Tag Archives: cape quarter
Iron gates of the Cape Quarter
Artful passage at the Cape Quarter
The Cape Quarter cyclist
I saw the cyclist approaching, and tried to quickly take the shot before he obscured my view. I at first thought "Darn, I wasn't quick enough.", but on reviewing the photo later I discovered that I really liked the fact that I caught him cycling into the frame. It's funny how sometimes things that you expect would ruin something actually make them better.
The Square at the Cape Quarter
Something that you may not be aware of is that if you make use of the underground parking, keep in mind that the two sections (The Square and The Piazza) share one large underground parking garage. You may enter the Piazza's parking garage and unintentionally end up in The Square.
Macarons, they’re so good they must be bad
It's embarrassing yes - the sign "Parisian Macaroons" spells the name of this delicate French biscuit (of sorts) incorrectly. It's not macaroon (phonetically ma-ca-roon) it's macaron (phonetically ma-ca-raun). You won't believe how many people get the spelling and pronunciation wrong. Macaroons are in fact something completely different to these lovely macarons - see the photo on the Wikipedia article on macaroons.
Kerry-Anne bought a few of these lovelies when visiting Ladurée in Paris earlier this year - later to discover that Daniela's in the Cape Quarter sells macarons that (to me) taste exactly like the one's that she babied on the flight from Paris to South Africa!
If you haven't yet tasted one of these - visit Daniela's and spend R10 to buy one - you'll love 'em!
The King Protea, South Africa’s national flower
An interesting fact is that the King Protea isn't only grown for export in South Africa, but also in New Zealand, Australia and even Hawaii! If you're interested in reading more about Proteas - or in fact about South African flora in general - visit the PlantZAfrica website. The site's pretty dated, but if you'd excuse it's '90s design there's plenty of information that you may find very useful. :)
Things that money can buy
I'm not saying that money, and the beautiful things that one's able to purchase or do with it, can change unhappy situations (like a bad marriage or a crummy job) into happy ones. What I am saying is that while money can't fix unhappy situations it can, in some way, buy happiness.
If you're wondering why I'm being so philosophical - this is the thought I had after visiting the beautiful Victoria Bathrooms shop that I mentioned in my previous post. :)
Mariage Frères – Paris in Cape Town
After being chastised by the owner of Voila (a restaurant at The Cape Quarter) for taking photos of his cake display we moved on and discovered the most delightful bathroom shop in The Cape Quarter that eroded my annoyance at first sight.
While modern bathrooms are nice, the Victorian bathroom accessories sold by Victorian Bathrooms are just so much more. Kerry-Anne and I fell in love with far too many items in this beautiful shop. The only problem is the price tag that comes with such timeless quality! However, if you're able to afford it you have to visit! (Even if you simply want to enjoy looking - the shop assistants are fantastically friendly, so pop in to take a look.)
Something that we were delighted to discover is that Victorian Bathrooms sell a special (and hard-to-find) brand of tea that Kerry-Anne fell in love with in Paris - Mariage Frères. I'm guessing that the rationale for selling this tea is that it draws discerning clients to the shop - and this quality French tea is a perfect fit for the bathroom accessories found at Victorian Bathrooms.
Taken from the Mariage Frères website:
Mariage Frères has turned to an almost
forbidden fruit, candied chestnuts,
to compose its 'Red Autumn' tea.Notes of noble chestnuts candied with sugar and Bourbon vanilla are sustained
by a mild, grassy green tea, creating
a new chapter in the history of taste.Too good to be true - but true!
Doesn't that sound wonderful?