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Published: June 23rd 2010
We had a fantastic day today, the so called Janel Day. We rented a little car at noon and drove out to Stellenbosch, a small town about 40 minutes from Cape Town. Stellenbosch is in a wine valley, where over 50 wineries exist within minutes of each other. It was also cool to drive a standard car on the opposite side of the road too. It’s funny, but I keep looking to my right every time I want to check the rear-view mirror, so I always end up staring at the door. Hehe
At the tourist office, we were given a map and suggested wineries that had some white wine (which is what Janel and I prefer). We then set out to find them and do some wine-tasting in the afternoon. Our first stop was also recommended because of the food: Tokara. At Tokara, we were sat at the best table in the house, outside on the patio right against the rail, overlooking the wine country and mountains. What a view!!!! The weather was perfect, in the 20’s, no wind, so we just sat there drinking some wine and chatting. Janel was LOVING it, I mean really loving it. Hehe
You couldn’t have asked for a better day, better table, better food, better company (aaawwwwwww)...it was awesome. At Tokara, we sorted of did it backwards: instead of doing the wine-tasting before lunch, we did it afterwards. We sipped a few Sauvignons and Chardonnays, bought a bottle (for $12) and headed to our next destination.
Our next and last stop was at a place called L’Avenir. Once we made our way inside, we found 4 Americans watching the USA-Algeria game. While they watched the game, we did another round of wine-tasting, this time some white and some red. We bought another bottle and joined in on the game as it was coming to the end. A group of Dutch fans came in, had some wine and chatted with us for a bit. This group flew in last night, will watch the Holland-Cameroon game tomorrow and then had back the next day...crazy!!! The Dutch are always fun to hang out with, and this was no different. They were actually hanging out with the owner of the winery, so as the place was closing, the owner offered everyone another round. Since the game was 0-0, and England was beating Slovenia 1-0, it
meant the US was on the verge of elimination. I personally couldn’t care less if the US advanced or not, but the Americans guys were a nice group, and I knew they were suffering. It was then at the 91st minute that the US scored and had us all jumping off our seats, high-fiving each other (including the owner of the winery), not believing what we were seeing. Better yet, this late goal meant England finishes the group stage an embarrassing 2nd (the US took 1st), which was pretty much unforeseen back when the draw was completed in December 2009. Group C was one of the easiest ones, and England managed to screw it all up. I remember England saying they now had an easy path to the semi-finals, meaning they were overlooking everything until then. Now they are on the other side of the bracket, so good luck getting through Germany (depending on today’s other games), Argentina and Spain (depending on Spain’s last game). YES!!!!!!! Like I always say: if Brazil does not win, let England not win it either. So far, so good.
Since we get to keep the car for 24 hours, we are going to
head to the Cape of Good Hope tomorrow morning before we return the car. On the way there, we will try and stop to see some penguins that live on a small beach. This Algerian guy who is staying in my dorm room, said that in 1982, a local found two penguins at the beach. The local then kept an eye on the penguins, taking care of them, and over the years, the penguin population had increased to a crazy 3000 penguins.
Tomorrow afternoon is when the World Cup REALLY starts for us because we will be attending the Cameroon-Holland game. Janel and I feel like we have been here for 2 weeks already and we have yet to step into a single stadium. That will all change tomorrow, so I am looking forward to it. I’m also curious as to what Janel will think of finally attending a World Cup game, in a massive stadium, and seeing her favourite player Samuel Eto’o live in person. Another fun day coming up.
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Chelsea R.
non-member comment
Looks GORGEOUS!
It looks so beautiful! And I love all the photos you are displaying!!! Keep them coming and have a BLAST at your game tomorrow!!!!Ciao