We took our first road trip to Walla Walla this weekend to do a bit of tasting and some shopping. Have never been this far east in the wine country I was really looking forward to the trip. The weekend was also their annual Balloon Stampede but we only saw a few the first night driving into town. I guess the balloons go up real early in the morning, we aren't really the morning types so...
Our friend Abra has mentioned many times Glondo's in Cle Elum as the place to stop for beef jerky for the drive to Walla Walla so that is exactly what we did. We actually got their beef jerky and some pepperoni sticks. The beef jerky is so thick and meaty, you can see the smoke ring around the meat. My car's jockey box has a small cooler built into the back of it and this became the meat box for the weekend!
Although it is not in Walla Walla I wanted to stop at Kiona on the way as I hadn't been there for about 12 years and the last time I tasted it was in the finished basement of their house! They have come a long way! They have a brand new HUGE tasting facility with amazing views of the surrounding area and Red Mountain AVA which is becoming known around the world for it's fantastic grapes. We also stopped at Goose Ridge cellars which I had read a little about as they are all estate fruit and make some very nice and affordable wines.
Back on the road we checked in to our B&B quickly changed and were out the door to a private meeting with Greg Harrington at Gramercy Cellars. I have wanted to meet Greg for some time so was super excited! Greg is the youngest person in the states to pass his Master Sommelier Exam at the age of 26 and has directed the wine programs for Emeril's and Wolfgang Puck's restaurants. He and his wife moved from New York and started Gramercy in 2004. We met him and a friend of his who was visiting from Finland where he writes and teaches about wine. These two were so interesting to taste with, so much knowledge and passion for the wine! Greg had us taste from barrels and then we created a few blends which was really fun. After we stepped outside and tasted a few of his bottled wine. This is good stuff, get it if you can! The 05 Lagniappe Syrah was especially delicious as was the amazing 21 Grams Cab- a collaboration of Greg and Jamie's (winemaker for Waters) cabs bottled together. They only make 75 cases of this and Greg was so nice to send us on our way to dinner at 26Brix with the barely opened bottle!
Wonderful dinner at 26Brix and great cocktails after in their bar. A good start to the weekend!
Dayne and I had a great time this past weekend in San Francisco! The weather was amazing and we got to see our friends and help them celebrate their birthdays. We did however forget our camera so all photos were taken using our iPhones. Not the best but surprisingly ok quality.
We flew down on Thursday night a
nd miracles of miracles our flight arrived o
n time at 8:30pm- this is the first time in the last 3 trips that we haven't been really late. We like to stay in the Union Square area and like the Kimpton chain so we picked one of their hotels that we hadn't stayed at in the past. After checking into the Serrano Hotel we headed out for a snack and a few cocktails at Absinthe. We've been before but it was a weekend night and quite packed. This was nicer- quieter and we could chat with the bartenders a bit.
Besides a few cocktails we tried the St George absinthe. It is really anise scented and has a strange aftertaste to it. It also had a bit of a nasty smell after it sat in the glass. We just shared one but didn't finish it. We'll stick to Lucid for now!
The next morning we grabbed a cab and headed to Tartine Bakery. Since we are normally in the city on the weekend only we've never come here as they say the line can be an hour long on Sat and Sun mornings! But it was Friday morning so we only waited about 10 mins. It is very cute and the pastries all looked beautiful!
After speaking to a local in line we decided on the bread pudding, pan au chocolate and the ham and cheese quiche. The bread pudding was a bit too creamy for us, good but we like a texture that has some crispy bits! The pan au chocolate was great but didn't match the one's we get at home at Cafe Besalu. The quiche was also quite tasty but again didn't have that same ethereal quality of the ones at our favorite cafe. But it is well worth the stop especially if you aren't as lucky to live in Ballard or close to it! :)
As usual we had a fantastic time shopping in Union Square. Did I mention the weather?? It was about 77F on Friday and just gorgeous!! We took a break for lunch at Cafe Claude which was suggested to me and it was perfect! We had a table outside and the food was exactly what we were wanting for lunch. Look at this gorgeous steak tartare!
