H'moon 22 - Dubai

Dubai, 7 hours on Saturday

We landed in Dubai at 7am after a nice flight from Cape Town.  We slept hard the whole way there.  We walked off the plane and the airport was very nice.  We had a 4-hour van tour planned to visit the city and they would drive us and drop us off everywhere we needed to go.

We met our tour guide and he was very a nice Indian man.  As we were leaving the airport, employees were handing us scarfs with the country flag on it.  Come to find out, we were there on their Independence Day, December 2^nd.  We found our van with a separate driver and off we went.

Nadine and I each starred out the window as we were in the world’s version of Las Vegas.  One of the richest and fastest growing cities in the world.  Our first stop was the Dubai mall and because we arrived there at 8am before all the crowds, getting around was super easy.  The mall is biggest in the world and has stores from everywhere.  It also had the largest indoor aquarium and largest tv screen.  

We took a few photos and then headed outside.  We were immediately greeted by the Burj Khalif, the tallest building in the world, at just under 900 meters high.  When we asked our guide about it he told us there is already another building in Saudia Arabia that will be taller, but then he mentioned Dubai is thinking about building a structure at 1 km tall, wow!  And then behind us was the hotel that caught fire on New Years Eve years ago, and the structure was still closed.

Next we headed onto the huge highway and among the jungle of sky-scrapers.   We then for ~30 minutes and headed down to the famous Atlantis Beach and right next to the Persian Gulf.  Wow, I had never thought I’d be near this body of water.  The hotel was over-the-top and the highway leading to it was designed to look like trees to try and add some color.  Then we headed to the famous sailboat hotel and stopped by a local beach.  People were out starting their day to celebrate Independence Day!

We then headed back towards the city, but along the way saw the building for the indoor ski resort, and also saw them building the largest ferris wheel in the world right on the water (everything has to be largest and tallest!).  We also saw a building shaped like a picture frame!

Our driver dropped us off in the older part of town, along a river with a lot of boat traffic.  This had a little more of a local feel, and we boarded a water taxi to get to the market.  Before the city grew into an international powerhouse in the 1980s…the city was a small port city with a little bit of trade.  This was the old city we were in. We crossed the river and then entered the gold and spice market.  But we made a quick diversion to get some camel milk gelato, yum! 

We entered the markets with huge crowds, but felt very safe.  It was a very affluent area.  We looked and smelled all the colors of the spice markets, and even bought a little arabian coffee.  We then ventured into the largest concentration of yellow gold in the world.  Nadine was in heaven!  We stopped in a few stores just to see what they had, and wow!  And no photos allowed inside!  We kept walking and saw huge World Records for Gold & Diamonds, and also saw a golden soccer boot and even a gold dress and gold bikini!  I asked Nadne to try one on just so I could get a photo, but it was break you buy it!

Our trip was coming to an end so we made a couple final stops at a historic mosque and a  ?.  We then headed to the airport and got ready for our flight back to USA.

Back in USA, Saturday @8p

Wow, what a 3-week trip.  We went through so much, together, and made it out the other side.  We also talked about coming from Africa straight to Dubai.  The juxtaposition of having too much in Dubai versus having too little in Africa, it was something we needed some time to digest.

But we boarded our flight and got ready for our 2^nd night in a row on a plane.  We took off and flew up over Iran and it was beautiful with the sunset.  Only 15 hours until we’d land in NYC at 8am and need to get home. 

We landed safely, go our rental car, and headed home to Scranton.  Luckily we had no weather but we had to deal with Saturday night traffic.  We made it out of the hustle and bustle, and Nadine needed to switch.  Dave began to drive and Nadine quickly fell asleep but was talking in her sleep thinking that she was driving.  We very tired and loopy!

We got home before midnight and crashed into bed.  That bed never felt so good.  We battled jet lag and awoke on Sunday only to ask “did that really happen?”. 

But the craziness would only continue, as tomorrow Nadine & I would each tell Gentex we were putting in our two weeks, and then we’d be moving to Chicago before Christmas.  Let the adventures continue!

Dubai Skyline over Dubai Creek

On December 2nd street -- on December 2!

Burj Khalifa  (Tallest Building in World (2,700 feet)

 

Hotel that caught fire New Years 2016

Burj Al Arab (Sailboat Hotel)

Dubai Frame

Dubai Mall - Largest indoor aquarium & screen

Road to Atlantis Hotel - On Palm Tree Island

Faux trees under the highway

Water Taxi - on Dubai Creek

Camel Milk Gelato

Spice Market

Gold Market -- see the GOLD DRESS!

Flight Home -- $20k Whiskey in Duty Free!

