City Center & The V&A Waterfront

On Monday, after a full night of much needed rest, we got to enjoy a laid back day with a small amount of sight seeing thrown in there. Sidney gifted us the luxury of not having anything scheduled until noon, so we all got to sleep in and lounge around in the morning. We met Sidney, his wife, and his great-nephew Ben in the Company Gardens before heading to the Garden Cafe for lunch. For those who aren't familiar with Capetown or it's history, which very few American's are, it was settled by the Dutch as a layover for ships traveling from Europe through the Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean. The main problem was that ships couldn't stock enough fresh produce for the full voyage to India and other places in Asia, so Capetown was established as a farm to provide ships with fresh fruit and vegetables. The Company Gardens (Company, as in East India Tea Company)  was that land. Now, no produce is grown there, instead it's a beautiful, very well maintained public garden and park.

While it was nice to have a friendly meal with Sidney and the others, by and large the star of our meal was Ben. Ben works for a Capetown NGO that works with informal settlements. He gave us a great run down about what settlements are, how they get started and the work his organization does with them. Because informal settlements are a bit complicated, especially for a non-native to understand, read my post about them here [click me!].

After lunch we were free to do as we pleased. We explored the rest of the Gardens before heading to the Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center. Mandi is Jewish, so she really wanted to see the synagogue and museum. Instead, I opted for the adjoining Holocaust Museum instead. I was quite intrigued about the museum since Apartheid and the Holocaust seem eerily related, and the museum did provide insight. While mostly about the tragedy in Europe, the museum provided South African related insights. It noted that there were actually a quite large number of Jews who fled to South Africa both before and after the Third Reich. The museum also noted the distinct difference between genocide and segregation, noting that Apartheid was based purely on separating the races, not killing of them.

After that we headed to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront- by far the most developed and touristy part of the city. It's located right on the Cape, and the views are stunning. Unfortunately the clouds blocked most of Table Mountain, but we were able to see a smaller section of the Mountain. The waterfront is beautiful, with a mix of old, Dutch architecture, new development and lots of signs of industry. Below are some pictures from our day.