front of the bus doors that were broken and stuck wide open. After our tour, we got Marcels!!! That evening, we went out to dinner with Georgie, Blades, and grandpa Don Williamson at Andiamo in Greenpoint. We arrived late after parking 4 blocks too far down the road (it’s just getting more and more standard isn’t it?). Carb-loading never tasted better
Saturday, I woke up around 4 am to eat breakfast. Sierra and I drove to the start of the Two Oceans Half Marathon, where we nearly stepped in line behind the 56k runners. That would have been a shocker. The race started promptly at 6 am but we didn’t move from our places for a good 5 minutes. Most of the race was in the darkness of the early “winter” morning. It was such a great vibe, running through Constantia and Kirstenbosch, and then finishing at the UCT Rugby Fields, where I met up with my mom and some friends. From there, we went to the Old Biscuit Mill for breakfast and then drove to Stellenbosch for Church on Main Family Camp. We arrived in time for lunch and then walked into town with a group of Church on Mainers for ice cream and coffees. That evening, we had dinner with everyone and attended the evening church service and then spent time chatting and playing games and such. It was lovely that my mom was able to meet and spend time with everyone.
Sunday, we woke up for the morning Easter service at Family Camp and stayed for tea and hot cross buns. Then we were off to go wine tasting for the day. In the rainy dreariness of the day, the wineries were all the more cozy. We got back in time to attend the evening church service in Claremont where mom met everyone else!
Monday, we hiked table mountain in perhaps the worst hiking-table-mountain weather imaginable. Mom kept saying “But, this is so much more memorable!” I grudgingly assured her that table mountain on a nice day is plenty memorable. It was definitely an adventure. After around four hours of hiking in the cold, ferociously windy, rainy weather that had enveloped the mountain, we got hot chocolate at the base of the mountain and returned home for hot showers and then walked into Rondebosch. That evening we made dinner for the Strubens Digs and went over early to prepare. The night was long and full of laughter. We ate and played games and worked hard to understand the mixture of South African, Zimbabwean, and American references.
Tuesday, we went to afternoon yoga and then to Food Lover’s Market for smoothies. Then I took mom on a tour of UCT. I forgot just how beautiful the campus is; I take it for granted after having trekked there 5 days a week for lectures. But, it is truly picturesque. That evening, we went to dinner with Mariah and her parents and Sam to Aubergine, a restaurant in the Gardens. We ate rabbit and butternut soup and melon sorbet…delicious!
Wednesday, we went to morning tea at the Mount Nelson with Hellen and Brittany. To put it plainly, it’s hours of chatting, drinking fine teas, and eating pastries, in a covered terrace, on beautiful couches, with a view of the Mount Nelson gardens (perfectly groomed) behind you…not too shabby. It was refreshing to spend time just sitting and talking especially with such great company. Then my mom and I went paragliding. You can ask her about that, it’s probably not the most comfortable, calm thing she has ever done, but she was a trooper. When we got to the landing spot, right by the shore, we promptly hiked back up to Lion’s Head and then hiked the mountain (again, not the most mentally calming activity, especially in the rain). By the time we descended the mountain, it was around 6, and I took my mom to Rafiki’s for some banana and avo pizza. That night, Rafe and I stayed up working on assignments that were due the next day, and I totaled around 3 hours of sleep before waking up early to turn in my paper.
No comments:
Post a Comment