High Tea in Cape Town

I don't know about you but I love tea.  I was a complete coffee pot up until a few years ago but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate a good cup of tea.  My mom starting me on herbal teas when I was in high school, I was stressed out and not sleeping and so the tea experiment started.  To think there are so many different teas out there, with so many different healing properties, so of course a tea tasting is on my to do list.

A few years ago we had High Tea at the Vineyard Hotel for my birthday.  The service was shocking but the treats and view were stunning.

Some of the more well known spots for High Tea are the Mount Nelson Hotel, One&Only, Franschhoek Hotel and Spa, 12 Apostles Hotel and the Table Bay Hotel V&A.  Most of the hotels in Cape Town offer some form of tea time, but the one place I've been dying to try out is Nigiro Tea Merchants at Origin Coffee in De Waterkant.  I've been to Origin many times before and have even had some divine tea there, but they have the most amazing tea ceremonies.  Hhmm, friends this is a hint of what I want to do for my birthday this year :)  O Ways in Claremont is said to do a similar tea tasting, but Nigiro is on the top of my list.

When I did some research for this post I came across a few places that I didn't know existed, and have now made it onto my list of places to try.  These are the Tibetan Tea House in Simon's Town which serves their tea in traditional Tibetan wooden teacups, and Lady Bonin which is a gypsy like caravan that attends markets and events.  How have I not known about these places before, I feel like I've been missing out.  On the list they go, and hopefully will get crossed off this year.

But my reason for this post is because a friend brought to my attention the first ever High Tea Festival hosted by the Tea Princesses to be held at Kirstenbosch Gardens on 5 March.  How amazing!!  Of course when you look into it, the cost is high but you need to weigh up the pros and cons.  It's something different, it's all about tea and won't it be worth it?  So now to try convince some friends that my logic is right and to join me in a day all about tea :)

The articles I've read all make me want to go even more, it's a combination market, tea tasting, champagne event and you get to dress up.  The entry price includes high tea, a tea master's class and a goody bag. So maybe the price is worth it :)   Now to convince my friends.

Christmas Markets in Cape Town

Crazily enough Christmas decorations have gone up in shops around Cape Town over the weekend.  With decorations comes Christmas markets – I love attending markets in any event but I thoroughly enjoy the Christmas markets. 

When I was searching to see what markets looked interesting this festive season, I was amazed to see that there are many markets that already started on 21 October.  To me this is super early.  My festive season normally starts with a bang in the form of the Constantia Gift Fair, which is on from Wednesday, 4 November to Sunday, 8 November.  I’ve attended this market the last two years and have enjoyed it both times.  The weather is normally pretty decent, so you can sit out in the sunshine and enjoy some good food. 

The gift fair is a little different as there aren’t the typical stalls you normally find at markets, it’s set up as one big stall.  As you go along you choose things you want and you pay for your items right at the end.  Beware of the tills, as I found last year there are some cute items right at the tills and I got swept up in the hype and bought more than I was anticipating.

The Cape Markets website is a really good tool for finding markets, they have a list of all the markets around Cape Town throughout the year.

Some of the markets that look interesting this year are:

·         Stellenberg Market – held Monday to Saturday until 7 November in Durbanville

·         Constantia Gift Fair – 4 to 8 November in Constantia

·         Stellenbosch Kersmark – 25 November to 5 December in Stellenbosch

·         Made in the Cape Festive Fair – 1 to 6 December in Cavendish Square

·         Noel French Market – 5 December in Sea Point

·         Simply South Gift and Craft Fair – 7 to 22 December at the NG Kerk on Ladies Mile

·         Pineland Craft and Gift Fair – 7 to 22 December in Pinelands

·         Lourensford Christmas Market – 10 to 12 December on the Lourensford Estate

·         Fab Ideas Christmas Market – 11 to 16 December in Kommetjie

      Enjoy the run up to the Festive Season :)

Strawberry Picking

This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for years but have never been able to organise, I’m hoping that this is the year we finally go.

