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Kotor Part 1 – Water and Mountains, Ancient and Enchanting

| 2suitcasesfor2years

Twenty-four hours out of Africa we were finally unloading our bags from the taxi, under tall palm trees across from a beautiful harbor. In front of us stood the Sea Gate, the 16th century arched entrance through ancient stone fortifications and the winged lion of St. Mark.  Both were constructed in 1555 when this port city was under Venetian rule.

With little difficulty we found our host and followed her through the ancient portal under a relief sculpture of the Madonna and Child, flanked by St. Bernard and St. Tryphon, the town’s patron saints.  There was a small rectangular slit underneath the stone carving where prayers were once placed. “Now it’s used as a complaint box by local residents!” our host joked. 

The archway perfectly framed a quaint plaza, The Square of the Arms, lined with shops and restaurants set dramatically under the backdrop of St. John’s Castle, Kotor Fortress, which towers protectively over the city.  Within the walled city it’s a wonderful pedestrian-only maze of narrowing alleys that weave about.  Our second-floor apartment was at the intersection of several of them and overlooked a view of the restaurants on Plaza Tripuna. 

After six weeks of continuous travel we were looking forward to being rooted for a while in an apartment, returning to our immersive travel philosophy. With a spacious living room, kitchen, hot water, and live saxophone music six nights a week, we were ready for this month of R&R in Kotor.  Though by the third night the saxophonist had played the identical repertoire each appearance, without changing its sequence. We were doomed to a Bill Murray-like Groundhog Day scenario, until he took three days off and was temporarily replaced by a young violinist.  She was a breath of fresh air.

But, with any new destination there is the urge to explore.  Outdoor dining was still in full swing and perfect, since the hottest days of summer were long gone by mid-September.  After lunch our first mission was to find a grocery store to get some basic essentials – wine, coffee and some breakfast items for the next day before we crashed from a long travel day.  Through the North Gate and across the Scurda River we found Voli and Aroma grocery stores.

The second, lone mission, was to find the laundry service as our cloths were about to walk away on their own in protest.  Before our host departed, she confirmed there was a laundry service, but wasn’t sure exactly where, as she didn’t use it, only that it was outside the city walls somewhere along the road that followed the bay. She waved vaguely in the general direction of the South Gate. It was a pleasant walk past the vegetable vendors in the daily market, outside the city walls, laden with fresh fruits and vegetables and FIGS!! (Our decision to call Kotor home for a month was instantly reinforced by this discovery.) Further on there was an Idea supermarket and the Sladoja mesara meat shop and grill restaurant. I walked all the way to the bus station and back tracked without spotting the laundry. Not one to accept surrender,  I asked a woman exiting an apartment building with my laughable Serbian, praonica? (laundromat in Serbian.) I also showed her a slip of paper with it spelled out, just in case. Saint Jude must have been watching. She not only spoke English, but happened to work there and was returning from her lunch break. Nearing home, I found the only bakery within the old town just around the corner from our apartment and was able to pick up some wonderful fresh breads and baked goods at very reasonable prices. This became a regular stop during our stay.

Instead of ticking off destinations and sights within a short period of time, it was good to be back on track with our slow travel approach to seeing the world.  Yes, we still want to see everything a locale has to offer, but at a reasonable pace with a walk a little, then café style repeated throughout the day. This approach allowed us to enjoy the Adriatic lifestyle by immersing ourselves into the ambience of Old Town Kotor for a month.

Surrounded by its ancient walls, the village really was the perfect size, impossible to get lost within and full of interesting finds and eateries.  If we started our day early enough, we caught pleasant glimpses of parents walking their children through the ancient gates to school, and vendors delivering the day’s supplies by pushcart down the tight, cobbled lanes, hard work for sure.

Exploring the alleyways that twisted through the town, we found unique architectural details, remnants from past empires and seafaring wealth.

The alleys led to small intimate plazas with umbrellaed tables and entertaining street musicians. Caffe bar Perper on Pjaca od Salate made very good cappuccinos and every morning two singers sang a medley of Balkan folk songs with a sprinkling of western tunes thrown in.  Across the plaza Konoba Scala Santa, the oldest restaurant (1931) in Kotor offered regional specialties and a rustic interior with a fireplace on those rainy fall nights that chased us inside. 

After coffee one morning we followed the steep stairs off Pjaca od Salate past old stone homes (wondering how folks do it when we saw a baby stroller on a landing) built into the hill to the entrance of Kotor Fortress.  1350 steps to the top –  we could do it! Fortunately, we chose a cool day. It was a challenging trek over a rough stone path and stairs still in need of repair from the 1979 earthquake that struck the city. 

Fortifications have loomed over Kotor since Illyrian times, 4th century BC until 167 BC, with additions made by Roman emperor Justinian I in the 6th century.  The Venetian Empire expanded the fortifications further in the 16th century.  It’s their stones that we were tripping over.  Our effort was rewarded with spectacular views of the city, bay and old caravan trail from the serpentine path that twisted all the way to the top. 

As formidable and imposing as the fortress looked, it has been seized several times during conflicts with the Ottoman, French and English. Good walking shoes and water are a must for this going.  650 steps up the Church of Our Lady of Remedy marks the halfway point and is a good place to rest and enjoy the view for a while.  The small chapel was built by survivors of the 1518 plague to honor the Holy Mother.

In 1979 an extremely destructive magnitude 7.0 earthquake devasted old town Kotor and many similar towns along the Montenegro and Albanian coastline which was then part of Yugoslavia, leaving 100,000 people homeless. All the stone buildings suffered some form of damage and the city was closed to the public for ten years during its restoration. Some signs of the earthquake damage are still visible, most noticeably block-long 19th century Austrian Prison that has large cracks in its exterior walls and the sky visible through its roof. 

The churches in the historic center also suffered extensive damage. Their facades have been fully restored, but their ornate interiors were destroyed beyond repair. The interiors are noticeably less ornate than similar era churches in Europe, with only fragments of relief carvings and frescoes remaining, hinting at their former beauty. Priče o Potresu / The Earthquake Stories is a 2020 documentary by Montenegro director Dusan Vulekovic about that destructive natural disaster. Severe earthquakes also struck Kotor in 1563 and 1608.

The one drawback of Kotor is that it’s a busy cruise port with four or five large cruise ships disgorging thousands of passengers between 10am and 3pm every day until the end of the cruising season. But they followed a limited circuit and if we planned around them, they were barely noticeable. By October first only one or two cruise ships were anchoring in the bay each week.

Often referred to as Europe’s southernmost fjord, the walls of Kotor bay are so high and steep that they cast shadows late into the morning and early in the afternoon over the city. This is a tremendous help in moderating the heat of the Adriatic summers.  Its unique geography makes it the most naturally protected harbor along the Adriatic coast, providing safe anchorage for sailors since the beginning of boat building, several millennia ago. 

There were a variety of water tours available and we opted for one that took us to Our Lady of the Rocks and Perast.  The legend of Our Lady of the Rocks starts in the 15th century when two brothers, fishermen from Perast, found an icon of the Virgin on a rock protruding from the center of the bay. Fulfilling the Virgin’s request of them to build a church in the bay, they began transporting stones by boat from the shore and dropping them in the bay. Soon others followed. Today there is a small Catholic church on the island and a festive boat procession every July called Fasinada that keeps the tradition alive.

The views from the bell tower of St. Nikola Church over the quaint village of Perast and the open expanse of Boka (Kotor) Bay were tremendous.  It was a wonderful, beautiful day on the water that ended hours later in agony, as we both succumbed to food poisoning from lunch.  Fortunately, Donna found a visiting Doctor service that provided an English-speaking physician who made house calls.  After a midnight knock on the door and a short consultation we were advised to hop in his ambulance for an intravenous treatment at the local clinic.  It turns out that we had visited this clinic ten days earlier for treatment of a sinus infection and pinkeye that Donna caught before we left Ethiopia. After our hour and half treatment, we felt one hundred percent better and were discharged at 1:30AM onto a deserted sidewalk with no assistance offered to get us back to town.  It was too far out of town to consider walking and considering we were still recovering, we waited patiently as the occasional car sped past Finally a taxi zoomed by and, hearing my booming shout of “TAXI!” the driver hit the brakes and did a U-turn.

Our travel insurance covered the hospital visits, though the claims were cumbersome to file. (Keep your airline tickets for proof of travel.) Amazingly, the hospital treatment, including transport by ambulance, was only €50 each – extremely affordable compared to medical care in the United States.  Likewise, the prescriptions we filled the next day were easily paid for out-of-pocket.  It is worthwhile to compare the cost of drugs that you regularly purchase in the United States with what they cost overseas when traveling. There is an outstanding difference, with foreign prices being much lower and many not requiring a doctor’s prescription.  Just check Google for the correct name of the drug for the country you are in.

The old town is also famous for its colony of “Kotor Cats,” descendants of ratters taken to sea by sailors to control rodents on board their ships.  As we walked around town, we noticed small trays of cat food placed about for them.  Kotor Kitties is a non-profit organization started by an American visitor to Kotor several years ago that provides food, veterinarian care and neutering for the famous felines.  