As I mentioned we were also visiting some friends who's birthdays were Friday and Saturday. Friday we met one of the birthday boys and his gorgeous wife for dinner at Quince. None of us had been there but we all loved it. Good places stand out by paying attention to little details such as personalizing the menu for our friend. All of our food was excellent! I am especially in love with the ravioli stuffed with ricotta and served with a raw egg yolk on top and a brown butter sauce. mmmmm......will be copying this at home! Also my squab was served claws on the legs and tiny head roasted and perched on the plate staring at me. Love it!
After dinner we had reservations for a few cocktails at Bourbon & Branch which was a nice way to end the evening.
As we like to do in places that we repeatedly visit we picked something new to explore- this time it was taking the ferry to Sausalito. Saturday's weather at around 80F was perfect for the trip! We didn't even need a windbreaker on the ferry and there were lots of boats in the bay. It was also the first time since a trip about 5 years ago that we could see the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sausalito was very cute and a nice way to spend an afternoon. We just walked around and checked out some galleries and shops- enjoying the views and the sun. We even got a bit sunburned and we were only out and about for a few hours! Sad!
The rest of our weekend was spent at our friend's house in Redwood City where the birthday party for two involved sipping a lovely glass of Grand Dame, blind tasting 6 Pinot Noirs and 6 Cab's, snacking on wonderful food and catching up. Thanks guys for hosting and putting us up!
We really enjoyed our time in Cape Town and felt that we got to see most everything in the 5 days we were there. The full batch of photos from the city is here. We weren't sure if we were going to get to see the top of Table Mountain as it had been covered in clouds since our first day in town. The winds at the top were so strong that the cable car had been closed for 3 days. But finally on our last day the clouds cleared, the wind died down and a 2 hour queue formed! With the help of our favorite cab company we were whisked to the front of the line and had our tickets within minutes.
It's quite stunning, the views from the top. There were people repelling one of the sides and others hiking up from the bottom. You could really get a sense for how widespread the city is and even see the areas of the townships. We spent a while wondering around taking lots of pictures of the views before heading back to the cable car. They have signs posted that say if you hear the hoot get back to the cable cars right away! I wonder if they have had to leave people up there?
Before we left Cape Town Forest treated us to a sail! We had a couple of bottles of nice bubbly and enjoyed the views from a different perspective this time. So fun!
Our last night in town we had a fabulous dinner at Savoy Cabbage to celebrate Forest's bday which was coming up. Nightcaps after at Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson Hotel just about put us over the edge but we rallied!
The way home for Dayne and I had quite a few hiccups- the first being our connection from Cape Town in Jo'Burg was missed and we had to stay at a business hotel without luggage for the night. ugh. The next day we were at the airport for about 6 hours and finally got on a flight headed for home via Senegal. While refueling in Dakar we were told that due to a mechanical malfunction our plane needed to stay within 2.5 hours of land so what was going to be an 8.5 hour flight turned into an 11.5 hour flight after sitting on the tarmac for almost 4 hours so they could re do the flight plan et al. When we finally arrived in Atlanta our connection was long gone so they put us on a flight to Salt Lake. It was snowing and freezing and we were in short sleeves and Dayne in flip flops! Of course we had to walk outside to the tiny plane that then got us to Seattle. The luggage however was a different story! :)
After our longer-than-expected day on the beach, the next couple of days were dedicated to spending some time in Cape Town proper. We started out by wandering through a local market; Forest felt a hand tugging on her bag at one point, but we didn't actually lose anything, and that was the closest we came to any theft in our entire stay.
Our first goal was to see the Castle of Good Hope, a former British military fortification turned military history museum. During the Changing of the Guard, we witnessed what turned out to be the smallest cannon we've ever seen being fired. It might defend agains pigeons, but not much else. It was odd to be in a very European castle in Africa; I'm not sure anything similar exists on the continent.
