JC mag's English...

South Africa/Day 14 (Sun.) - 9/4/2016

The breakfast was great. The fireplace was burning, the view of the sea was perfect, all tables were decorated with flowers and white tablecloths. And of course, Salome welcomed us as if she never sleeps. She immediately asked about our restaurant visit yesterday and how we slept, and took our order. JC was completely surprised, because for the first time in his life he was asked how he wanted his fried egg: medium, well done, or cooked on both sides.

All the weather apps said that we can look forward to a sunny day today. In the early morning, while drinking coffee on our terrace, the sky was clear, a bit windy, and the sea seemed to have come even closer to our accommodation - because of the tide. The sun rose in the cloudless sky.

Yesterday, while having dinner on Marine Drive, we saw that there must be a lot of guests in Hermanus this weekend, because all the tables in all the restaurants - and there are many - were occupied.

Cafés, shops, and restaurants are lined up on Marine Drive. Everything beautifully laid out. The guidebook criticizes the place as too touristy, but we liked it. Hermanus stretches along a bay. There are surprisingly many free parking spaces, probably because of the day visitors. A nice hiking trail (about 10 km along the beach and cliffs) has been laid out along the entire coast. Today we wanted to take a closer look at everything.

The weather lived up to what the apps promised. It got warmer hour by hour. In the morning, we strolled through Hermanus city, admired the artworks on a rock-built square with a viewpoint; in the small, cozy café "1904" we had a fresh juice.

We noticed that in the restaurants, 98% of the people sitting there were white. We had imagined it differently in Africa.

Then a horn sounded. The whale officer, a small man with a huge sign stating his function, had spotted a whale and announced it loudly. The announced whale then frolicked near the shore for hours, much to our delight.

Afterwards, we looked for a restaurant for tonight: Cocos. It had been recommended to us by the friendly café waiter.

Then we drove to the beach of the city, watched many families spending Sunday with their children at the stone grills that are abundantly present here (Is that actually the plural of grill?), bringing wood, lots of meat, blankets, etc., everything you need for a barbecue. A black father even wanted to invite us to eat, but we didn't dare (and we weren't hungry enough either).

Then we lay in the sun, watched the beach walkers and their dogs; children bathing in the cold water and looked at the sea.

When our skin started to burn, we drove back to the accommodation, had coffee, and started planning our next two, unfortunately last, vacation days in Cape Town.

Dinner at Cocos was not bad, but not worth mentioning either.

See you soon...
Tatjana

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