Flight Home - Mountain Ranges of Iran

H'moon 21 - CTown Table Mtn

We woke up rested and excited since the wind had finally calmed!  We took the time to fully pack up our bags for the plane and headed right to the cable car.  When we got to the parking lot, the lines were super long already!  With it being closed for 3-4 days, everybody was squeezing it in.

We waited for about 1-1.5 hours in line, and made friends with a group of female MDs who were in town for a conference.  They helped pass the time with great conversation.  But we also battled the occasional pushy tourist or tour guide from other nationalities.

It was finally our turn, and up we went!  The views were gorgeous inside the rotating car, and everybody had a sense of excitement.  We got to the top, and views were stunning.  The top was quite flat, and there were lots of people, but few ventured far away from the visitor center.  We wandered around and soaked it all up.  What a view!

We headed back down to make our cooking class appointment!  We drove back over to the Bo-kaap area, and now we were experts!  She saved us a spot right in front of her house, and we scampered inside.  Overall, we had an amazing time.  She told us stories of how she had lived in that house when Mandela still lived on Robbin Island...and also stories of her growing up in District 6.  From scratch we made a malaysian cuisine, which was her heritage, and it was delicious samosas, curries, naan, etc...then sat down and had a huge lunch.  "Salt is Love" she kept telling us newlyweds...we agree!

We left with an extra hour to check out one other neighborhood, Observatory.  It was a more local neighborhood, which was nice to visit during the day.  We almost bought some african-theme attire, but decided to pass based on the price.  But Dave then ventured upon a record store, Revolution Records, and it was awesome!  The store owner was amazing, and helped Dave pick some local album/artists for Manny.

Next we headed for the airport to make sure we got in with plenty of time.  As we were going through security, we ran into one of the couples on our safari.  Again, what were the odds!  We caught with them and passed the pre-flight time together.

Our final stop was Dubai, but it was 10+ hours to get there.  We were excited to be heading to the middle east for the first time, and to be headed to one of the richest, craziest countries on the planet!

Table Mountain Tram Ride

Cape Town from Table Mountain

Overlooking Lion's Head & Robbin Island 

Just taking it all in

Cooking class on Bo-kaap with ???

Record store where we bought Manny's Albums 

H'moon 20 - CTown Wine Tasting

And again, we woke up to a howling wind.  Incredible that it just doesn't stop.  As such, the Table Mtn cable car was closed again and the beach was too windy for surfing or swimming.

So we decided to head inwards for some wine tasting.  South Africa has some delicious grapes, including Pinotage and Shenin Blanc.  We headed for the Stellenbosch area, with a quick stop at Groot Constantia first.  This winery dates back to the 1600s, and was the requested wine of Napoleon when he was exhiled to St Helena.  We got complimentary glasses with our tasting, grabbed a bottle of Rose, and headed towards Stellenbosch.

There are 100s of wineries in Stellenbosch, so its hard to know where to start.  We were gifted a bottle of Mulderbosch Rose for our wedding, so we headed there first.  As we drove into the area, the mountainous scenery was beautiful and the rows of grape vines were stunning.  As we pulled up, we were the only ones there and had the tasting room to ourselves.  We bellied up to the bar, and luckily were paired with an amazing server.  We tasted all kinds of wines, shared stories, and since we didn't know where to go, he provided some recommendations for us!  His goal was to see every winery, so we knew he was a good resource.

We had to keep moving, so off we went to Jordan Estates for lunch.  Amazing scenery with the mountains.  Then onto Stark-Conde which was started by some Germans & then Kanonkop, where we tasted an amazing Pinotage & Pinotage Rose.  In fact we bought a case for the first time, it was so good!  We also had a great time with the server, who told us about her up bringing and how her father was a pastor.

The wineries were closing down, so we drove back in Cape Town.  We got stuck in heavy traffic, but even that was neat to learn about, and how other major cities struggle with traffic.  As we got closer, Table Mountain appeared out of the smog as this ominous shadow.

We had one more night of our honeymoon, so we headed out to main street, Buitengracht and enjoyed the night life.  We were tired, but still in that glow.  The wind had calmed down, so we were hopeful that we could visit Table Mountain on the last day (our flight left in the evening at 6p)

Groot Constantia Winery (dates back to 1600s!)

Mulderbosch Tasting Room

Jordan Estates for Lunch

Kanonkop Winery

Stark-Conde Winery

Table Mountain from West Beach

No people on beach b/c its so windy!

Looking back up Buitengracht Street 

Final night of our Honeymoon

H'moon 19 - CTown Walking Tours

We awoke again to a sunny day, but a howling wind.  We were up early, as our boat trip was 8am.  We checked the Robbin Island website, and the boat trips had not been canceled.  Again we had an amazing breakfast, and then headed on foot to the wharf.

We walked through the city streets, apart of the morning rush.  We passed little parks with statues and made our way towards the water.  There were also framed shots of Table Mountain that highlighted the beacon of the city.