Next, we walked over to the District Six Museum , which was first class. It put me much in mind of the National Civil Rights musem in Memphis, Tennessee, in style and content (if not size -- it's actually quite small). The original District Six residents, roughly 60,000 of them, had been forcibly evicted in the 1970s by the national and city governments in a blatantly and unapologetically racist move. The museum chronicles the lifestyle and culture of the former District Six, and presents a history of the removal and just-beginning re-population aof the area by some of the original residents. I believe all the volunteers and emplyees at the musem are former residents.
I have to say that the U.S. isn't always dramatically better. Though not as broad in scope or overtly racist in nature, California's Ellis Act evictions are not entirely dissimilar. Glass houses, stones, you know the saying. [Side note: I heard something about some other U.S city's historic forced evictions on NPR the other day, but can't remember the city and can't find the reference now -- anyone else know hear the article?]
We'd been previously introduced via email to some friends-of-friends that lived in Cape Town, Brett and Johann. We'd coordinated by phone once we arrived, and arranged to go out to dinner with them. They picked us up and we drove north of the city to the suburb of Blouberg, which to my mind looked like any modern suburb anywhere and was not particularly interesting in and of itself. The saving grace for Blouberg was the view; located at the closest land point to Robben Island, Mandela's home for much of his imprisonment, Blouberg has the postcard-standard view of Cape Town across the bay, with Table Mountain framing the city.
Johann took the next morning off from work to drive us around a bit, which was both unexpected and great for us. To top it off, he brought along a bottle of 20-year South African brandy for me to try, nicely chilled in a small cooler. Now that's a way to start the day!
Johann drove us up the flanks of Cape Town's Signal Hill to see the Noon Gun. Now *that* was a real cannon! The wind was blowing incredibly hard; in fact, Table Mountain was closed (again) because of it. We didn't at first think the gun would be all that interesting, but in fact all of us are glad we went, especially since it was something we'd probably have skipped if Johann hadn't wanted to take us. I couldn't believe how loud the thing was!
We spent some time wandering through the BoKapp Muslim neighborhood, which was quiet as many stores and restaurants were still cosed for the holiday week.
We also shopped and ate on Long Street, which surprisingly was reminiscent of portions of New Orleans.
We had to stop in to a Cuban Bar! Yes, it was kind of a Disney-fied Cuba, but still.
The following day we went on a tour of Langa, which depending on your standpoint and definitions is a township, community, neighborhood, or suburb. Regardless of terminology, the place was completely different than anywhere else we'd been, and probably more indicative of how far too many people live that anything else we'd seen on the trip.
To start the Langa tour we stopped in the Guga S'Thebe cultural center , which is kind of a artisan showcase, historical resource, and a community center for kids. We were fortunate to have several of the kids demonstrate a traditional gumboot dance . Yes, it's a show for tourists, but it had the advantage of being culturally relevant o the poerformers as well as being something they not only enjoyed doing, but were obviously taking pride in doing well.
As far as the actual Langa apartments, shacks, houses and other living quarters -- all were small, but those that we saw were neatly-maintained by their occupants. I suppose there's no room for a slob when sharing a place that small. For all the pride that people took in their individual homes, no matter how small or fragile, and their own personal appearance, which was never less than immaculate, the streets and alleys were another matter. Kids walked around broken glass and other garbage on bare feet, and everyone seemed to ignore the garbage cans in favor of the open grounds between the houses.
The saddest thing, in my mind, is that even in post apartheid South Africa, people are still living in those conditions. In many cases it's not because they're incredibly poor (though that's also a huge problem), but that no one will sell to them in the more-desireable parts of town. Students, doctors, lawyers, teachers, all were forced to live in housing that rivals the worst slums I've seen anywhere, even though many were holding down decent jobs and some even owned cars.
I really like being somewhere else for new years eve. It's one of those holidays that seems to let a lot of people down but when you are somewhere else it is always exciting, fun and different. We really didn't have a plan this year which we were all fine with. After a big day driving to the Cape and seeing penguins and amazing views we thought we would head to the V&A waterfront, grab a snack at a bar and watch the crowds. So after getting ready and having Dayne make us cocktails we started calling for a cab- just like anywhere it was going to take hours. And then we found a card in the apartment for Ernest cab. Within 15 minutes he was outside our gate and taking us to the Waterfront! Ernest cab would become our best find in Cape Town- picking us up later that night with only a 20 min wait and telling the lines of people he was our private cab, always knowing where places were, waiting for us while we went into shops, getting us to the front of the 2 hour queue at Table Mountain and doing multiple trips to the airport.
