LONDON/CAPETOWN | WINE COUNTRY | SAFARI | The End

And the journey begins! Finally... As I sit here in Dulles, waiting for the Virgin Atlantic booth to open, I thought I would start a little webpage. This morning, my friend , Jeff Wilson was cool enough to take me to the train station. I took the train to Roslyn and then bus to Dulles. Very easy trip for a Saturday morning after Thanksgiving. And I have 7 hours to make use of and my first siting was Harrys Tap Room. Oops a beer this early. Well, my first stop is London and they are 5 hours ahead ... so. Why not. Ok done. Check in is open and I'll write more later. hopefully sober from a British Pub! Thanks to 6 bags of Hanover Pretzels that I am taking to Cindy Hi's sister in London, I won't starve on the trip over.

Alright so I found a brewery in Dulles, Old Dominion! And then I'll be out of here!

London, UK -
After over 7 hours in a seat, it was time to get lost in London. Mission Accomplished! Took a wrong turn on the Tube and ended up on Oxford St instead of Piccadilly Circus.

No worries, I have 12 hours to do whatever. Oxford St happens to be one of the busiest shopping districts in the world with over 200 million visitors and 5 billion in revenue annually. I know a few people that would love this place. Some of the first few photos are Oxford and Regent St areas. The weather was typical London fashion: rainy and cold(37F). Stumbling into Piccadilly Circus reminded me alot of Times Square: bright lights and lots of traffic. Then down to the Westminister area. Big Ben and Big Ben and its a take from the film, Vacation. Some of the Pubs visited: Waxy O'Connor, De Hems and Porterhouse

Then there is a huge ferriswheel, London Eye. A huge ferriswheel where the chairs have been replaced with these pods that hold 20-25 people and it takes 30-45 minutes to do a loop. Cool view but the weather was way overcast. Then back into the rain and met up with Cindy Hii's sister, Minna, and her friend Michael. Pretzels delievered! London Pub Crawl time.

Waxy O'Connors was a very cool place as long as you can find your way out. There are staircases of varying sizes and lengths tucked away all throughout the Pub. The bartender told me she still gets lost in there. Excellent Caffreys though. Then into Soho. More excellent pubs that I'll never remember names but places.

Oh 2 hours to my fllight. They told me 'No Problem'. And it probably isnt if you are sober and know your way around London. I failed both those tests. So I missed my first stop... slept right through it. But quickly got back on track and into Heathrow.

PHOTOS Click Here....

CAPE POINT/GOOD HOPE photos....

Table Mtn and more on Google Maps

Photos and Google earth may take a while if your connection speed is not very high. And I dont mean that personally! Well maybe...


Beer = US1.50 for 500 mL. You do the math!!!!

Wine = good bottles under US$10!

Flights:
Virgin Atlantic - these guys cover all the bases except seat size. All the food and wine you want but unless you have a huge chunk of change, the seats are incredibly small. If you are over 5'8" get a aisle seat!

South African Airways - 12 hours on a plane is an eternity. Dinner was great. Again all the food and wine you want and a sampler of SA Beer! Sleep. Then breakfast. And you still have time for 2 full length films! I did get to watch a lightning storm off in the distance at 5am. Long time to be in a plane! But SAA did a better job with seat sizing.

Table Mtn Lodge- S33'55.736 E018'24.415

if you ever get down here, this is the place to stay in Cape Town. Quaint little B&B with small balconys and a bar right across the hall. Has a San Francisco feel and the area of town feels like Napa Valley! All the guests were ranting about what they have seen and getting a lot of flavor before I even get out of the lodge.

Lions Head(S33'56.106 E018'23.345) hike was insane! The view up top was 360 looking over Table Mtn, Cape Town and the Atlantic Ocean! GOOGLE EARTH click here

Cape Town has an interesting atmosphere. To look at the area, incredible views and lots of busy surroundings. All the houses are entrenched in razor wire and electric fences with the unemployment rate around 23%. You drive on the other side of the road and the other side of a car. It takes some real getting use to. Table Mtn sits in the background with a cloud almost always sitting on top. The cloud will appear to be overflowing onto the ground below. Its cool but different. My dinner bill last night was R200! Well thats only US$20. oh and they drive on the wrong side of the road here! Crazy

Cape Point/Good Hope(S34'21.429 E018'28.420) - incredible. check out the photos! Link above. You could tell Pirates had been through and BlackBeard was to far away. To look out and think the next stop is Antartica... pretty surreal. Litterally no shows of civilization anywhere.

Table Mountain & Skeleton Gorge - the wind calmed down and we took the Cablecar up. The Cablecar had a revolving floor! If only Snowbirds did the same! The views from the top were unbelieveable from 3400ft. The sides of Table Mtn are straight down. We hiked across to McClears Beacon(3450ft). Then hiking over to Skeleton Gorge was like walking through the Scotish Highlands. Once to Skeleton Gorge, the trail proceeded to drop straight down. Bouldering, Ladders, and other manuverings took us from 2400ft to 600ft in a matter of a kilometer or 2. Pretty steep but a blast. Then Kirstklof Botanical Gardens was our last stop of the day. lunch and a taxi back. Done!

Constantia Wine District

Rivaling Napa for looks, the landscape is of rolling hills with mountain in the background and lush vineyards and lawns. We stopped at Steenberg Vineyards on the way back from Cape Point and had wine on the patio and dinner at the restaurant. The setting could not have been better, 70F and the sun was setting. The lawns are perfectly cut and the old farmhouses have been perfectly refurbished. The restaurant was nice and the price was very reasonable. Some of the meals served were Kudu, Osterich, and Warthog. Amy had the Kudu and said she really liked it. Kudu is antelope. We had a great time!

..TABLETOP MTN..