First blog in a few years so bear with me...

Our trip to Cape Town for Jamie and Antonia's wedding started with an afternoon in Amsterdam wandering up and down the canals and doing a bit of window shopping like only Amsterdam can offer. Then it was off to Cape Town. We arrived late on the Friday night, driving in from the airport past one of the many townships that surrounds the city and the next day was the stag and hen parties. Won't go into too much details, but safe to say that everyone was well oiled by the end of the day (despite there being no booze on the stag till half the day had gone!!) and fun had been had all round. The bride and groom to be had rented a huge house in a part of the city named Camps Bay, with 6 rooms and a pool and so the Sunday was spent recovering in the sun and by the pool with a fairly large braai (bbq) that night. The house was fantastic, but 7ft walls, barbed wire and cctv help to remind you of where you are.

The week before the wedding was our chance to explore Cape Town and all it has to offer. The first thing I must say is that it is one of the most stunning cities I have visited, right up there with Rio. From Table Mountain in the middle of the city, the 12 apostles stretching east towards the beach and the point where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet is incredible. The city is made up of a series of bays all along the coast, with each bay separated from the next by a set of mountains, which to me, made it seem like a stretch of islands with their own mountains off in the horizon. It was really cool to see, and of course, the warm sun definitely helped add to the sense of being somewhere special.

During that week, we embarked on a road trip along Chapman's Peak Drive, regarded as one of the most sceninc road trips in Africa and the world. It was cool, the mountains on one side, the ocean on the other, very much like the Pacific Highway, except there was a speed restriction of about 60K the whole way. Good for those of us in the back watching the scenery but Im sure the driver would have enjoed a lot more taking the bends and winding turns at a bit of speed, at least I would have. We roamed the V&A Waterfront, Cape Towns version of The Shore I suppose, filled with shops, bars, cafes, beer gardens and a couple of markets, as well as the the peddlers trying to send you on this or that cruise, the buskers and their Zulu warrior dance routines and the boarding point for the Robben Island Ferry...but more on that later.

A trip to Boulders Beach to see a colony of African penguins was a lot of fun. Swimming in the ocean and trying to make sure you didnt get too close to the locals to upset them. We also got to see South Africa's main Naval base, I hope they never go to war, and some exceptionally lazy fur seals waiting to be hand fed and scrubbed clean by the fishermen returning from a days catch. I ate a tonne of seafood that day too and was also introduced to Don Pedro....ice cream and amarullo, what a cocktail that is! The mad ones in the group decided to climb Table mountain whilst those of us with our heads screwed on the right way took the cable car up. As you would expect, the views are incredible and I learned that of the 6 Floral Kingdoms in the world, one can only be found in the Western Cape, including Table mountain and its surrounds. The Wednesday was a great day spent in the wine region of the city called Constancia. We visited 2 or maybe 3 wineries (hard to remember after the 8th glass) that day and enjoyed some amazing wine, food and views of the mountains and the city. On the last night before the wedding, Jamie finally managed to get us all booked into his favourite steak restaurant called the Hussar. Some amazing springbok carpaccio followed by a delicious ostrich steak were served my way and the steaks on the other plates all looked delicious too. Can definitely recommend. Another reccommendation is the Codfather, amazing seafood.

The wedding itself was a 3 day affair that took place at a winery named Vrede en Lust near a town called Franschoek in the mountains. Gorgeous- what an amazing location for a wedding. Mountains, vineyards, 17th century Dutch colonial buildings with clock and bell towers, the place was a picture. The Friday was spent sinking Windhoek by the pool with more wine tasting and a massive braai and party at night. Saturday was the day of the wedding and what a day it was. Everyone melted in the 41C heat with not a breath of wind or inch of shade to protect us. The minister butchering Jamie's middle and last names as well as continually referring to the best man as Bryan despite repeatedly being told Bryn helped set the tone for the day. The gin reception was just what we needed, the dinner was delicious, more springbok for me, the ceildih was a laugh, except for the irish jig that somehow crept in?? and the party + after party were long, sweaty, boozy, fantastic affairs. A wonderful wedding with a lovely couple and memories that Jordi and I will never forget.

I'll write another blog on the safari so as not to make this any longer than it already is. I think that its fair to say, my trips around the globe aside, both Jordi and I agreed that this was maybe the best holiday we had ever been on. Cape Town is gorgeous, the food is delicious. There is so much to do, regardless of what you want from a holiday...hiking, wineries, breweries and gin distilleries, beaches, museums, art galleries, large food markets, fine dining, boat cruises and ocean drive road trips, its all there.

Oh and Robben Island...so your idiot of an author managed to book the ferry tickets for the wrong date and so we never made it over. I am still seriously annoyed with myself over this as it was one of the top 3 things I wanted to do when in Cape Town....oh well, a reason to go back!