October 27, 2014, Monday.

We fell asleep early last night, reveling in the elbow room of our king size bed and the quiet of being off the train. Bliss!  Therefore, we were also up early this morning. Excellent breakfast buffet is included here. We don't eat more than cereal, but the add-ins were amazing--walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia, and flax seeds all went into my bowl, and that was a drop in the bucket of choices.

The Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel

Soon we were off to see the sights of Cape Town. We took advantage of the hotel's free car service to Table Mountain because it was a nice day, and we had been told to do the mountain at our very first opportunity because it is often closed due to high winds or the arrival of "the tablecloth," a heavy cloud that frequently covers the top of the mountain. We were fairly early so the lines for the cable car to the top were short and moving quickly. In no time we were at the top. Our trip up was easy, but below our cable car we could see hikers on their way to the top. I can't even imagine doing that!

I had assumed we would look around, snap a few pictures, and head right back down, but the park up there is extensive and dramatically beautiful. We spent well over an hour wandering around the plateau, truly enchanted by everything we saw, from views of the city and its beaches and suburbs to sharp drop offs, from the neighboring crags and mountains to the ever-growing number of happy visitors from all over the world. Of course, we also ran into some of our train friends, and in the end, we joined Joan, Cy and Linda for the rest of the day. We bought two-day tickets for the local Hop On, Hop Off buses and got busy riding all of them, starting with the red bus as far as the waterfront. We disembarked there near Joan's hotel, the Victoria and Alfred. Soon we found ourselves at the Food Market where each of us could wander around and find something entirely different and perfect for lunch, then meet up at an outdoor picnic table. John and I were thrilled to find a raw vegan restaurant! Zucchini pasta and a zucchini based curried salad both looked so good that we bought one of each and split them. We were happy to show our friends what real vegan food looks like, and they were surprised and impressed. 

See those tiny people on the mountainside? They are HIKING up to the top!

This  exuberant group from India loved having their picture taken.

This Indian family adopted John as their favorite photographer. They were SO warm and funny, and they told us how much they loved President Obama.

In many ways, Cape Town is all about beaches. at least on the Red Bus!

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and hotel is a famous and popular gathering spot for locals and tourists alike.

After lunch we took the canal boat tour included in our ticket, and then rode the yellow bus around the downtown area until we changed to the blue route for a long loop around the outer perimeter. 

Cape Town's District Six was razed by the Apartheid regime and then abandoned to become this huge open field. After Democracy, there have been pledges to rebuild, but meanwhile. the shanty town below is typical of where displaced former residents now live.

The old Dutch fort where Cape Town began

School children here all wear uniforms.

Here is "the tablecloth" creeping over Table Mountain. It is formed when a south-east wind blows up into the cooler air of the mountain, causing moisture to condense and form a thick cloud that clings to the top. Legend says that the cloud is really the result of a smoking contest between the devil and a local pirate.

By the end of the bus ride, we were tired and more than happy to head home to our famous pink hotel, known locally as The Nellie. 

We dropped our stuff off in our room and headed down to the outdoor Planet Bar for a restorative brew, which comes with crunchy bar snacks that we later regretted eating because they made us full sooner than we wanted. Then we moved inside to the Planet restaurant, which we already knew had a couple of vegan offerings. We were surprised to find the restaurant nearly empty, and even more surprised about that by the time we had finished our meal. We ordered the spinach and  mushroom entree and were amazed to discover it was actually a four course meal. In the course of ordering, we had revealed ourselves as vegans, of course. Imagine our surprise when two trays of exquisite appetizers were delivered with the assurance that they were vegan. Next, two demitasse size cups of vegan minestrone appeared, followed by an entree so delicious that John pronounced it the best mushrooms he has ever eaten. Me too! The difference is that he isn't crazy about mushrooms and I love them. Our lovely meal ended with tiny exceedingly sweet heart shaped strawberry jellies. Honestly, if people knew vegan food tastes like this, why would they ever eat animal products? 

Did I mention the service? Of course it was excellent, attentive and relatively unobtrusive, but there were so many servers! Different people to serve the bread, take the wine order, serve the wine, take the food order, serve the food, and check that we were happy. I swear there were three people to do just that. One unique practice here is that as soon as you are seated, someone appears with a little steel and velvet hammock onto which you are supposed to put your purse. How hygienic!  How delightful!  And then, the final surprise, the check. Our entire meal, including a generous glass of excellent South African wine and tip came to under $50.  Astonishing.