// August 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Cape Town, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Nature, food


This past weekend was one of those weekends that will stick in my memory for a long time to come… My man and I went away with five other friends to a tiny little town called Prince Albert in the Karoo. It was a four hour drive (a stunning four hour drive, through some really majestic scenery) to get to the little town, and we arrived on Friday just in time for dinner. I fell in love then, even in the dark, mainly because there were succulents everywhere. Everywhere! Excitement overload.
The next day I fell in love even more. The whole town is centered around a main street, which has lots of the expected restaurants and guesthouses, but also has a Saturday market run by Afrikaans tannies and ooms (aunts and uncles, for those not from SA). They were selling pancakes for R3 each, big slices of homemade cake for R5, pots of tea for R3 and homemade roosterbrood for R8. It was like being in the land that time forgot…
Before the Saturday market, I’d gone for a long walk into the surrounding orchards and then out into the veld. It’s extraordinary how vast the Karoo sky is – like a completely different country, with a 360 sweep of sky. Incredible.

The weekend was spent strolling around, stealing succulents (see above), sitting in the sunshine eating delicious food, visiting the dairy (yes! A dairy!) to sample the homemade cheese (yum!), and playing a particularly fun game called Post-It (our name) where you think of a famous character, write it on a Post It and then stick it to someone’s forehead. Then they have to guess who it is in 20 questions, while dealing with the humiliation of sitting in front of everyone with a blue Post It on your forehead. Ha! Hilarious. Until it’s your turn…
The highlight of the weekend was our ghost tour – dinner combo. Prince Albert is a town rich in history (and ghosts) and we went on a ghost walk around the town with a fascinating storyteller (dressed in a long black coat) who told us all the local tales… Creepy! We then went to African Relish for a superb dinner – bacon and spinach fritters (wow), Karoo lamb stuffed with roasted celery and pecans with the most amazing polenta I’ve ever tasted, and hands-down the best milk tart in the world. The dinner was long and full of laughter and I can’t wait to go back.
Oh! And how could I forget! That afternoon we’d visited African Relish (which is also a cooking school, and is co-owned by our friend’s father) and I tasted jamon for the first time! Jamon! The real deal! Made in South Africa using all the Spanish techniques! It was extraordinary.
So, all in all, a pretty wonderful weekend. We stayed in the most amazing cottage (see below), we ate some truly special food, and we spent good time with friends, laughing. What more could you ask for?


Photos courtesy of the extremely talented Mark Peddle: www.markpeddle.com