Our wanderings expanded to include longer treks along the picturesque roads that followed the shoreline of the bay. Walking only minutes from old town along Put I Bokeljske Brigade on the bay’s eastern shore put us in a more relaxed world with pebbled beaches, small marinas, waterfront restaurants, private homes and small boutique hotels along the water.  Though the bay water was still warm enough for swimming, the area was very quiet at the end of September, with most of the small hotels posting “rooms available” signs in their windows. Many of the beach facilities pulled in their cabanas and rental kayaks with the end of the cruise boat season, which coincides with the beginning of the rainy fall season.  Fortunately, the restaurants were still open along this route and several of them enticed us enough to revisit this seven-mile roundtrip walk to the village of Dobrota weekly. 

The western shoreline along the bay was equally enticing with its small coves that sheltered yachts at anchor, and the historic churches of Crkva Sv. Ilije in Gornji Stoliv and the parish church of Prcanj, Bogorodicin Hram, offered wonderful views of the bay from the top of its monumental stairs leading to the church.  There were also some nice quirky finds along this route: props that looked like they were once used in a local carnival.

Montenegro is a small country; besides being known for its fabulous Adriatic coast, it has an equally impressive mountainous interior only a short distance inland from Kotor that can be visited on day trips.  There were numerous tour operators around town that all offered basically the same excursions. We chose one to Durmitor National Park that included stops at the dramatic Most na Đurđevića Tari bridge that spans the turquoise waters of the Tara River. Visits to Black Lake, Lake Slano and the cliffside Ostrog Monastery would round out the day. 

It was late September now and the chill of fall was in the morning air. Optimistically I wore sandals, anticipating a warm and sunny afternoon as it was the day before. As we drove into the mountains, the clouds thickened and the temperature dropped to the point were when we stopped at a small shopping center for a rest break I ran into a shoe store to buy a pair of heavy socks, much to Donna’s amusement. 

The mountain vistas along the drive to Djurdjevica Tara bridge were fantastic and we arrived in time for some in our group to zip-line across Europe’s deepest canyon (4300 ft) and the turquoise waters of the River Tara – the “tear of Europe,” below.

An easy hike through old growth forests around Black Lake followed lunch at a waterside restaurant.

The last stop of the day was at Ostrog Monastery which expanded around a cave church that was built high into the mountains in the 1600s by Vasilije, the Bishop of Herzegovina and later known as St. Vasilije, to escape Ottoman raiders.  Upon his death his body was entombed in the church and legend says his mortal remains have miraculous healing powers.  Over the centuries, the monastery has become a pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslims, drawing 100,000 visitors annually. Additionally, the monastery is also known for its unigue religious frescoes, which were painted directly onto to the surface of the cave, following their natural curvature.  Our guide had timed our visit perfectly to coincide with the 5:00 PM mass. It was a moving experience to hear the liturgy sung and projected from loudspeakers out over the valley as the sun was setting. 

The last stop of the day was at a scenic overlook above Kotor Bay. Montenegro packs a magnificent amount of beauty into a small country and should be on everyone’s radar for an affordable, budget friendly destination.

A week later we rented a car to explore parts of Montenegro on our own.

Till next time, Craig & Donna  

Cape Town Part 4: Sea Point

| 2suitcasesfor2years

One of the nice benefits of our slow travel philosophy is that we immerse ourselves more deeply into an area than if we were just passing through.  Our three months in Cape Town allowed us to explore the city fully and discover things that even our local friends were unaware of.IMG_8552After our last apartment in the “Mother City,” on Bree Street, we moved to the Sea Point neighborhood and as its name suggests, it hugs the coastline under Signal Hill and Lion’s Head Mountain.  Finding the ideal apartment for our last 30 days in Cape Town required a bit of detective work on our part though.  One of the draw backs of using Airbnb is that it does not provide the specific address of a property until you actually book it.  So, while the interior photos of a listing might be charming, its exact location could be anywhere within a five-block radius of a dot on the map, unless the host gives hints in the apartment description.IMG_1475 In Sea Point this could mean on the water or nowhere near it.  But with a little sleuthing regarding our final three choices, we were able to determine which one was right on the waterfront.  Our reconnaissance of the neighborhood paid off and we booked a sixth-floor one-bedroom apartment with a terrace, that had an ocean view for dramatic sunsets and inland views of the paragliders launching from Signal Hill. IMG_1596It was the perfect location across from the Sea Point promenade.  The lively Mojo Market, with numerous food stalls and live music seven nights a week, was just around the corner.  Here we enjoyed the best fresh oysters and mussels in sauce at The Mussel Monger & Oyster Bar while sipping South African wine or local craft beers as the nightly band played.IMG_2283It’s actually possible to walk along the promenade from the V&A Waterfront all the way to the Camps Bay Beach.  It’s a little over six miles in length, but it’s a popular stretch of sidewalk, which locals call the Prom.

It follows the coast past the iconic Cape Town Stadium, Green Point Lighthouse, multiple art installations and the Sea Point Pavilion Swimming Pools before passing the Clifton beaches and ending by the tidal pool in Camps Bay.

With surf crashing against the shore on one side and views of Signal Hill and Lion’s Head on the other it’s a dramatic and visually rewarding pathway that’s a destination for walkers, joggers, bicyclists and folks that just want to chill by the ocean.  There are numerous places to rest and grab some food along the way.  Timing our days to watch ships sailing into a setting sun or surfers catching the last waves of the day as the sun sank and set Camps Bay aglow were highlights of our time in Sea Point.IMG_0539Weather permitting, paragliders seemed to launch in rapid succession all day long from Signal Hill, first riding the thermals along the ridge towards Lion’s Head before turning back and gracefully spiraling down over the rooftops of Sea Point to land in a grassy park next to the promenade.IMG_2614We transitioned easily into our new neighborhood, finding three grocery stores and Bentley’s Bread, probably the best artisanal bakery in Cape Town, within easy walking distance on Main Road.  With Bentley’s, the key was to go early; otherwise we’d miss out on their sumptuous daily specials which would always sell out quickly.IMG_8657Cape Town artists will paint anywhere and the walls of the underground parking garage at the Pick ‘n Pay – Sea Point were the perfect canvases for some incredibly talented street muralists.  Sadly, we don’t think enough folks see these hidden works of art.

There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the abundance of stunning coastline around Cape Town.  And there’s definitely a shortage of scenic pullover spots, but we felt compelled to stop at each one we passed on day trips to Hout Bay, Chapman’s Peak, Simon’s Town and the Cape of Good Hope.  The views are just that awesome.  One of the best things about Cape Town is that there are so many interesting activities and places to go within an hour or two of the city.IMG_6562In Hout Bay, time flew by at the World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary & Monkey Park where we spent a fantastic morning observing a wide variety of South African birds. If you are a bird photographer this is a wonderful place to hone your skills.

Afterwards we cruised cautiously along the breathtakingly twisting and beautiful Chapman’s Peak Drive, a toll road, before heading for dinner at one of the celebrated weekend markets on the other side of Hout Bay.IMG_6581Bay Harbour Market is a vibrant and lively mix of food stalls, shops, artists and musicians under the roof of what was once a fish factory, across from the harbor.

For the longest time the Cape of Good Hope was thought to be the African continent’s farthest point south.  That distinction belongs to Cape Agulhas, 136 miles to the east.  Feared by ancient sailors for the turbulent seas that surround it, the allure of this dramatic spit of cliff-faced peninsula jutting into the ocean still stands.  Entering the park, it’s a beautiful drive through a rolling fynbos landscape that hides a small number of elands, zebras, and ostriches, to the lighthouse that commands the cape’s point at 860 feet above sea level.

From the parking lot we took the Flying Dutchman, a funicular named after a 1680 shipwreck, to its upper station where a final set of steep stairs met us.  It took every ounce of our strength to plow through the roaring winds that ripped around us, but it was worthwhile for the views at the top. IMG_6839The wind was so strong it made it impossible to hold the camera steady.  We soaked in the views as long as we could before the buffeting winds forced our retreat.  Sitting outside at the snack bar we were astonished to witness a baboon snatch an ice-cream cone from a young boy and then gobble it up with great delight.IMG_6870We revisited the Simon’s Town area several times, because to see all the spots that interested us required more than one day.  The big draw to Simon’s Town was the Boulders Penguin Colony.  This is a restricted reserve where visitors must stay on the boardwalk in the viewing areas. Our timing was perfect as penguin chicks had recently hatched and could be seen at the nests snuggling against their parents for warmth.  The beach was full of activity, with different groups of penguins doing their best Charlie Chaplin struts into or out of the turquoise waters of the bay.

The boulders along the coastline here create beautiful seascapes and secluded coves where smaller colonies of penguins live.IMG_5875One morning in late July we opted to try a whale watching tour again, this time from the Simon’s Town waterfront, hoping to see some tail slapping or breaching action that was elusive in Hermanus earlier.  Alas, we only viewed one tail slap on this trip.  As much as the tour operators want you to believe July is a good month for viewing whales, based on our disappointing experiences we’d suggest waiting till later in August or September for more certainty when larger whale pods return to the waters of False Bay.  But it was a smooth day at sea, cruising along a dramatic coast and we did get to view a large colony of sea lions on some offshore rocks.

Most of the waterfront in town is devoted to Naval Base Simon’s Town which is the South African Navy’s largest base. The country’s frigate and submarine fleets sail from this port and it also serves as a training base for navy deep sea divers.  Surrounding the pier from which the tour boats depart are several restaurants, with outside dining that overlooks the water. At the end of the pier there is a commemorative statue to the South African Navy “Standby Diver,” a rescue diver that keeps watch over those in the water.

