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           At last, I awoke to find Sarah and Sally waking up along with me at a reasonable hour. It was Sunday, Peter would arrive around 13:00 and we would move from the Mt. Nelson to a villa in Camp's Bay. We got up and headed to church in the city center, next to South African Parliament. St. Mary's had a mass at 10:00 and we found seats towards the back for the service. We had all failed tog et our ashes on Ash Wednesday, so we were hopeful we might be able to get them a few days late. We enjoyed the service and discovered we were unable to get ashes at St. Mary's so we headed back to the Mt. Nelson for brunch and to checkout of the hotel. The breakfast spread we had enjoyed each morning was something else, but Sunday Brunch reached a whole new level. We enjoyed our brunch very much, knowing it would be our last day as guests at the Mt. Nelson, though it seemed we would frequently visit and come say hello often, since we enjoyed our stay so much. The Citadel boys also decided to get up early and made it to the pool at about 11 to join us after brunch for some sun. We were all in paradise for a few more hours, as the sun climbed to the middle of the sky and before long, we knew Peter would be arriving shortly. We went back to pack up our room and checkout. Just before our checkout time, Peter rolled into the Mt. Nelson with our rental car and all of his bags. Excited to see him, we showed him around the Mt. Nelson, and were excited for him tog et into the mix. While Sarah and Sally had the luxury of two low-key days to get acclimated, Peter had no such luck. He would be thrown right into the schedule and would have to hit the ground with his feet running. So, we loaded up the car and said goodbye to our beloved Mt. Nelson, though before leaving we made a reservation for High Tea the next day, so it was clear we would see plenty more of the hotel in the coming week.

Grandma Sal walking across the pool deck with the side of Table Mountain in the Background

          So we drove across the city over to Camp's Bay to discover our new home for the next 7 days, Villa Luna at the top of Camp's Bay. While Sally and Sarah were sad to leave the Mt. Nelson, there was no disappointment in our new home. With beautiful views of the mountains behind us and a view over Camp's Bay into the Ocean on the other side we were surrounded by unparalleled beauty. With a pool, beautiful common spaces, 4 bedrooms and 2 porches we were in for quite a week of accommodation.

The Kitchen & Kitchen Table

The Living Room & Doors to the Porch

Beautiful Painting in the Living Room 

View from my Room

Pool Deck

               Peter was tired, but we encouraged him to stay up in order to get on the time schedule faster. It was already about 15:00 buy the time we started to move into the villa and we had a dinner being prepared for us at the villa by a chef at 19:00. So we had a few hours to lounge and move in before an outdoor dinner on the pool deck. I brought Peter with me to my flat to grab a few things, drop off a few things and show him where I lived before dinner. Sarah and Sally lounged by the pool and after a quick drive we joined them. We showered and got ready for dinner with some wine and cheese on the porch, a Lane family ritual enjoyed from Bay Head to Tuscany, as the sun set over Camp's Bay we enjoyed the splendor of the view.

Gorgeous sunset over Camp's Bay enjoyed with local red wine & cheeses on the porch

            As we enjoyed the company, sunset and wine our dinner was being prepared and just after the last ray of sun dipped below the horizon line, we were seated for dinner. The chef had prepared a meal with Springbok, the small antelope like animal that is the national animal of South Africa. I was the only one who had eaten it before, and the chef did a fabulous job cooking tender, rare Springbok, just the way Sally likes it.

Avocado & Prawn Salad

Springbok Entree

            Sarah was interested in the preparation and cooking, as she is a true foodie, and was impressed by the display, taste and meal as a whole. We had a beautiful view, good company, good wine and delicious meal. Perfect way to welcome Peter to Cape Town. Now that we were all here and had settled in the adventure and activities would commence tomorrow. That meant a quick turnaround for Peter who had sleep to catch up on and I had some school work to catch up on. We enjoyed our delicious dinner and enjoyed a local dessert, similar to indian pudding, another favorite of my Grandmothers, and my aunt Teresa. We went to bed happy, excited for the week ahead of us, together in Cape Town.

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