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.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
the health inspector was overdue.
Ca phe trung -- Vietnam is the second biggest
coffee growing country in the world (behind
Brazil). And it’s got a coffee culture to match. Coffee
shops line downtown streets. Each one decorated
with tiny plastic red tables -- less than two
feet high -- surrounded by coffee drinkers.
Along with the usual lattes and cappuccinos,
there are uniquely Vietnamese coffee drinks. We
discovered “ca phe sua” – espresso and condensed
milk – in HCMC. In Da Lat we encountered “ca phe
muoi” -- coffee mixed with a salty cream.
But the topper was “ca phe trung” in Hanoi.
Otherwise known as “egg coffee,” it’s a combination
of sweetened espresso with whipped egg
yoke on top. It’s almost a desert. Think coffee
meringue pie or coffee tiramisu or maybe coffee
eggnog.
We tried our first ca phe trung at Café Giang
(the owner’s father invented the drink), where it’s
been served since 1946. We were there on a cool,
grey afternoon and both floors were packed. Each
ca phe trung cup sat in a small ceramic bowl.
We’re not sure why. Maybe to catch any overflowing
meringue.
Lobster -- On the eve of New Year’s Eve, we
squeezed through the crowds at Hoi An’s outdoor
night market, which is on an island across a narrow
neck of the Thu Bon River from the Old Town.
The market sells T-shirts and other tourist
knick-knacks but most everybody is there for the
food. There are dozens of stalls cooking an encyclopedia
of foods. Squid, frogs, octopi, chickens,
weird things we couldn’t identify. We headed to
the far side of the island where the lobster grillers
were at work.
We picked a stand at random (the cook looked
like a nice lady) and put in an order. The nice lady
grabbed a group of small lobsters out of a tank,
chopped off some antennae and threw them on
her grill. In 10 minutes juice dripping, succulent
grilled lobsters were delivered to our tiny table in
paper cartons.
Just about the best street food we’d ever eaten.
Pizza -- We say “just about,” because we discovered
the best street food ever in Da Lat. It’s called
“banh trang nuong.” Better known to tourists as
150
WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020
Change language