In the small plaza above the restaurants there is an interesting sculpture of a dog, Able Seaman Just Nuisance, a beloved Great Dane and the only canine “to be officially enlisted in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy” during WWII.  Sailors gave him the name Nuisance because he used to block the gangplanks to the ships.  Surprisingly, his grave on the mountain above Simon’s Town, at the old SAN Signal School, is marked on Google Maps.  The drive there offers some impressive views of the coast.

Several of the best seafood dinners we had in South Africa were at the Harbour House in Kalk Bay.  A couple we met at the Bastille Day Festival in Franschhoek gave us this tip and they were right on target with this recommendation.  Located dramatically on the edge of the ocean, great waves crashed against the rocks under the restaurant and the spray reached the windows of the dining room on the second floor.  The seafood was excellent with a myriad of complex flavoring that was truly delicious, and which encouraged us to return a second time later in the month.

Dozens of colorful fishing trawlers lined the piers of the working harbor, just outside the restaurant.  And dockside fish mongers had an eager audience of very large, well fed sea lions waiting for scraps to be thrown their way.

Itching to see more of the Western Cape, early one morning we embarked on the two-hour drive to Paternoster and the Cape Columbine Lighthouse.  But first we had to detour to Sunset Beach for an iconic view of the city.IMG_4437Once outside of Cape Town the R27 cut a desolate track through a rolling landscape of open fynbos with scarcely a tree to be seen.  Every so often the head of an antelope or ostrich could be seen emerging above the bushes on either side of the road.  The heather clad landscape eventually gave way to pastureland speckled with sheep and wheat fields.IMG_5533Paternoster is one of the Western Cape’s oldest fishing villages, dating from the early 1800s, and is said to have gotten its name from Portuguese sailors who evoked the Lord’s Prayer to save themselves from shipwreck off its coast.  The area was first explored when Vasco da Gama landed nearby in Helena Bay, in 1497.  By then the area had been inhabited by the indigenous Khoisan for thousands of years.  Hunter-gatherers, they harvested dune spinach, an local vegetable, from the beaches, and shellfish from the area waters, and they left behind middens that have been estimated to be 3,000-4,000 years old.  The harvesting of the ocean’s bounty continues, with fishermen still launching their small boats into the sea from the beach and returning with fish and lobsters.  As you pull into the village it’s not unusual to see fishermen selling their day’s catch from five- gallon buckets at the town’s intersections, where they hoist live lobsters aloft and yell “kry hier kreef!”, Afrikaans for “get some lobster here.”  Aside from the picturesque whitewashed and thatched roofed fisherman’s cottages along a white sand beach dotted with boulders, there’s not much to this sleepy fishing village, except for some reportedly excellent seafood restaurants that were unfortunately closed the winter day we visited.IMG_5494A short way out of town we followed a dirt road to the Cape Columbine Lighthouse.  Built in 1936, on an outcropping of boulders called Castle Rock, it’s one of the last manned lighthouses in South Africa.  “Seniors are free,” the lighthouse keeper, a senior himself, announced, as he pointed us to a set of stairs that eventually led to a very tall, steep wooden ladder.  The panoramic view from the top was brilliant and, as expected, breathtaking.  Getting down was a little more challenging than getting up.  It was a kind of “make it or break every bone in your body if you don’t” situation.  We’ve found in our travels around the world that folks in other countries can do all sorts of risky things, that in the states wouldn’t be allowed for safety concerns.  Overseas it’s all about being responsible for your own safety.  “See you at the bottom,” Donna said as she agilely maneuvered on to the ladder.  “One way or another,” I grimaced in response.  For me, with a fearful respect for height, it was all about that first step down.

There was a wonderful remote campground on the ocean’s edge at the end of the dirt track in Birthday Bay that’s popular with folks overlanding across Africa.  Signs of early spring were beginning to show with colorful wildflowers dotting the dunes.

We finished the day in Saldanha with a late lunch on the water at the Blue Bay Lodge and a walk around its gardens and a visit to the Hoedjieskop Museum, a small cultural museum with an interesting display of photographs and memorabilia from the surrounding coastal fishing communities explaining the area’s history.

The setting sun filled our rear-view mirror and cast a warm glow across the fynbos as we headed home to Cape Town.

Till next time, Craig & Donna

 

 

 

 

Cape Town Part 3: Bree Street

Aside | | 2suitcasesfor2years

Our new apartment was on the far end of Bree Street, closest to Table Mountain.  Located on the edge of the City Bowl and Gardens district, it was an easy walk into the center of the city or up into Bo-Kaap.  Shopping was effortlessly accomplished on Kloof Street with several different grocery stores and gourmet shops nearby.

Our new home was very nice and spacious, in a modern building with underground parking, a 24hr doorman and laundry facility.  Though it did have a few quirks, like an electronic key fob for the building and garage entrance, but a skeleton key for the apartment door. Really, when’s the last time you used a skeleton key?  And there was the day when the handle to the apartment door pulled off just as we were about to go out for the day. 

The balcony offered a wonderful view of Table Mountain and the reclining profile of a woman that gave the town its second name, the Mother City.  Much time was spent watching the flat clouds, locally known as the “tablecloth,” gather and spill down from the top of the mountain. Several times brilliant rainbows formed after it rained, seemingly close enough to find that pot of gold.IMG_2084Unbeknownst to us, Bree Street is considered “Cape Town’s hippest street.” The area is in the midst of gentrification with numerous restaurants, bars and cafes scattered between high-end boutiques, art galleries, mechanic shops, plumbing supply stores, classic car and motorcycle showrooms, along with marine and industrial supply stores.  And I swear all the above seem to offer luscious cappuccinos!

That seems to be a Cape Town thing. It’s a thriving area popular with the afterwork crowd that overflows onto the street to take advantage of outside dining along this extra wide, tree lined boulevard.  Aside from the weekend markets and the V&A Waterfront, it’s the only street that has outside tables in the city. IMG_2283It’s a competitive restaurant scene with many places offering two-for-one lunch specials, happy hour drinks and West Coast Oysters for R15, or $1.00 each.  We enjoyed sitting with classic cars at Dapper Coffee, lamb burgers and sushi at Sotano, oysters at Clark’s.  Splurging, we dined at Exhibit A, a high-end conceptual dining experience, where our friend Frankie was pastry chef.

The food was fantastic with intense layers of flavors and creatively presented, as if Salvador Dali had plated the food.  The tasting menu included an excellent selection of South African wines which eased the agony of the breathtaking dinner tab. IMG_3848Formerly known as the Malay Quarter, the colorful homes of the Bo-Kaap neighborhood, located between Signal Hill and the city center, were only a few blocks away.  One of the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods in the city, the first homes were built in the 1760s as housing for mostly Muslim slaves, who were brought by the Dutch from Malaysia, Ceylon and Indonesia to work.  The neighborhood grew when slavery was abolished throughout the English empire in 1833.  It’s said the houses were then painted bright colors as an expression of newfound freedoms.  The neighborhood is home to the Auwal Mosque, the first built in South Africa in 1794 and still in use today.  In 1957 the apartheid government declared Bo-Kaap a Malay Only Area and forcibly relocated everyone else.  The pressure continues today under the new guise of gentrification.  Bo-Kaap means “above the Cape” in Afrikaans and with its stunning location on the lower slope of Signal Hill and its close proximity to the Cape Town Business District, it has become a very desirable location.  Old time residents fear the heart of Bo-Kaap will disappear and it will just become a façade of brightly painted buildings.IMG_3621We walked the hilly, cobbled streets of Bo-Kaap several times, enjoying its cityscape.  One day we encountered a small flock of sheep grazing, within sight of the city’s skyscrapers, as we made our way to the Noon Gun, a naval cannon fired once a day, every day for over two-hundred years. IMG_5645 Originally it was a signal for ships in the harbor, back in the day when they used sextants to navigate, to set their chronometers which were used to help calculate longitude. Critical stuff when you are navigating around the treacherous Cape of Good Hope. It’s a tradition that has survived the Dutch, English and apartheid.  IMG_3146The Cape Malay community has contributed greatly to establishing Cape Town as a foodie’s destination with a cuisine that embraces exotic spices.  Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, mustard seed, chili and roasted fenugreek seeds all flavor various curries, bobotie, biriyani, rendang, and samosa recipes that have endeared themselves to Capetonians.

We enjoyed a nice selection of Malay dishes at the Biesmiellah Restaurant, a simple establishment that doesn’t serve alcohol. For a healthy fusion experience we tried the Harvest Cafe & Deli where vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters will be delighted and awed by the sheer beauty of the food presented. Both are located in the heart of Bo-Kaap on Wale Street, near the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum, which is housed in the first buildings, slave quarters, from the 1760s.IMG_5223Renting a car made it easy for us to reach points farther afield in Cape Town and its outlying districts.  Our day trips included taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain for a hike around its flat summit, that offered spectacular views of the city below.  This is a very popular activity and we purchased our tickets online ahead of time to speed through the queue.  IMG_3279One morning we walked through the Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens, a landscaping masterpiece featuring the native fynbos. The eastern face of Table Mountain rises dramatically behind the gardens, which were a delight with their indigenous plantings.  Lucky for us, the plants were greening after much needed rain and the proteas were still blooming.