We rang in the new year with thousands of others listening to fireworks and
playing with our noise makers and being very warm and happy that we were outside! Oh and we snuck into a private party after and drank free champagne :)
We had lots of advice from friends and friends of friends about Cape Town- what to do, what to be careful of and what to see. Everyone told us to get out to the beaches as they are beautiful. No one told us that Jan 1st is the day that black people celebrate by going to all the beaches (it was only 10 years ago that they weren't allowed on the beach) and making it an all day festival. Of course that doesn't mean that you can't go too- and we did- it just made for quite an interesting day! The crowds were so thick and the roads were completely at a stand still. There were lines for shared cabs that were over 1 mile long. And not an inch of beach, sidewalk, grass, etc was free of people, kids, blankets, lawn chairs, picnics and umbrellas.
We decided to wait for traffic to die down by heading out for a nice sundowner at a beautiful hotel south of the beaches called The Twelve Apostles Hotel.
The view and the cocktails were great however the traffic never did die down so by the time we got all the way back to our apartment it was late and we all decided that Nando's peri peri chicken and some E television was in order!
When we drove into Cape Town, we didn't really know what to expect. The few glimpses we'd seen when flying over it before heading to Franschhoek weren't especially promising...townships, "informal settlements", slums, whatever you want to call them, were everywhere. From the air, the glitter of trash made it look almost like there were little ice puddles strewn over the streets and yards.
The drive in was a little more encouraging, at least once we got in towards the city center. Other than being our first in-city experience driving on the opposite side of the car and street, it didn't seem any harder to navigate than many other places we've been. We had made arrangements to stay in a small apartment in the Seapoint neighborhood, along the northwest shore of the city, facing the Atlantic Ocean. We found our apartment without too much difficulty, though after the lux accommodations we'd had in Franschhoek it was a bit of a letdown. Cheap though!!
[A small aside here, just because it doesn't really fit anywhere else. While in Cape Town, at one point I bought a local paper. I should have either kept it or taken a picture, but I forgot to do so. The price was printed across the top, of course, much like it is anywhere else. It cost 4 or 5 Rand, I think, (less than a US dollar) but the more interesting thing was the Zimbabwean price printed there as well -- Z$1,200,000. Yes, you read that right. Hyper-inflation is going crazy in that country, as the megalomaniacal Mugabe continues to wreak havoc on the economy, environment, and international standing of SA's northern neighbor. I had the privilege of being able to spend 3 weeks in Zimbabwe in 1999; it's really sad to know that almost every animal I saw then is dead now, because of a starving populace.]
We'd arrived fairly late in the evening. Forest was tired, so Wendy and I took a brief walk along the seawall that night, and stopped into a hotel bar for a quick bite and a drink before turning in. We noticed that one of the bartenders had his hand wrapped up; Wendy asked if he'd broken it. No, it turns out he was stabbed through the hand so he could be robbed!!! More than anything else we experienced on the entire trip, that single statement made me realize how potentially dangerous parts of the city were.
The next day, New Year's Eve, we were off to the Cape of Good Hope. After a crazy drive through the mountain roads,
and a stop to see penguins (they're funny!!!),
we entered the barrenness of the Cape. Wow, it was hot. Everything was washed out from the bright light; even the ostriches were a kind of dusty grey, and hard to see except that they were big moving blobs on an otherwise desolate landscape.
The Cape of Good Hope itself, and nearby Cape Point, were fabulous. There was a distinct line in the ocean where the warm Indian hit the cold Atlantic waters. Of course, being a major tourist destination, there was both a funicular (which we skipped, for once) and a pole with distances to major destinations.
Then it was back to Cape Town in preparation for New Year's Eve celebrations! [coming next post...]
