Crazy people

Fancy an abseil off a skyscraper? Anything is possible in Cape Town!

Solace

After yesterday's heavy rain, cheer the office up with a bunch of colourful proteas from the Adderley Street flower sellers. John Ruskin said, "Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity" and I am just such an ordinary human.

City sights

A lovely day to catch the City Sightseeing Bus - but perhaps a bit chilly to sit on top.

Scene in Longmarket Street

The weather has improved but is still chilly with a few squalls of rain. This chap standing outside "Touareg Trading" in Longmarket Street seemed remarkably cheerful. He is for sale too.

Local colour

A lovely clear day after yesterday's rain. This is Wale Street in the Bo Kaap area of Cape Town -Lion's Head popping up over these colourful old houses. Many Muslims and freed slaves settled here after the abolition of slavery in what was known as Waalendorp (as it was developed by Jan de Waal in the 1760s - hence the name Wale Street or Waal Straat today). The ancestors of the majority of the Muslims in the Cape arrived from 1658 onwards as slaves, political exiles and convicts from East Africa and South East Asia (India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka).
Under the lunatic administration of the Apartheid government, the Bo Kaap area was declared an exclusive residential area for "Cape Muslims" under the Group Areas Act of 1950 and people of other religions and ethnicity were forced to leave. Today it is one of the few neighbourhoods with a predominantly working class population that continues to exist near a city centre, although that is rapidly changing as the super wealthy move in to this breathtakingly beautiful corner of Cape Town.

A fierce hunger

Even fierce Cameroonian lions have a weakness for Kentucky Chicken! This handsome chap and the rest of his pride live on Cape Town's trendy Long Street.
PS. This photo was taken quite early in the morning, hence the empty street. Usually Long Street is packed.

The ripple effect

The foreshore area of Cape Town is pretty windswept and ugly, but this little square - called Jetty Square in remembrance of its early days on the edge of the sea which is now a kilometre or so away - has been uplifted with these remarkable shark wind sculptures by Ralph Borland. The skeletal sharks and the watery ripple in the cobblestones really does make one think of the sea. They also make a whistling noise as they swing around in the wind. I wonder if they are generating electricity?

Pink confection

This gloriously pink and white icing-sugar building in Cape Town is Charly's Bakery - famous for its over-the-top delicious cakes.

The inside looks like something out of the Roald Dahl movie too. All the workers wear pink.

Even the car-guard is in pink!

Another view of Table Mountain!

Last night on my way home at about 7.30 pm, a northerly "cold front" was starting to build up clouds in front of Table Mountain. Cape Town gets its notorious wind from the south-east, and its welcome rain mostly from the north or north-west. The Table Mountain upper cable-car station is just visible as a dot on the tip of the western edge of the mountain (extreme right in this photo.)
For more world skies, go to Skywatch Friday.

View over Cape Town

A rainy Saturday morning in Cape Town. Our weather is turning subtropical these days - I am sure we haven't had such a wet spring in years. You can just see the soccer stadium protruding around Lion's Head on the left of the photo - looking a bit like a ship.

Quawatul Islam Mosque

This handsome mosque, Quawatul Islam Mosque, in Loop Street, Cape Town, was established in 1892. It was mainly for the Indian Muslims who came to Cape Town at that time.
For more Qs, go to ABC Wednesday.

Follow the pink asphalt road

The new buses that form part of Cape Town's Integrated Rapid Transit system leave the station from the Civic Centre in Cape Town.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Splashing soccer balls

A joyful memory of our fantastic World Cup - a fountain in the middle of one of the traffic circles on the Heerengracht. And now everyone is talking about demolishing our lovely stadium.

No shoes

Yesterday in Longmarket Street in Cape Town, I came across these two little girls on their way home from school. I was wondering if the little one on the right chose to go barefoot or had no option. I know what I would have chosen given the option - and I consider myself a child of Africa. Click here for more ABC Wednesday posts.

Walking through history 2

At the top of Cape Town's trendy Long Street is the famous Long Street Baths with its attractive Art Nouveau facade. They opened their doors on 4 November 1908 and are still open today. There is a swimming pool and some Turkish baths inside, but I am ashamed to say I have never been inside. There is a lovely new book out by Desmond Martin called Walking Long Street, which is well worth buying if you want to get the most of a walking tour down this historic, vibey street.
For more worlds, see My World Tuesday.

Hole-in-the-wall rotisserie

Debbie Wynne is the owner of one of Cape Town's most recommended city lunchtime eateries - Rotisserie 360 (at 360 Bree Street in the city centre). Debbie - who you can see behind the counter - was inspired by a little "hole-in-the-wall" rotisserie in Antibes. The tables fold down from the wall, and ten minutes after 1 'o clock, there was standing room only. They are having a special on coffee till the end of the week - R7 a cup - I think to celebrate their first birthday.
One should, I am told, order a picnic to pick up after work and take to the beach on a fine evening.

Ayoba!

A cheerful message for Monday morning. Seen on a block of flats on the way into Cape Town city. You can just see Table Mountain in the background. Roughly translated, ayoba means HAVE FUN!

D-Day!

Today is the official start of World Cup 2010! Cape Town is clear and cold (3 degrees) but the vuvuzelas are blowing and the flags flying at this early hour. Bafana Bafana vs Mexico kicks off in Soccer City, Johannesburg, later today while Cape Town will have to wait till 8.30 tonight to watch France squaring up against Uruguay. Click here for a fantastic World Cup Calendar.

A right royal shop

Looking as cool as this morning's weather - an elegant dressmakers manikin in one of the fascinating little shops in the Long Street Antique Arcade - all dressed up in a Lady Di dress.

Free wheeling

Cape Town is bouncing mad! Soccer balls everywhere. A cyclist seemed to want to blot it all out as he made his way down Loop Street in the city this morning.