IMG_3370After our morning at the botanical gardens we headed over to Woodstock for lunch at Ocean Jewels Seafood, a small seafood shop and luncheonette committed to supporting sustainable fisheries and preparing very delicous seafood dishes, before wandering around Woodstock looking for the creative street murals and cool bars the area is known for.

Stopping to photograph a mural, a local fellow wonderfully introduced himself as the “curator of street art” and offered to guide us further. We admired his creative introduction, but declined the offer and continued along on our own.  We ended the day with a few beers at the Three Feathers Diner, an eclectic place that’s part pop art palace and part auto mechanics garage. IMG_7209We returned to Woodstock to check out The Neighbourgoods Market, a Saturday only food event, at The Old Biscuit Mill, a renovated mixed-use industrial site with offices, galleries featuring local artisans, vintage shops and eateries.  If you need a retail therapy fix, this is the place to head.  They have an interesting photography store called Exposure Gallery  that’s a combination camera store and gallery.  What caught our attention was their extensive inventory of Diana cameras.  These were beloved, old plastic film cameras from the 1970’s that Donna & I used in a college photography course.  (Yes, we met in the darkroom, but that’s another story.) To our surprise the cameras are still made under the Lomography brand and have all sorts of accessories today. The Neighbourgoods Market was the originator of the weekend market concept in 2006 with “a vision of reviving the community market as a social institution.”  It’s a terrific concept that has caught on all across South Africa.

Street parking in Cape Town can be challenging.  During the day if it’s a business district there is usually an official city parking person assigned every two blocks, who photographs your license plate and has an electronic device that accepts your credit card payment, the preferred way, and issues a receipt for display on your dashboard.  You estimate the time you are going to be gone and if you are away longer, they will bill you an additional amount before you drive away.  Then there’s the practice in the informal economy, where one or two car guards will work a street, waving you theatrically into an open space and assure you that your car will be protected while you are gone.  Occasionally disputes would erupt among them if someone felt that their territory was being infringed upon. There is the expectation of a small tip upon leaving the parking space.IMG_7213James Michener’s play South Pacific, an appropriate story for the times about diversity and acceptance, was performing downtown at the Artscape Theatre Centre a large modern, multi stage and arena complex that hosts a full calendar of events.  Uber-ing there and back was very affordable.  Uber works very well in Cape Town and we constantly received promotions for discounts toward our next rides.IMG_7124 (2)“You must attend a rugby game while you are here, it’s so South African.  The playoffs are next weekend.” So Vincent, Donna’s friend from seminary, took us to our first rugby match.  We are not sports fans and typically avoid watching any sports on TV.  But this playoff match between the hometown favorites the Stormers and the underdog Sharks from Durban was a fascinating contest of almost continuous play; there was never a dull moment.  Shockingly, the underdogs pulled off a surprise victory in the final second of the game and earned themselves a spot at the Rugby World Playoffs in Canberra, Australia.

A warm sunny day lured us to plan a full day in Muizenberg.  The still hours of the morning were perfect for bird watching at the Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve.  It’s a short distance inland from the ocean and in the dry season the Zandvlei is more of a lake than river, but in the rainy season the river slices through the sand at Muizenberg Beach and flows into the ocean.  In the reserve an extensive boardwalk snakes through the marsh to several bird blinds on the water’s edge that offer the perfect vantage point for viewing waterfowl and two elusive hippos, which were brought to the reserve about 40 years ago to help control the wild grasses. We were really eager to spot them, but had to be satisfied with sightings of very large droppings, proof to us that we almost saw them! IMG_5527Muizenberg beach is renowned for its gorgeous stretch of sand, colorful beach cabanas on False Bay and interesting streetmurals scattered about town.

The consistent, gentle wave action here facilitates easily learning how to surf and draws huge numbers of surfers to its waters on the weekends. Some surfers refer to it as “the epicenter of Cape Town’s surf culture.” We spent the afternoon sitting on the beach watching folks of all ages and expertise catch waves.

That night we ate at the Blue Bird Garage Food and Goods Market. It’s a legendary weekend-only market that draws in a boisterous following who spend the evenings socializing at huge communal tables in what was an old mailboat hangar.  IMG_8361On a cool Saturday we hiked up Lion’s Head Mountain along a trail that corkscrewed around the mountain to the top. IMG_7823 The path deteriorated as we climbed higher with uneven footing that at times narrowed to the width of our feet as it edged, for short distances, along cliff tops. IMG_8184In some spots, ladders were used for short vertical climbs. If you plan to go, bring water and food. There are plenty of boulders to sit on to enjoy the 360 degree views the trail offers. We didn’t make it to the summit, with the last part a little too vertical for us, but we felt very satisfied with what we accomplished.IMG_2614We spent several afternoons on Signal Hill, watching paragliders launch into the sky above Sea Point, and then gently drifting toward the beach as the sun slowly sank below the South Atlantic horizon. IMG_8047This is a popular spot at the end of the day with many folks making a picnic of it, clinking glasses of wine as the sun sets.  There are also several food trucks that provide light meals and of course cappuccino.  It is, after all, Cape Town.

Till next time, Craig & Donna

 

Cape Town Part 1: Vibrant, Complex & Beautiful

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After spending a month in Bulgaria, we headed to South Africa at the end of May, to continue our pursuit of budget-friendly and interesting places with moderate weather to avoid the heat and humidity of a European summer.  The seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere, so we stayed for three months to take advantage of their mid 60sF (16C) winter weather, which is extremely mild in comparison to the winters of the northeast United States.  So temperate in fact that most homes and apartments are not built with central heat, relying instead on small, portable electric heaters.  Mostly, folks just layered up, and on those gale force, windy days we were amused to see people in fur-trimmed hooded parkas, more suitable for the Alaskan wilderness, than walking around Cape Town. IMG_3489This would be Donna’s fourth trip to Cape Town and my first. Back in 1993 she visited friends she had made while attending Princeton Seminary, and a year later in 1994 she volunteered to be an International Observer for the first free and fair democratic elections in South Africa.  In 2016 she returned to a city humming with positive energy and a growing economy.  Unfortunately, this situation did not continue, and by 2019 the governance and economy of South Africa and its neighboring countries had stalled.  The city was still beautiful and growing as a tourist destination, an amazing coffee culture had been born, but shuttered construction projects and an increasing homeless population were evident, and across many different socioeconomic groups, people were feeling disenfranchised. A multi-year drought exasperated many infrastructure problems that were being neglected.  Fortunately, exceptional winter rains broke the severe drought and replenished the city’s nearly depleted reservoirs.IMG_4658We immersed ourselves quickly into the neighborhood  around our first apartment on Buitenkant Street, just a few blocks away from the District Six Museum, steam punk themed Truth Coffee and the Jason Bakery.  One block over we followed Harrington Street, past some great street art, to Bootleggers for more coffee and the best peri-per chicken livers in CPT.

A little further along, Nude Foods sold everything by weight and encouraged us to reuse our bags and refill our olive oil and balsamic vinegar bottles.  Around the corner Charly’s Bakery, an institution in CPT with an interesting creation story, would make our sweet tooth ache.  We had a memorable evening beginning with dinner at Dias Tavern, a Portuguese restaurant, followed by a performance of Kinky Boots at the Fugard Theatre across the street. IMG_7384On the edge of the City Bowl and Zonnebloem districts, formerly District Six, our high-rise apartment building had a rooftop gym with fantastic views of the city, a 24hr doorman, gated parking and balconies with beautiful views of Table and Lion’s Head mountains.  But the area immediately around us was in transition, without enough residential housing to call it a neighborhood.

After work everyone vanished and the streets were nearly deserted.  The multistory construction project adjacent to our balcony was abandoned.  While this offered privacy it had an unsettling, post-apocalyptic vibe that deterred our enjoyment of an otherwise sunny space.  First world whining, we know, but we felt the Airbnb host was deceptive for several reasons regarding the apartment and surrounding area.  Around the corner folks were sleeping rough on the street.  We made a habit of carrying our loose change in our coat pockets to easily give it to the unofficial “car guards” and panhandlers. We had a nice room to enjoy nightly, and plenty to eat. How could we just pass them by?   We walked all over the city, even at night, and never felt unsafe during our time in Cape Town, but using common sense is in order.  During the weeks that we didn’t have a rental car we utilized Uber, which was very affordable, to cover greater distances around town.

We liked to joke that “you know you’re a local when you sign-up for the supermarket discount card.”  Part of our weekly ritual was walking up Buitenkant Street towards Oranjezicht, an upscale neighborhood, with many fine examples of Cape Dutch architecture, to The Gardens, a multi-story shopping and residential complex with Pick-n-Pay and Woolworths grocery stores.  On Prince Street the Hurling Swaaipomp Pump House still stands.  Slaves pumped spring water for the surrounding homes here until the mid-1800s.