Being on Safari was great and it was hard to leave but we were off on a short flight to Cape Town airport where we picked up another rental car and headed about an hour northeast to the winelands. Not only were we driving on the "wrong" side of the road now but we had a stick shift this time!
We had rented a gorgeous private home that was across the street and part of a guest house so we had the luxury of having breakfast prepared for us each day but had the privacy of our own large home to relax in.
The winelands (as it is called) is made up of 3 main towns- Stellenbosch, Paarl & Franschhoek. We were staying in Franschhoek as it is small- everything in walking distance- and has the most shops, restaurants, galleries, etc. Stellenbosch is a university town and is quite large and Paarl is a bit more spread out and industrial. All have great wineries and having a car was the best way to get around and avoid the tour buses! And as most of you know I love being around wineries!
It was still quite hot so seeing Christmas decorations in the restaurants and around town was funny! Because of the heat we also used a consolidator for buying our wine and having it shipped home to us- we didn't want to have cases of wine boiling in our trunk! We did buy quite a few bottles to open at the house and to take to dinners. The prices were amazing- $7- $14 was quite the norm, $25-30 was reaching the top of the spectrum.
One day we picked up a friend of Forest's who happened to be visiting Stellenbosch but lives in Jo'burg and we went to lunch at an awesome cellar- Haute Cabriere. The restaurant is quite well known and everything on the menu sounded good so we ordered small sizes of everything except for 2 items! We had a ball- the waiter did not.
Gregory then was nice enough (to not make fun of my left handed stick shifting) to show us around the area a bit. We drove out past Stellenbosch and up a large hill to fantastic views of the area, beach resorts and False Bay. It was a great day!
Our favorite wineries that we tasted at were Byerskloof and Meerlust but we had lots of good wine and food. Our favorite dinner was at a restaurant called Topsi.
Topsi is an 80+ year old sassy woman who cooks and runs a tiny restaurant in Franschhoek. She is quite a legand. We asked her to join us for a glass of nice dessert wine which Forest's roomate back in Paris had sent along as a gift. She was already drinking a large goblet of pastis and seemed flattered that we were interested in speaking to her. She was a riot and told us many stories of the area and of her growing up in the region. Her daugher also cooked with her in the kitchen and Topsi referred to her often to jog her memory! Soon the entire kitchen and restaurant staff (all 3 of them) had left and we found ourselves alone with Topsi and her amazing stories. This woman is a gem!
On the way out of town towards Cape Town we passed a large vineyard completely aflame! The fire was so large and right on the road that we could feel the heat through the car windows! We stopped at the next winery we came across to report the fire- not being sure if it was a planned burn or not. The people seemed very surprised. We hope that the vintners didn't lose too much.
This is just a beautiful area to spend time in, very relaxed with gorgeous views of the mountains and some really nice wines. I can't wait for my delivery!!! Photos from our time in the winelands can be found here
We took our first road trip to Walla Walla this weekend to do a bit of tasting and some shopping. Have never been this far east in the wine country I was really looking forward to the trip. The weekend was also their annual Balloon Stampede but we only saw a few the first night driving into town. I guess the balloons go up real early in the morning, we aren't really the morning types so...
Sommelier Exam at the age of 26 and has directed the wine programs for Emeril's and Wolfgang Puck's restaurants. He and his wife moved from New York and started Gramercy in 2004. We met him and a friend of his who was visiting from Finland where he writes and teaches about wine. These two were so interesting to taste with, so much knowledge and passion for the wine! Greg had us taste from barrels and then we created a few blends which was really fun. After we stepped outside and tasted a few of his bottled wine. This is good stuff, get it if you can! The 05 Lagniappe Syrah was especially delicious as was the amazing 21 Grams Cab- a collaboration of Greg and Jamie's (winemaker for Waters) cabs bottled together. They only make 75 cases of this and Greg was so nice to send us on our way to dinner at 26Brix with the barely opened bottle!
Sausalito was very cute and a nice way to spend an afternoon. We just walked around and checked out some galleries and shops- enjoying the views and the sun. We even got a bit sunburned and we were only out and about for a few hours! Sad!
