WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2020 -- SOUTH AFRICA
What to do with a gap between two travel adventures - the end of our thrilling Kenyan safari and the start of an exotic cruise from Cape Town? What else but explore another of the world’s iconic wine regions. Since we met three decades ago, whenever possible, my husband and I seek out wine country pleasures - bucolic views, charming inns, leisurely tastings and casual fine dining. If trips bring us near vineyards - Virginia to Oregon, France to Australia, we visit for an afternoon or several days. This time our wine country destination was South Africa, one of the oldest wine-making regions outside of Europe, where Dutch and French settlers began tending vines in the mid-1600s. For a week, including Valentine’s Day when we celebrated our 31st anniversary, we explored the stunningly beautiful Winelands of the western cape, less than an hour drive from Cape Town.
What to do with a gap between two travel adventures - the end of our thrilling Kenyan safari and the start of an exotic cruise from Cape Town? What else but explore another of the world’s iconic wine regions. Since we met three decades ago, whenever possible, my husband and I seek out wine country pleasures - bucolic views, charming inns, leisurely tastings and casual fine dining. If trips bring us near vineyards - Virginia to Oregon, France to Australia, we visit for an afternoon or several days. This time our wine country destination was South Africa, one of the oldest wine-making regions outside of Europe, where Dutch and French settlers began tending vines in the mid-1600s. For a week, including Valentine’s Day when we celebrated our 31st anniversary, we explored the stunningly beautiful Winelands of the western cape, less than an hour drive from Cape Town.
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we came to realize that the motorbike traffic is
pretty slow, even in the countryside. No one was
in a hurry to pass anyone or beat the traffic light –
if there were any.
We aren’t exaggerating. You can Google Vietnam
traffic and find a zillion mentions. But what
we found more amazing was motorbike as pack
animal. Three on a bike? Routine. Someone carrying
a coop full of chickens? Sure, why not?
One day eating lunch in the Thao Dien district of
HCMC, we made a list of what passing motorbikers
were toting:
Seven empty plastic water jugs
A closet storage system
A mobile bakery
Several dozen coconuts in big red plastic bags
Two aluminum ladders
Side baskets filled with melons
A pet transfer service with a big cage on the
back
A 4-foot-high batch of brooms
Five baskets of flowers
A knife sharpening service
Dozens of people with grocery bags
Dozens of guys delivering what looked like
Amazon boxes.
But the most memorable? A whole family on one
bike.
We must have seen a dozen. It was always in the
same order: Dad driving, with one child in front of
him; Mom behind, with a second child in front of
her. This, too, was always the same: Dad and Mom
wore helmets, the kids didn’t.
Safety is not a phenomenon in Vietnam.
Love,
John and Jody
Dear Ron,
FOOD
Say “Vietnamese food” and most people think
“pho.”
It’s the unofficial national dish. A rice noodle
soup of light beef or chicken broth flavored with
just about anything. Ginger, coriander, spring
onions, slivers of chicken, pork or beef. Viet-
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WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020
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