The cost of groceries and dining out in Cape Town was extremely favorable.  Grocery items generally cost half of what they would typically cost in the states. A dinner for two with wine, dessert and coffee would run less than $40.00.  Seafood was abundant, as you would expect in a coastal city, and inexpensive as well.  We took full advantage of this, enjoying grilled octopus, sword fish, mussels and the best oysters on multiple occassions. Sautéed ostrich filets were a tasty meal we prepared for ourselves.  Disappointingly, wild game was only available at restaurants. The Western Cape Winelands, around Stellenbosch, just outside Cape Town, covers a vast area and produces some exceptional vintages that are budget friendly.  Winery tours of the area are a must and with over 200 vineyards the possibilities are endless.IMG_4663We had to find a dentist also, as just before our flight into Cape Town one of my crowns broke.  Fortunately, South Africa is recognized for good medical and dental care and is slowly becoming a medical tourism destination.  I found Dr. Ramjee on Google Maps, checked his reviews and made an appointment at his office which was within walking distance of our apartment.  With his jovial and comforting manner, I instantly felt at ease.  Though only a one dental chair office he had a state-of-the-art digital x-ray machine, a dental assistant and a receptionist.  Besides the broken crown, I needed a root canal as well – what fun!  My experiences with Dr. Ramjee were excellent and I raved so much about him Donna decided to use his services when the need arose for an emergency root canal and crown also.  Unexpected expenses that in the states would be costly, even with insurance, were much more affordable and payable out of pocket here.  The savings were tremendous.

Avoiding the past is difficult in Cape Town, with remnants of slavery’s legacy scattered about the city, even on the way to the dentist’s office.  Just across from his door a concrete medallion marks the spot of the Old Slave Tree, where slaves were sold until their emancipation was declared in 1834.  Around the corner the second oldest building in Cape Town – the Slave Lodge, a euphemism for a small pox-plagued, prison like structure for 500 slaves, still stands.  It was built in 1679 to house the slaves owned by the Dutch East India Company that worked in the Company’s Garden, a farm.  Today its mission as a museum is to explore the history “Slaves at the Cape: Oppression, Life and Legacy.”

IMG_8198You just can’t walk enough miles along the coast or up and down Loin’s Head to keep the calories off in this foodie-oriented city. The Saturday- and Sunday-only food markets didn’t help, but they are a treasured tradition, throughout the region, that brings family, friends and tourists together to enjoy live music and good food.

Our favorite in Cape Town was the Oranjezicht City Farm Market down by the V&A waterfront.  There’s also The Neighbourgoods Market, located at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock.  The Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay, Blue Bird Garage Food and Goods Market in Muizenberg, the Elgin Railway Market in Grabouw and the Root 44 Market in Stellenbosch. All were enjoyable destinations beyond the city.IMG_6238On the lower end of Buitenkant Street, the Castle of Good Hope, a 17th century pentagon-shaped stone bastion fortress, stands surrounded by city streets, its cannons now pointing toward skyscrapers instead of enemy ships.  It was originally built on the water’s edge of Table Bay by the Dutch to protect the harbor from the British.  After a massive waterfront reclamation project in the 1930s and 1940s reshaped Cape Town’s waterfront, the castle now stands far inland.

It houses a military and ceramic museum along with the William Fehr Collection.  This is a controversial exhibit today because the collection only depicts colonial history with no representation of the indigenous KhoiSan people who were the true first inhabitants of the western cape long before the Portuguese stepped ashore, followed later by the Dutch and British. It’s been 25 years since the first genuinely representative government of South Africa has been elected and only four statues of early indigenous leaders who fought colonization, and were imprisoned in the fortress, stand outside.  Yet the lopsided narrative of this collection has not been addressed and many wonder why.IMG_4534In early June the castle hosted the 2019 Cape Town Coffee Festival which celebrated all things caffeinated with growers from across the continent, barista workshops and pop-up coffee stands.  If you ever wanted to see thousands of folks ricocheting off the walls from too much free coffee, this was the place to be.

One of our favorites was a Senegalese coffee prepared by Khadim, a pleasant and engaging expat.  It’s a strong sweet coffee, served with a long dramatic pour.  We enjoyed it so much that we visited his shop, Khadim’s Coffee, repeatedly. So good was the java and food prepared by Khadim that his shop became our de facto rendezvous point for meeting friends in the city.IMG_6322The coffee festival coincided with the Red Bull Cape Town Circuit where their F1 Aston Martin Red Bull racing car roared down Darling Street at over 150mph, passing the spot where Nelson Mandela addressed the nation upon his release from Robben Island, and turning the stretch in front of city hall, lined with bleachers, into a high-speed drag strip.  At the intersections, souped-up street cars burned rubber and spun donuts while the Red Bull Air Force performed aerial acrobatics over the city.  It was a raucous day that we could hear from our apartment.

Closer to the city center the District Six Museum tells the story of an atrocity, an afront to dignity that should never be forgotten.  In 1867 the sixth district in Cape Town was formed as a neighborhood of immigrants, merchants, artisans, laborers and freed African and Asian slaves.  It was close to the port and provided the muscle Cape Town needed to grow.  It was home to ten percent of Cape Town’s population and thrived as a community for decades until 1966 when the apartheid government, seeing prime real estate under Table Mountain, declared it a whites only area.  The district’s 60,000 residents were forcibly relocated with superficial notice into segregated townships 15 miles away, or further, from central Cape Town. IMG_5735Families and neighbors were intentionally sent to different communities to break the spirit of the people.  The apartheid government was so vile it “regarded the district as both physically and morally tainted by miscegenation, wholly unfit for rehabilitation” and flattened every building except for Churches.  Even the original streets were destroyed, and new roadways were created so folks couldn’t find their homes, now vacant lots, that they legally owned.  Much of the area still remains abandoned. The District Six Museum commemorates this tragedy and the lasting heartbreak of this cruelty.

The Company’s Garden was only a few blocks away.  Originally a farm that supplied passing ships with food, it now is a wonderful urban park in the city center with old growth specimen trees, gardens, and café. Adjacent to the entrance of the park, Desmond Tutu used to preach from the pulpit of St. George’s Cathedral, an Anglican Church.  And across the street a section of the Berlin Wall stands in remembrance of the struggles people are willing to make for freedom around the world.

At the far end of the gardens two museums grace the grounds and are perfect for a rainy-day exploration.  The Iziko South African Museum is a natural history and science museum with a planetarium.  It has wonderful collection of early aboriginal tools and rock paintings along with a large compendium of pre-historic fossil remains.  There is something for everyone here and we found it to be fascinating.   Outside, various street performers entertained visitors to the park.

Across the way the South African National Gallery has an eclectic collection of contemporary and tribal art from South Africa and the rest of the continent.  The art scene is thriving in Cape Town with many galleries providing exhibit space to young, talented artists.  The museum’s collection reflects this vibrant art scene.IMG_3471Despite our apartment’s faults, we enjoyed our time on Buitenkant Street.  Watching the brilliant sunrises and the flat clouds – the tablecloth of Table Mountain – cover the summit and then spill down the side like a waterfall. The street life below spanned the gamut from groups of tutu-clad race walkers one day to noisily protesting sex workers or Fridays for Future demonstrators the next.

It would be superficial of us not to address the painful past of this relatively young democracy; apartheid and race are still underlying issues.  Despite this, Cape Town, South Africa, was a wonderful experience: at once contemporary and traditional; challenging, progressive, and hope-filled, it captivated us for three months.

Stay tuned for more as we work our way across the southern tip of the continent.

Till next time,

Craig & Donna

Bulgaria: Living in Sofia

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When we departed the states nine months prior, Bulgaria was not part of our travel plans, not even a bleep on our radar. But what a wonderful spontaneous decision it turned out to be.  IMG_2496From Portugal we were to go to England for three months of pet sitting in various locales to save some funds for our push into Africa later in the year.  But just short of heading to the U.K. our first pet sit canceled!  Even though the dollar exchange rate against the pound was the best in decades, it wasn’t favorable enough for an extended stay.  So, we needed a plan B immediately.  It was just the beginning of Spring and we had been spoiled by the pleasant weather in Portugal, so that eliminated going North.  After a couple of quick online searches for weather conditions in various cities and inexpensive flights out of Lisbon, bang – we chose Sofia!IMG_2015 The city was a magnificent surprise with its cosmopolitan vibe and café scene along pedestrian only Vitosha Boulevard.  And hundreds of thousands of yellow tulips, planted in the city parks, were blossoming!IMG_2106Sunny days meant coffee on our balcony and a direct line of sight into the baklava bakery on the corner, across the street. The calories accrued from the sweet creations purchased from that den of temptation were only kept in check by long walks throughout the city.  IMG_8013.jpgExploring the neighborhoods surrounding our apartment, we quickly found delightful, small restaurants like Colibri Kitchen, Edgy Veggy, and Made in Home, which offered new interpretations of Bulgarian classics, while Moma Bulgarian served authentic dinners.  Several gourmet food shops, like Bread and Cheese for Friends and Sun Moon Store, specializing in Bulgarian made products, were also nearby as was a butcher’s shop and innumerable bakeries, each with different offerings.  (But for the whole week before Orthodox Easter all they baked was Kozunak, an incredibly delicious, rich and fragrant type of Stollen.)

At the Chili Hills Farm Store we found a line of Balkan Hot Sauces created from fifty different types of chili peppers collected from around the world, but locally grown in the Vitosha Mountains. Farther afield we’d walk across town to Sofia’s Central Market Hall for prepared foods to take-away or to the Lidl supermarket for basics.  Sofia as it turned out was a foodie’s haven!

In the mornings we would arbitrarily wander about the city, continuing our tradition of “walk a bit then café – walk a little more….” or pick a destination in a far-off area, determined to immerse ourselves into Sofia’s life and explore every quadrant of the city.  These walks revealed off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods, reminiscent of Paris or London, full of architectural gems built during the Bulgarian Renaissance.