The Western Cape has some amazing strawberry farms around, which means that there’s a wide variety of options. Strawberry picking season is from October to December, this means that there’s limited time to make a trip out to one of the farms. 

Some of the popular strawberry farms are:

·         Polkadraai – between Stellenbosch and Kuilsriver, they’re open daily from 9am to 4pm

·         Mooiberge – I’m sure everyone knows this spot near Stellenbosch, they have a wide range of wines in their farm stall.  They’re open from 9:30am to 4:30pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.

·         Mountain Breeze Farm Stall – Stellenbosch, open daily from 9am to 4:30pm.

·         Helderberg Farm – Stellenbosch, open daily from 8am to 6pm

With these many options available it makes choosing the right spot pretty tough.  The other thing to look out for is cost, each farm has their own measurement of cost.  Some farms weigh your container, while at others you pay an entrance fee and are able to pick and eat as much as you want.  So look at your options carefully before choosing the right one for you, it would be terrible to get a shock after a wonderful day out.  The suggestion is that you phone ahead of time to check that there are still fruit in the fields.

The Western Cape has many other fruit picking options including cherry picking (Klondyke Cherry Farm) and fig picking (Hoogwater Fresh Figs).  With summer around the corner, this sounds like a pretty good day out J

The Galileo

The Galileo was started a few years ago, and “airs” during the Cape Town summer months i.e. October to April, or at least the months that should be our summer.

The Galileo is kind of like the old drive in venues, without the cars though J So everyone grabs picnic blankets or “chairs”, chills on the grass and watches a movie on the big screen.

Over the years additional venues and dates have been added with this year being bigger and better than ever.

Movies are screened on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and select Saturday evenings.  Friday night screenings are on a rotating venue basis and Saturdays are out in the winelands.

In previous years I’ve attended screenings at Hillcrest Quarry, Kirstenbosch Gardens and V&A Waterfront.  I can’t say I have a favourite venue as they all so different.

Typically the doors open at 6pm with the movie starting when the sun goes down.  If you get there early enough you get to enjoy the stunning sunset while sipping a glass of wine. 

There are food and drinks vendors but you’re welcome to bring your own picnics.  It does get a bit chilly so a blanket is a good idea.

Tickets can be bought through webtickets.  You can buy tickets for the whole season, so book your tickets as soon as possible.  I see that there are a few screenings already sold out.

Spier Events

Spier Werf Market:

Up until a few weeks ago I wasn't aware that there was even a thing as the Spier Secret Festival.  

The event is being held from 29 to 31 October at the recently restored Spier Werf at the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.  The Spier website states that this event is for anyone who enjoys good wine and food.  

It seems that this year is going to be bigger and better, with a bakery and cafe, a farmer's market and a boutique wine cellar.  

The festival features a conference, pop-up dinner series and food bazaar.  Tickets need to be pre-booked for the conference and dinner series but the food bazaar is more on line with a food and wine market. 

The market is family-friendly with a petting zoo to entertain the little ones, while adults can enjoy free-range, organic goods and produce.

Festival of White Lights:

Spier starts off the festive season each year by hosting the Festival of White Lights, this is a sparkling display of lights and a collection of artistic performances. 

The evening starts off with award-winning Spier wines and a picnic on the lawns, while listening to gospel and Christmas songs. 

You then go on a trip across the estate, led by an “Angel of Light” and a penny-whistler – I’m not sure what a penny-whistler is but I’m sure I’ll find out once I attend the event J

The trip across the farm reveals light installations, including a dance piece choreographed by Jay Pather, a burning sculpture and a display by fire-dancers. 

Along the way, participants are given a balloon with a light inside and a piece of paper tied to it.  Participants are encouraged to write a message of goodwill and all the balloons are released together and makes you think of a new year’s movie sceen .

Tickets sell out quickly as I found out last year, so book on webtickets as soon as possible.