We got a little lost looking for the boat trip office, and had to ask some local dock workers where to go.  As we strolled up, we saw lots of people looking unhappy and sure enough the wind was too high and tours were cancelled.  Argh!  Our only shot to see Robbin Island was gone, all tickets the rest of the week were gone.  Dave was very frustrated, but Nadine said 'let's keep going'.

We shopped around the wharf a little bit, but then headed back to the city.  We checked the Table Mtn cable car, and this was still shut down as well due to the wind.  What to do next?  Well we had plans to do free walking tours so we decided to make some lemonade from lemons.

The first 90-minute tour we did was a historical apartheid route.  We learned how brutal the racial divide was, including forceably moving colored people into Districts.  We also saw where Nelson Mandela gave his freedom speech, toured the old apartheid government headquarters in Company's Garden, and other notable & beautiful sites.

Since we had all afternoon, the second tour we did was of the historical Bo-kaap Neighborhood.  These homes used to be rented to slaves, but now the area has turned trendy due to the colorful houses and rich culture.  We walked up and down the streets, and got to try a local sweet treat, Koeksisters, a sweet doughy dutch-french-indian treat.

At the end of the tour, our tour guide told us there a local lady in Bo-kaap that does cooking classes.  There was no upfront cost, so we said 'sure'.  We walked over to her house, met her, and signed up for the morning of the final day in Cape Town.  Fun!

The day hadn't gone how we expected, but we still had some fun.  We had a free evening as well, so Nadine suggested a local Jazz club that was located in the crypt of a catholic church.  Desmond Tutu used to give services here, and the crypt held refugees safe in apartheid times.  We enjoyed a nice evening of good music, good wine, and small bites.  And speaking of bites...Nadine's legs were starting to improve, so she was happy there!

View of Table Mountain from Robbin Island Tour

Statues around the city

Walking Tour - District 6 Apartheid Museum

Walking Tour - Where Mandela gave speech

Company's Garden (old government quarters)

Where S.Africa President used to live


Desmond Tutu Arch

Around the city

Famous Charyls Bakery

Bo-kaap (Bour-cap) Neighborhood with Lion's Head

Bo-kaap walking tour

Bo-kaap View of Table Mtn

Bo-kapp Koeksisters Treat

Crypt Jazz Club

H'moon 18 - CTown Cape Good Hope

We awoke to a sunny day, but a howling wind.  You could hear it whipping through the city streets.

We got dressed and headed down for breakfast.  It was AMAZING!  Made to order eggs, homemade cappuccinos...so delicious.   When we were satisfied, we grabbed our day bag and south towards the Cape of Good Hope.

The drive is Chapman's Scenic Peak Drive, and it did not disappoint.  But we did not plan for ridiculous winds.  The winds were almost strong enough to close the scenic drive.  As we stopped at scenic views along the way, we struggled to stay upright, and also not get amputeed by our car doors!  The drive was about 1 hour along the twists and turns....and we passed some watchers part of the 'Shark Spotters'!

We got to the park and headed straight for the true Cape of Good Hope.  Dave had stared at this point on a map since the 5th grade, and couldn't believe we were finally be there.  He had learned about all these ships that sailed around it, and just the geographical significance...it was very humbling.  There were crowds in the parking lot, and everybody was fighting the wind.  But we marched down to the trail to the Cape, and looked at where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans met.  We felt like we could fly with all the wind.

Up next we headed back towards home up the east side of the peninsula, and stopped off at Boulders Beach where a colony of penguins call home.  We got the beach, and most of the penguins were hiding in the sand because they had not regained their feathers from the spring, and also the blowing sand was so wicked it was difficult to look at them for too long.  But on the way back to the car, we stopped inside a gift shop, and bumped into a couple that we had met in our Jo'burg hotel...what were the odds!

After the penguins, we headed to Muizenberg beach.  Dave was hoping to do some surfing in South Africa, and this would be the beach to do it.  But again, the wind was so strong, that surfing was off the list.  Instead we found the famous beach houses, snapped a photo, then headed back to the car.

We got back to the hotel with some extra time due to the wind, so we ate early at a neat place, the Bombay Bicycle Club.  It was a great bohemian vibe, which matched our feel as well.  We got back to the hotel and stayed in.

Tomorrow was packed with a boat tour to Robbin Island and a possible Table Mountain visit...but the winds had canceled all of the previous days trips to these locations, so we went to bed hoping tomorrow would be calmer.

Driving to Cape of Good Hope

Hout Bay on drive to Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope!

Super Windy at Cape Good Hope

Driving up to Boulders Beach 

Boulders Beach Penguins

Penguin stroll on the beach

Muizenberg Beach Houses

Dinner at Bombay Bicycle Club