Bulgarian culture re-asserted itself and blossomed during this short-lived renaissance which coincided with the country’s sixty-seven-years of freedom between the end of Ottoman occupation in 1878 and the beginning of communist rule in 1945.

Many other neighborhoods reflected the brutal designs of communist block housing which were brightened only by some colorful street art.  Knowledge of the city’s layout often led to frustrating experiences with taxi drivers who were intent on building their fares by taking us on roundabout routes. IMG_2334Weekends were especially rewarding when it was more likely we’d come across a street market or dance class in a park.

Intense chess matches were played out on park benches and always drew an audience of curious onlookers. Pensioners playing cards was also a daily ritual in the parks.

Most afternoons we headed over to Vitosha Boulevard to sit at a café and people-watch, or walked along the rows of fountains, surrounded by yellow tulips, in front of the National Palace of Culture, with a still snowcapped Vitosha Mountain rising behind it.

IMG_1991The cost of living in Bulgaria was very favorable with most items in the bakeries costing just one dollar and a nice dinner for two with wine, dessert and coffee costing under $40.00.  A visit to a local dentist, recommended by our Airbnb host, to have a cavity filled cost $20.00.  The x-ray needed cost $5.00 from a different facility around the corner. IMG_4282[36950]-2Our lovely, large one-bedroom apartment with living room, dining table and small balcony, just two blocks away from the popular pedestrian mall, cost less than $800.00 for the month.  (We found it amusing that the two-burner electric cook top was kept in a drawer in the kitchen, but we made it work for us.)  A 90¢ USD subway fare got us to the airport for our $10.00 per day car rental, with unlimited miles, for our road trips.  There were some oddities though.

Cut flowers were extremely expensive, so much so, that they we sold by the individual stem.  In many grocery stores butter was so highly priced it had those plastic anti-theft tags attached to it.

We enjoyed our time in Sofia and found it to be a very interesting and diverse city, full of history. And it was a great low budget destination that kept us fully engaged for a month.  Bulgaria should be on everyone’s radar as a place to head for a fascinating experience.

Till next time, Craig & Donna

365 Days on The Road – Our First Year as Nomads

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“It’s hell, I tell you!” My heart sank. I only regained my composure and burst into laughter when I turned to see a wry smile across Donna’s face and heard, “I only have three pairs of shoes with me.” Dusty after a full day of game drives, we were sitting on the porch of a small cottage sipping wine in the middle of Schotia, a 1600 hectare (4000 acre) private game reserve, just outside of Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, reminiscing about our first nomadic year.  Darkness covered the countryside early in June, the beginning of South Africa’s winter season.  Our guide had just lit the oil lamps a few minutes earlier, handed us a walkie-talkie and said, “Use this to call the owner if there’s an emergency, you’re the only folks here tonight.’’ There were no other lights around except for the moon.  The bush has a life of its own and sounded totally different in the darkness. The owner lived somewhere on the other side of this vast reserve.

We’ve had a great year, but there have been some challenges along the way:  An extremely close encounter with an aggressive bull sea lion and seas rough enough to shake a martini in the Galapagos Islands; playing chicken with chicken-buses in the Ecuadorian Andes on serpentine roads, without guard rails, more suitable for Humvees than tiny sedans. Running into the courtyard of our Airbnb in Cuenca half naked when we felt our first earthquake.  Watching a major eruption of Volcan Fuego, only 9 miles away, from our rooftop in Antigua, Guatemala, and surviving the city’s pyrotechnic Christmas season, which at times can resemble a war zone.  Endured an open coconut-taxi ride during a torrential rain in Cuba while searching for Cuban cigars; pickpockets in Lisbon; tourist information officials in Bulgaria who were better suited to working in a gulag – “FOLLOW THE LINE!!” – than greeting visitors to their beautiful country.  Plus, a husband who snores.

And through all that my gal only wants an extra pair of shoes!  I’ve married the right woman.

We didn’t plan on being the only folks at the game reserve during the middle of the week, but that’s one of the benefits of off-season travel.  Following spring-like conditions around the globe, we’ve been able to avoid hot, humid weather and the crowds.  Plus, the prices are lower for hotels and Airbnb’s. Our traveling budget is intact, so we haven’t had to resort to smuggling, selling blood or that extra kidney.IMG_7406When we retired early, a year ago, we had to choose health insurance or travel.  We made the decision to go without U.S. health insurance, because it’s too damn unaffordable and wouldn’t cover us outside the U.S. anyway.  We chose travel insurance instead, with medical evacuation, and we pay out of pocket for wellness care and dentistry.  Our two years on the road will bridge us until age 65 when we qualify for Medicare.  And it’s surprising how affordable excellent healthcare is in other countries.  We’ve paid $25.00 for an emergency room visit to a private hospital and $5.00 for the prescriptions in Ecuador to treat high altitude sickness.  Our travel insurance paid fully for a visit to an ENT specialist in Lisbon to treat a persistent sinus infection.  I’ve visited dentists in Cuenca, Ecuador for a tooth extraction and bridge; Sofia, Bulgaria for a broken filling; and Cape Town, South Africa for a root canal.  The care has been excellent and extremely inexpensive compared to pricing in the United States.  Though when we are in the United States travel insurance only covers us if we are one hundred miles away from our previous home in Pennsylvania.IMG_0594We plan on purchasing a home when we return to the United States. Right now, though, our budget is plus/minus $1000.00 per month for an apartment.  One thousand per month for housing goes much further overseas than in the states and allows us to live in unique and interesting locales.

The regional cuisine everywhere has been wonderful.  Food is a large part of any travel budget and to keep our expenses down we cook in quite a bit.  We enjoy the experience of shopping like a local and buying different fruits, vegetables and “oh, the breads.”  We’ve purchased meat and chicken from street vendors and learned to arrive early in the morning while the day is still cool to avoid the flies.  Our dieting regime of walk a little then café, walk a little more then café, seems to be working.  We monitor our physical activity with our phone’s health app. Though after a day bouncing through the bush in a Land Rover it credited us with climbing 170 flights of stairs.  No fools we – we ordered two desserts that night.IMG_3737[35074]Restaurants have been refreshingly inexpensive with most meals costing half or less for what you would pay in the states for something similar.   In 99% of the places we’ve dined we haven’t experienced tourist pricing and it’s wonderful.  We did get extremely gouged at a historic café in Porto, Portugal, which wouldn’t have been so bad, but the coffees and pastries were tasteless.  Lamb, fish, oysters and ostrich, pricey things at home, are now on our shopping list.  The wines in Portugal and South Africa are very good.IMG_7034We’ve rented cars in Ecuador, Guatemala, Portugal, Bulgaria and South Africa. Near the Schist villages in the mountains of central Portugal we gave a lift to two hikers, who were exhausted from a long trek without water.  We ended up having a delightful afternoon and lunch with them.  Aside from the deeply rutted dirt roads of the Andes Mountain range in Ecuador, South Africa with its driving on the left has proven to be the most difficult.  We find that a pilot plus navigator system works well, with the latter reminding the pilot to stay left and make very wide right-hand turns.  Interesting traffic signs dot the roads here: Caution Tortoise and Baboons Share this Road Too, Watch for Stray Cattle.  I chuckled to myself when I passed a sign that I thought said Zebras Humping, only to realize a moment later it was a speed bump when I hit it at a pretty good clip.  Caution High Winds – Parents Hold Your Children Firmly by the Hand as there is Mortal Danger of Them Blowing Off, greeted us in the parking lot of a scenic and windy overlook.  South Africa has a well deployed and concealed electronic camera system and we’ve received our first notice of a traffic violation from the rental car company. 

Originally, we were going to spent April and May pet sitting in England, then June, July and August doing two different Workaway assignments, in exchange for free housing in France, in order to budget some extra funds for our push into Africa.  On short notice our first pet sit in England fell through. Next, Donna was sick for several weeks and I fell three times on the same arm, severely bruising it.  With deep introspection we realized we’re not as young as we wish anymore and cancelled our working assignments.  Gardning at a 14th century chateau sounded wonderful, but not in the record 114F heat that France recently experienced.So, we quickly reworked our plans and ended up in of all places Bulgaria, (more on that in future blogs,) for a month, before flying down to Cape Town.  At the end of August, we head to Victoria Falls, bordering Zimbabwe and Botswana, for a few days before flying to Ethiopia to visit the indigenous tribes of the Southern Omo Valley, and the Rock Churches of Lalibela.  Montenegro and Italy will host us until Christmas when we’ll return to the states to celebrate it with our family.  Our route for 2020 hasn’t been determined yet.

When shopping for souvenirs we try to buy directly from local craftspeople and have learned that if an item is very inexpensive it was probably made in China.  Cheap Chinese imports are undercutting the livelihoods of many local craftspeople around the world.  I don’t want my tourist dollars inadvertently supporting rich Chinese businessmen who purchase poached rhino horn for use in folk remedies.  China’s traditional medicine practitioners are the only market for poached rhino horn.  Three rhinos are killed every day to support this illicit trade and China needs to stop turning a blind eye to it.  In Cuba we witnessed widespread poverty, the effects of a failed communist state.  Tourists dollars greatly help aspiring entrepreneurs and local economies grow.  Why the U.S. is restricting travel again to Cuba is beyond me.  We conduct business with China, forgetting its reprehensible human rights record, but not Cuba only ninety miles from Miami. Go figure.

