"Made it, Ma! Top of the World!"

-Cody Jarrett (James Cagney), White Heat (1949)

        Monday brought about a busy day for all of us. I had some morning classes I had to attend and work I had to get ahead on to enjoy some activities later in the week, so I arranged some activities to entertain Peter, Sarah and Sally during the morning and early afternoon. At their leisure, they headed to Table Mountain to experience the views and sights all over Cape Town. There is a little restaurant atop the mountain where they got a bite to eat and they were lucky to have a clear day for it. I recently hiked up Table Mountain, but they would take the tram up, which is much quicker and makes more sense to accomodate my Grandmother (and sister probably). They loved the views from atop and spent a few hours on top of the mountain. After they had their fill, they headed back to the Mt. Nelson, for the Mt. Nelson's famous High Tea. I would meet them there after I got out of class.

Sarah, Sally & Peter enjoying sights above Cape Town

 
        It had been less than 24 hours since we checked out of the Mt. Nelson, but we were already back for High Tea. High Tea at the Mt. Nelson is commonly on lists of must-do activities in Cape Town and this was my first time. We sat out back on the terrace and enjoyed some sun in the beautiful gardens of the hotel. They had tea, sandwiches, and desserts while you enjoy the beautiful scenery around you. Peter, Sally and I opted for a beer to keep us cool on a hot day as we sat and chatted and enjoyed the beauty. We often talked about similarities we saw between Cape Town and Italy. The love of wine, beautiful places, food, villa, etc... We reminisced about lunch at the Hassler in Rome as we saw on the back terrace at the Mt. Nelson, and I could tell my Grandmother was very happy she was here. She is a remarkable lady, and at the age of 87 carries herself with grace and is able to do things many 65 year olds wouldn't do.

The spread for High Tea at the Mt. Nelson

        We finally were able to escape the lure of the Mt. Nelson and head back to the villa after a day of checking off a few popular sights around the city. We headed back for some time at the pool before the traditional wine and cheese hour followed by dinner. It just so happened that a neighbor of ours from Concord was in Cape Town for a week on Semester at Sea and we invited Thomas Livingston over for the rest of the afternoon by the pool and dinner. Thomas was at Bates but left after a semester and is doing Semester at Sea while he waits to hear from schools. He recently got into Michigan and is hoping to get into Brown. He is seeing the world a few days at a time and having a wonderful time. It seemed as if it had been forever since I saw him last and he has shot up to 6 ft. 6. He hung by the pool with us and enjoyed some wine, cheese and crackers with us.

Thomas, Peter and I reunited at the southern tip of Africa

           We had spent much of our childhood playing various sports and hanging out with both Thomas and his brother Matthew. It was fun catching up and thinking back to old times when Thomas was the youngest and remembered being treated unfairly in sports competitions including floor hockey in the Livingston's basement. We went with Thomas to a restaurant in Camp's Bay that is one of my favorites in Cape Town. It is called The Bungalow, with beautiful views of the water from the restaurant between Camp's Bay and Clifton. We enjoyed another delicious bottle of wine a "Rubicon" from the same vineyard that we enjoyed a Pinot Noir from our first night, Meerlust Vineyard. We decided we would have to visit this vineyard when we went to the wine country because all of their wine was so delicious.

View of The Bungalow from our table, rumor has it that pop singer Shakira was here the week before

          Along with our wine there was a delicious Filet and Sirloin that Peter, Thomas and I decided between and Sarah and Sally enjoyed some seafood. It was another beautiful day and evening and we began knocking on wood when we talked about the weather so we wouldn't jinx it. Everyone was enjoying themselves and we had big aspirations for the coming days as we checked a few things off of our list daily. The delicious food was the perfect accent to the incredible sights we saw each day and we came back from dinner each night exhausted from a day in the sun, activity and eating to our heart's content. My grandmother almost never ends a meal without something sweet, she loves dessert and we split a few desserts putting us into a coma before we called it a day.

"Made it, Ma! Top of the World!"