Tabletripping through Cape Town

Posted on 9 January 2013

It’s hard to write a travel piece about your own neighbourhood. With thousands of cool places to visit around Table Mountain we decided the best approach to road tripping locally in Cape Town would be to employ the amble technique. This is a very cunning travel tactic which relies less on planning and more on the phrase ‘Let’s see how we feel’.

Our starting point was The Hatch at Jason Bakery. It’s a small hole in the wall on Bree Street which now opens on Saturday mornings to serve every type of food your hangover begs for. After enough deluxe coffee to heal even the most bruising flashbacks we head into the southern suburbs to listen to American tourists consider the amount of vermillion in the blend. Echoes of wine snobs roll through Constantia Glen with it’s wine rows trellised to compliment morning views of rich businessmen on their treadmills. It’s one of those summer days where perfectly sleek landscapes load like a like a flash website.

In the Republic of Hout Bay we destroy Ice Dream‘s gelato sold by an Italian woman offering flavours as big as her personality. It feels like a sin against the food gods not to visit Massimos Pizzeria when you are within smelling distance. From the little I know of the area, most locals spend their time avoiding a lawsuit with Italian fashion companies or trying to sell each other different brands of wellness. At Llandudno beach hard, hollow waves crowd with lifeguards that know each other from ‘champs’. Students still working for dad’s bank account finish their master’s degree in chilling. After being blasted by sand we cruise to Camps Bay to be blasted by traffic. Pavements swarming with prams and people in complicated running gear looking very sweaty and technical. It’s very, very hot. Summer comes with GP number plates and loud girls with rough voices laughing into smartphones. The kind of sweltering heat that steams off any last remaining work ethic.

Sea Point feels like a different country on the fringes of the city defending us from the cool breezes of the Atlantic. La Perla has lasted longer than your Dad’s passion for Elvis and we end the day sipping Bombay Sapphire and tonic while Travel Channel music bounces off the tiles and cane furniture. Buskers from the Eastern Cape sing ‘Nessun Dorma’ on the promenade like a Pavarotti disc stuck on repeat.

In Winchester Mansions we skip past hotel televisions with Italians commenting over scuba-diving scenes in the Seychelles. Winchester Mansions is a timeless piece of the Sea Point Promenade furniture with all types of sunset photo opportunities. It’s a great place to wake up to jazz breakfast and Sunday ships in the bay.

The Hatch on Bree Street

Yes please

Bree Street locals at The Hatch

Constantia Glen

I prefer Constantia tapas to boere tapas

Ice Dream Italian

I didn't take my surfboard. Watching this was a bit of torture

Llandudno looking good

Our spot on the Atlantic at Winchester Mansions

Lengends of La Perla

Late evening stroll on on the Sea Point promenade

Sea Point pool

Morning on the promenade

Places

The Hatch, Jason Bakery: jasonbakery.com

Constantia Glen: www.constantiaglen.com

Massimo’s Hout Bay: http://www.pizzaclub.co.za

Ice Dream: Main Road, Hout Bay.

Winchester Mansions: www.winchester.co.za

As a side note, if you want a great guide to city restaurants you should see @foodie_za’s Black Book: thefoodie.co.za/libations/black-book-ii/

This is the last in a series of these road trips as a way of launching the new Europcar Facebook app with Getaway Magazine. The app helps you plan and browse cool roadtrips around South Africa. You can check a map of my full trip #TableTripping out on on the Europcar App page.

You can also follow me on Twitter: @guy_with_camera






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