Many of our most memorable moments have been conversations around communal dining tables sharing stories, adventures and tips with inn keepers, guides and fellow travelers.  In many of the places we’ve been “we don’t get many Americans here” is a common refrain. Travel – it’s good for the soul and opens a window of empathy that you can’t find sitting in an armchair watching the nightly news.

Till next time,

Craig – Suitcase #2

Now for a different perspective on our nomadic year check out Suitcase #1, Donna’s blog at: https://bornwithgypsyshoes.com/2019/07/02/a-look-back-one-year-of-being-homeless-jobless-and-uninsured/

P.S. The 2suitcasesfor2years blogs run about 8 weeks behind our actual travel dates.  You can also follow 2suitcasesfor2years on Instagram for more great photography.

Tram 28 – Exploring Alfama – Part I

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We relied heavily on the Lisbon tram system, especially tram 28 which ran very close to our Airbnb, to navigate our way around this beautiful and very hilly city.  Unlike San Francisco, the trams in Lisbon are affordable if you purchase a Viva Viagem transit card from an agent at a Metro station.  With a Viva Viagem card your fare on the trams and funiculars is 1.40€, but without it the price rockets up to 3.00€ per ride.  As you exit the arrivals terminal at Lisbon airport look to the right and you will see the sign for the Metro. Just down the escalator there is a ticket office where you can purchase your transit card and be set for your time in Lisbon.IMG_0845All the tram lines in Lisbon travel through wonderful areas, but tram 28 has become famous because it is the longest line in the city and runs near many of the tourist highlights in romantic Alfama, namely Castelo de Sao Jorge and the miradouros (overlooks) Portas do Sol and Santa Luzia.  Before heading back into the city center, it climbs into the Chiado district and ends in Campo de Ourique by the historic Dos Prazeres Cemetery.  Nearly every stop along this splendid route offers a worthy point of interest.  Being this popular, it is often difficult to get a seat on tram 28, especially if you choose to board it where it begins at plaza Martim Moniz in the center of Lisbon.  After 10AM the line of folks waiting here can be daunting and you might have to wait for several trams to fill and go before you have a chance to board.  But if you must stand, head for the back of the car – the rear of the tram offers the best views. If you can, we suggest boarding at one of the miradouros where usually many people exit the tram.  Tram 12 has a stop behind tram 28’s starting point on Martm Moniz. It will also take you to the miradouros by a slightly different route.  There is not a “correct way” to explore the diverse things along the tram 28 route.  Each stop offers multiple destinations to explore. Just pick out what you are interested in and have fun.  Walk a little then café, then repeat as many times as necessary! That’s how we do it. 

Leaving Martim Moniz, tram 28 travels up the steep, narrow and serpentine streets behind Castelo de Sao Jorge to the Graça neighborhood, often delayed by delivery trucks and double-parked cars. Normally the tram will wait patiently as this is an everyday occurrence, but occasionally the tram driver will sound his horn until the offender moves their vehicle, if he feels they are taking to long.  Reaching the top of the hill, keep an eye out for a large wall mural, Revolutionary Woman, created by the American artist Shepard Fairey, who is most renowned for his famous Barack Obama poster.

A little further along, Plaza Graça, with its everyday shops, bakeries and small outdoor cafes, offers a chance to explore a non-touristy spot for a very local experience.  From here it is a short, level walk to Jardim da Graça, Miradouro Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and Igreja e Convento da Graça. The convent has an interesting collection of azulejos tiles depicting 16th, 17th and 18th century missionary journeys across Portugal’s colonies that ended tragically with the martyrdom of the priests involved.  This area is a wonderful spot that is slightly off the beaten track.  The miradouro offers a great view across Lisbon that includes Castelo de Sao Jorge and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge. The panorama is reminiscent of San Francisco.  The small café here fills toward sunset.

The next stop downhill brings you to Igreja de São Vicente de Fora and its convent. Started in 1147, just after the liberation of Lisbon from the Moors, the cathedral was finished in 1629.  It is one of the most important church complexes in Portugal. The attached museum displays a collection of religious artifacts, paintings, sculptures and Baroque azulejo tiles. If you plan a visit for a Saturday or Tuesday, just uphill through the Grand Arch connected to the convent you will find Lisbon’s best flea market, Feira da Ladra or as it was long known “the Thieves Market” spread out around Campo de Santa Clara. Our neighbor in Alfama described it as a place where you used to be able to “buy back the things that were stolen out of your car during the week.”  Today the market is very gentrified with vendors of antiques, books, CDs, toys, ceramics, clothing and handmade artisanal crafts sharing the street.  On Saturdays during the summer there is also a farmer’s market in Park Jardim Botto Machado that features organically grown food.  And of course, there are cafes around the fringes of the market. Nearby the Pantheon is visible through the shade trees and further along as you work your way towards the Tagus River, the Museu Militar de Lisboa displays a surprisingly interesting collection of military memorabilia in a wonderful mansion.

Back aboard the tram, it now continues downhill into Alfama along the narrowest part of the route, for a short distance.  The street is so narrow here you can reach out and touch the walls of the buildings as you pass through.  And if you are on the sidewalk at the time, suck it in and pin yourself against the side of the buildings.  As soon as the street widens out again you will be by Café Do Eléctrico run by a nice woman named Sandra.  This is very much a local’s place, where folks get their morning espresso before hopping on the tram and heading to work.  The coffee, food and prices here are all good, and compensate for its lack of décor.  Situated a couple of steps below street level, it’s a great place to experience the sensation that you are about to be run over by an approaching tram as it fills the doorway before suddenly turning sharply.

From this stop you can wander downhill through the maze of crazy alleys that make up Alfama. Spared the devastation from the 1755 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the rest of Lisbon, Alfama hasn’t changed much since the times of the Moors. Head to Santo Estêvão Belvedere church, and its lesser known miradouro that you will have all to yourself; it’s a nice spot for a picnic. From here you’ll have a choice of stairways or alleys to follow deeper into the charm of Alfama. Folks still hang laundry from their windows and shout down to their neighbors below. And elderly women sell shots of Ginja, a cherry liqueur, from their doorsteps as a way to supplement their pensions. There are numerous small restaurants spread about that fill the air with the wonderful aroma of Portuguese cooking. 

Around the corner from Café Do Eléctrico, stairs will lead you up to Igreja do Menino Deus, the Church of the Child God, which was built in 1711 by king Dom João V to commemorate the birth of a male heir. In striking contrast to Lisbon’s large cathedrals, this is a very small intimate church. It’s only open on Tuesdays.  From the church you can also walk up to Miradouro Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen or through a mural-covered alley to Castelo de Sao Jorge.

After Café Do Eléctrico, tram 28 turns sharply and climbs before leveling off and making two stops at miradouros Portas Do Sol and Santa Luzia.  You can also walk to Castelo de Sao Jorge from both stops. Many people get off the tram at these popular miradouros, so it’s a good place to board tram 28 to continue your journey across Lisbon.

While both miradouros have awesome views of Alfama and the Tagus River, only Portas Do Sol offers outside cafes.  Just sitting here sipping wine and listening to the street musicians is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, soaking up the experience of Lisbon. What’s really nice is that the cafes never pressure you to vacate your table; it’s yours for however long you want to sit.  Amazingly there is no price gouging either, as there easily could be at such a popular location. This seems to be true all over Lisbon. Miradouro Santa Luzia features azulejo tile murals depicting the liberation of Lisbon and a lovely vine covered arbor with azulejo tiled benches.  When you are done soaking up the sun, follow the alley next to the huge stone wall built during the time of the Visigoths, in the sixth century, down to the plaza around Igreja de São Miguel for a different bit of Alfama.

Across the tram tracks from the miradorouros is Museu da Fundação Ricardo Espírito Santo e Silva, a decorative arts museum. The museum showcases what was once the private collection of Ricardo Espirito Santo, unique pieces created in Portugal and its colonies, in an elegant eighteenth-century nobleman’s home.

Or psyche yourself up for the hike to Castelo de Sao Jorge, a medieval Moorish castle that crowns the highest point in Lisbon and offers sweeping 360-degree panoramic views from various points along its fortress walls.  Besides scrambling along the ramparts and posing with the flock of peacocks that roams freely, there is a small museum that displays archeological items found during various excavations at the site.  The miradouro at the castle is stunning and unfortunately is only accessible with a 10€ entrance ticket to the whole site.  Viewing the setting sun from here is enchanting so time your visit accordingly.  There is a nice restaurant and a wine kiosk to help set the mood as you while away the afternoon.  Walking back to the tram line, you’ll pass ruins of a Roman amphitheater at Museu de Lisboa – Teatro Romano that you can visit.

A gentle, downhill walk from the miradouros will bring you to Sé de Lisboa, the Catherdral of Lisbon. The oldest church in the city, construction was started on the foundations of a mosque in 1147.  Surviving earthquake damage over the centuries, it features a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles.  Next to the choir loft the Treasury museum displays a wealth of religious items that includes vestments richly embroidered with gold, ornate silver objects set with jewels and relics of various saints. Two ornately carved Gothic tombs from the 1300s can be seen in the ambulatory of the church.  The tomb of knight Lopo Fernandes Pacheco features an intricately carved beard, decorated sword and his dog by his feet.  The other tomb, that of his wife Maria de Vilalobos, features her in a finely detailed headdress reading the Book of Hours as one would before going to sleep each evening.  Excavations in the courtyard of the cloister show Roman, Visigoth and Moorish ruins.  The street Cruzes da Se next to the cathedral offers a nice level route back into the heart of Alfama.

