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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plorers selected the enormous bay as the main
port of their New World colonies, and why, in
1592, King Philip II of Spain decreed Havana "Key
to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies".
The next morning, after breakfasting on Oralia’s
cheese omelet, piping hot ham croquetas, fresh
fruit, ham sandwiches, fresh orange juice and
Cuban coffee, it was off to the races — in this case,
the government run cigar factory. An oversized
portrait of a pensive Fidel Castro smoking a cigar
looked down on us as we stepped across the black
and white linoleum tiles towards Luis, a factory
worker-cum-guide. Like most men in the antiquated
building, he was chewing on an unlit cigar.
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WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020