Stellenbosch - Wine Country

CLICK HERE: TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM 

NOTE: CAPTIONS:  There are some captions added - they are very small and appear on the left hand side. If anyone knows how to make them more readable and centered, I would love to know. I have used up some valuable "executive time" trying to find out ;)

Back to bright sunshine this morning.  Our complimentary coffee arrived right on time, 7:15.  Last

night we discovered that one reason the price was so reasonable for this room is that it was sans breakfast.  That was going to be another $25 or so for the all you can eat menu.  No way I was going to eat my fair share.  So we opted for the alternative and took a stroll down the hill.  Found a lovely bistro across the street.  There was a marathon going on right in front of us.  We gladly joined in the fun of cheering them all on while having our very simple breakfast. After the last of the runners were past and the food consumed, we walked down to the end of town to get some last minute shots of Kalk Bay before leaving.

A hike up the hill, to sit by the pool while we planned our next excursion.  Stellenbosch is in the heart of wine country.  We are staying here for three nights for some biking and r&r.  We were supposed to take a day and drive to Franschhoek - another, must see, scenic town.  We decided to abort the plan and drive straight through to Franschhoek before checking in to the guest house in Stellenbosch.

Neither one of are much of an expert of wine.  In fact, one of doesn't even drink at all.  We simply went to see what the hoopla was about and take in some more views.  The drive along the ocean side from Kalk Bay was gorgeous if you look to the right - on the left was another sort of view.  I wonder how long it will be before the land is confiscated for resorts. It might be protected,  I really don't know.  I just remember the story of District 6 in Cape Town.  During apartheid, the government just went in and bulldozed all the houses and relocated the residents to places like, Retreat and Ocean View.  Sounds good but look out.  Sort of like the old age home names -- Serenity Manor.

I digress.  We turned off the coast drive and up into the mountains passing winery after winery. Couldn't really capture it through the camera.  These places are massive.  Maybe when we take our bike tour.  Arrived in Franschhoek in time for lunch.  Walked around a bit first and discovered a fun fact. In the late 1600's the Huguenots arrived in Cape Town and made their way to this town. The Huguenots were basically thrown out of France by Louis XIV -- all about religion.  There is a huge monument and museum dedicated to these people.  The name resonate everywhere -- the main drag is Huguenot Street.  Again we found ourselves in an artsy, little town with everyone clinking glasses! Since we weren't interested in a wine tour, we found a small unpretentious place to grab a bite and it was back on the road.

We arrived in Stellenbosch at around 2:30.  We have a nice quiet room with all the fixings.  This place is right in the middle of town although we haven't seen anything yet.  We parked our car and we parked our butts at the pool!!  Not sure what happens next.  Tomorrow is a non-scheduled event and hopefully, we'll go biking the next day.  Right now we are enjoying our "executive time"!

Finally, pried ourselves away from the pool in search of dinner.  A short walk down the road lead us into the center of town.  Lots of places were booked solid but we stumbled on an empty table down  at Steam down on Church St.  Best veggie burger ever!!  We are now sharing our meals -- way too much food.  Tomorrow we will go exploring on foot before heading to the pool.  Tonight we may try to see if we can watch John Oliver on the computer.  Sweet dreams.

CLICK HERE: TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM 

Next time.... Exploring Stellenbosch