Continuing downhill you’ll come to Igreja da Madalena which was started in 1164 and rebuilt several times over the centuries due to fires and natural disasters.  Diagonally across from the church is Queijaria Nacional, a gourmet cheese shop that features only Portuguese products.  If you are a cheese connoisseur this store is a must, and you’ll find it’s difficult to pull yourself away from the counter to continue your journey.

The next two stops bring us back to the city center near Praça do Comércio and the waterfront.  As you walk there be sure to check out the intriguing, decorative detailing on some of the buildings.

Here you can catch tram 15, usually a modern tram, to Belem to view the monuments along the river, or you can walk over to Elevador de Santa Justa, built in 1902, for a view of central Lisbon featuring Praça Dom Pedro IV with its wavy tile pattern and Castelo de Sao Jorge guarding the city.

Leaving the elevator from the viewing platform, you can walk across the ramp into the Chiado district.

We’ll continue on tram 28 through Chiado to the end of the line in Part Two.

Till next time,

Craig & Donna

Charmed by Alfama

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Our driver hurried to unload our bags to the sidewalk as the famous Tram 28 waited patiently behind us, its tracks blocked by our taxi.  That’s the way it’s done on Lisbon’s narrow streets. Never the sound of frustrated drivers impatiently honking their horns, just folks courteously understanding the limitations of their intriguing city, built before anyone dreamed of modern transportation.IMG_9659The winding alleys and stairways of Alfama still retain their ancient charm as they work their way steeply uphill from the bank of the Tagus River to the Castelo de Sao Jorge, the highest point in Lisbon. Spared the devastation of the 1755 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the bulk of Lisbon, the meandering lanes and plazas of medieval Alfama haven’t changed in a thousand years. Alfama is the second oldest neighborhood in Europe, after one in Cadiz, Spain. Archeological excavations next to the Castelo de Sao Jorge have revealed evidence of a Phoenician settlement that dated to 1200 BC, a Roman amphitheater, and walls built by the Visigoths before the Moors arrived.  Today the rumbling sound of wheeled suitcases on the cobble stone alleys echoes, almost continuously, off these walls weathered by time. Tourists make their way to newly renovated Airbnb’s, as we did, much to the concern of older residents of Alfama who worry about being gentrified out of their homes.“This part of Alfama is restricted to residents’ cars only. Your street is just two blocks down that lane,” our driver said as he pointed across the tracks. We sighed in relief, as the street to our right was very steep and we weren’t sufficiently caffeinated yet to attempt an ascent, without sherpas, of what seemed liked the foothills of the Himalayas.IMG_7194The winding alleys and stairways of Alfama still retain their ancient charm as they work their way steeply uphill from the bank of the Tagus River to the Castelo de Sao Jorge, the highest point in Lisbon. Spared the devastation of the 1755 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the bulk of Lisbon, the meandering lanes and plazas of medieval Alfama haven’t changed in a thousand years. Alfama is the second oldest neighborhood in Europe, after one in Cadiz, Spain.IMG_7680 Archeological excavations next to the Castelo de Sao Jorge have revealed evidence of a Phoenician settlement that dated to 1200 BC, a Roman amphitheater, and walls built by the Visigoths before the Moors arrived.  Today the rumbling sound of wheeled suitcases on the cobble stone alleys echoes, almost continuously, off these walls weathered by time. Tourists make their way to newly renovated Airbnb’s, as we did, much to the concern of older residents of Alfama who worry about being gentrified out of their homes. 

Our home for the month of February was a small, one-bedroom apartment, with a college dorm sized refrigerator above a Fado restaurant, just a few guitar chords away from Miradouro Santo Estêvão Belvedere that offered views of Alfama and the Tagus river below. IMG_6896 Like our neighbors, we hung our laundry from our windows to dry.  Most evenings the melancholic melodies of traditional Fado music drifted softly down Alfama’s alleys from several restaurants nearby.IMG_7935While walking downhill was initially a good thing, it eventually led to us walking uphill and in Alfama it’s impossible to avoid.  Older folks walking with canes was a common site, since the cobblestones are so uneven and treacherous to walk on.  Choosing a career as an orthopedist almost guarantees success in Lisbon!  Fortunately, around every corner there seemed to be a mercado that carried basic items and catered to residents who didn’t want to leave their block.  We preferred to walk to the Graça district to shop at Pingo Doce, a terrific small supermarket chain, which was half a mile away.  It’s good we walked so much, as there wasn’t a bakery or pasteleria we couldn’t resist trying. They were so affordable, with prices at least seventy-five percent less than back in the States. We had a favorite butcher’s shop and seafood store.  An amazing variety of seafood was available, but our tiny kitchen barely had any prep room. One night as we prepared fish, we were surprised learn that our stove would trip the circuit breaker and plunge us into darkness if the electric heater was also on.  “Oops!” was not the word that we uttered that night as we fumbled for the circuit box in the dark.IMG_3463[31065]The wine and cheese produced in Portugal are exceptional, and an extremely good value, with each region renowned for a specialty. A very good wine can be purchased in the 10€ range, and a delicous bottle of Vino Verde, a young green wine, can be bought for less than 5€. We made destinations of recommended cheese shops, Queijaria Naçional and Queijaria Cheese Shop, and made a day out of the shopping expedition.  For chocolate lovers, a visit to the tiny shop of Bettina & Niccolo Corallo for a sweet treat and coffee is a must. Lisbon scored very high on our cappuccino, beer and wine test. The former were in the 1.50€ range, and the latter a reasonable 3.50€ a glass.  This was much more affordable than Antigua, Guatemala.  We found meals and drinks to be fairly priced all over Lisbon, even at the miradouros, the scenic overlooks.  At the famous Pastéis de Belém, where tourists would have willingly paid three times as much, the sweet pastry was less than 1.25€.

Wonderfully, tourist trap pricing seemed to be unheard of.  (We experienced only one incident of price gouging while in Portugal,  in Porto at the highly over-rated Café Majestic.) For dining in our Alfama neighborhood we tried Beco a Serio, Taberna dos Clerigos (Tavern of the Clergy), and Alfama Cellar, which was our favorite. Lisbon was culinary heaven and extremely gentle to our food budge with comparable lunches and dinners costing 50 – 60 percent less than in the States.

Considering we’ve been on the road over 250 days we have been relatively healthy.  But for Donna, a persistent sinus infection led to an ear infection and the challenges navigating the Portuguese medical system.  New to Lisbon and not knowing where to go for treatment we asked our host for recommendations.  “It will take longer to get treated at public clinic, but there is one nearby in Graça, or a private hospital.”  Arriving at Unidade de Cuidados de Saúde Personalizados (Mónicas) to a full waiting room at the clinic, the receptionist told us it would be better to come tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning to get in queue, as the day’s schedule was full already.   By chance as we were walking home, we noticed a doctor’s plaque on a door, walked in and waited patiently for the receptionist to address us.  Luckily, the doctor could see Donna later that day.  The office visit cost 65€, with a free follow-up visit, and the prescriptions only 20€.  Unfortunately, the ear infection did not clear up after the first round of antibiotics and we were advised to go to the walk-in nurse practioner clinic Centro de Enfermagem da Graça, nearby on the plaza to have the blockage evacuated.  With still no relief, the doctor sent us to an ENT, an ear, nose and throat specialist, at CUF Descobertas Hospital, a private hospital in Braco De Prata.  Outpatients enter through the emergency room and are directed to take a ticket, like in a bakery, and watch for the number to appear on the large overhead monitors in the waiting area.  Initially, we were called to the bursar’s counter to give all our information and passport number, plus a 500€ credit card deposit to secure services.  Back to the waiting area to be called to the triage room to be assessed correctly and then sent to a different waiting room, deeper in the hospital, before being called by a nurse and led through many corridors and elevators to the ENT waiting area.  A short time later we met the ENT specialist who provided a thorough ear exam, diagnosis and treatment plan.  Total – a whopping 140€ for a visit to a specialist!  This could not happen in the States even with health insurance.  Finally, back to the bursar’s counter where our credit card was refunded the unused balance.  Note: keep all your medical invoices. Our travel insurance provider World Nomads reimbursed the hospital and doctors’ visits along with all prescriptions.  Processing the claim went flawlessly online and our refund was electronically deposited. 

Exploring the different areas of Lisbon was a breeze using the tram and subway system.  Tram 28, famous only because it is the longest line in the city and hits most of the top tourist sites along its route, had several stops close to our apartment.

Purchasing a Viva Viagem transit card allowed us to pay the same rate for a ride as Lisboans.  A single use ticket on the tram was 3.60€, with the Viva Viagem card it dropped to 1.40€.  It also reduced the fare on the funiculars and Elevador de Santa Justa.  You can purchase the Viva Viagem at most subway stations that have a staffed ticket office.  We also used Uber and the local taxis; both were very reasonably priced with a trip into the city from the airport costing under 10€.  IMG_7493Residents told us this past February was unseasonably mild.  We enjoyed eating outside in the warm Spring sun as did many other tourists.  The streets seemed very busy for the “off season,” not overly so, but we couldn’t imagine what it would be like during the summer crush. 

We will share our day explorations around Lisbon in several future blogs.

Till then, safe travels.  Craig & Donna