On Tuesday afternoon I went to afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel with Erin and our neighbors Kristine and Alex. The Mount Nelson is a bright pink hotel at the base of Table Mountain on the outskirts of the city bowl. Afternoon tea was held in the lounge, a very long, slightly stuffy, bright room filled with plush chairs and a fireplace at each end. There was even a piano player. In the center of the room was a huge buffet table piled with dainty finger foods. One half was devoted to savory items and the other to sweets. They had baskets full of rolls and breads and bowls full of fruit salad complete with strawberries. All of the food was served in elegant silver dishes. Our mouths watering, we chose a table right by the fire and ordered our tea. Immediately after ordering, we headed to the buffet and piled our plates with savory foods. I've been to tea before, and no food has ever compared with the spread at the Mount Nelson. The sandwiches, wraps, toasties, and mini quiches were to die for. It was all I could do to confine myself to one plate to begin with. When we sat down, the waitress brought out our tea. It was served in these clear pots so you could watch your tea seep. My tea, even though it was lemon, was a vivid magenta color. It was beautiful, but I didn't like the taste much. After waiting the minimum amount of time, we headed back to the buffet. This time I mixed it up, getting both sweets and savories. They were equally delicious. A couple hours later we were all filled to the brim with tea and totally stuffed from multiple buffet runs, we headed home. It had been a lovely afternoon.
Pretty tea
Savory
Sweet
I've recently discovered a lovely bakery/restaurant in Obs called Mango Ginger. This place has the most amazing (and enormous) wraps. I've been three times in as many days, it's that good. Yesterday I got their minestrone soup and it was heaven. Today I haven't been feeling too good, so I went there alone and got chai tea and an apple crumble and just sat there with my new book for a while. It was really nice and relaxing. It's surprising how hard a good cup of chair tea is to come by here. They dump so much sugar and sweetener into it that you can't even taste the chai. But Mango Ginger knows what's up. There's a cute used bookstore on Lower Main where, if you spend enough time, you can find some really good reads. Earlier this year, before discovering the surprisingly good selection at UCT's library, I found a Gabriel Garcia Marquez short story book called 'Leaf Storm' that I plan on taking back with me. Today I picked up 'Hearts in Atlantis', a book by Stephen King. Hopefully it's a good story, as most of his usually are.
In other news, I've been working at planning out my summer vacation. Right after leaving Cape Town I'm spending a couple weeks in Europe traveling with my friend Lisa. After spending a few days in London, we're hitting Dublin, Brussels and Amsterdam. Then it's home on June 27 after spending just under six months away from home. I'll be glad to be back after being gone for so long. I won't be home for too long, though, since from August 1-16 I'll be traveling through Ecuador with Adam. I can't even imagine how amazing that trip is going to be. So, my summer will be anything but quiet. Four continents in just over two months. I'm sure having all these adventures to look forward to will make leaving Cape Town much easier.
-Sarah
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