One of the interesting things about the history of Cape Town is that it was the only European settlement on foreign soil that was never intended to be a colony. In about 1652 The Dutch East India Company put a few ships ashore to organize a settlement. Its sole purpose was to grow fruits and vegetables to re-supply Dutch ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope on their way to the lucrative spice and silk trade in Java, India, and elsewhere in the Orient. There were strict rules preventing employees of the company from individual travel or enterprise. In a sense, the East India Company farmers were slaves before the Malaysian muslims and black men arrived in chains.
The human spirit being what it is, sooner or later a few noble souls took the risk and set off on their own. A few days' travel north-east of Cape Town, a man named Stel came upon a beautiful and fertile valley at the base of a mountain. Having endured a long and hot journey he began to think about what a grand thing it would be to have something pleasant to drink. Apparently, wine was the first thing to come to mind. Unfortunately, neither he or others who subsequently arrived at Stel's bush ("Stellenbosch") knew how to make the stuff. Fortunately for them , the Reformation in Europe had led to a Catholic backlash in some countries; many of the Hugenots (French Protestants) were fleeing in the face of persecution. It so happened that the Hugenots knew a thing or two about grapes. It was a perfect marriage - the beginning of the South African wine industry which is today one of the world's best. A decent bottle here sells for about $4-5!
Like everyone else who visits Stellenbosch, we enlisted for a winery tour. We had the chance to visit four different estates: two near Stellenbosch and the others in the other celebrated wine producing towns of Francishoek and Paarl. We learned a lot of interesting facts about producing and tasting wine and also had the chance to sample quite a bit of cheese. Each winery provides samples of five or six wines. We each chose our own samples and then shared and discussed each one as it was consumed. That means that after just the first two tours there were fifteen different wines sloshing around in our stomachs. Not being much of a drinker these days, I had to "call uncle" at that point and played more of an observational role until near the end of the tour. Nancy hung in there a little longer than I did but she too was looking a little green around the gills. Still, it was a very enjoyable day!
The second estate that we visited, Fairview, was the most interesting. It had beautiful grounds that included a pomegranate tree, which neither of us had previously seen. The winery is also famous for its spin-offs on famous French wines (e.g. Goats-d0-Roam, Bored Doe, Goat Door). In fact, the French government attempted to sue the winery over the use of the names. Don't know how that turned out... oh, Nancy says they were unsuccessful. Anyway, there are a couple of goats which live in a tower on the property. They're sort of the poster children for the winery and are used for making cheese which the winery also sells.
Most of the people that we met in Stellenbosch just breezed into the town for the wine tour and then left. We stayed on for an extra few days. Let's see if you can guess why.
A) We were really enjoying meeting people from around the world at the hostel.
B) We had found an awesome restaurant with excellent food at unbeatable prices.
C) Stellenbosch is an historic city with a walking tour of 52 impressive buildings.
D) All of the above.
A) We were really enjoying meeting people from around the world at the hostel.
B) We had found an awesome restaurant with excellent food at unbeatable prices.
C) Stellenbosch is an historic city with a walking tour of 52 impressive buildings.
D) All of the above.
The University of Stellenbosch is a very old and prestigious institution. Many of the country's greatest minds (and not so great, including the "brains" behind apartheid) studied in its hallowed halls of learning. The buildings are low-rise and the city has the feel of a busy country town. Tall oak, plane and gum trees line the boulevards of the campus. None are indigenous; people like Cecil Rhodes imported everything they liked in Europe, America or Australia when they migrated to South Africa, with mixed success. Since the oak trees are not native to this environment they are quite porous. Many a good barrel of wine ended up on the sidewalk until they realized that their oak was not good enough!
We have found most of the Africaaners of all ages to be helpful and very polite. It was fun to see many students hurrying off to class on Friday. Early on Sunday morning the church bells began to ring. Religion here seems to be B.Y.O.B. - bring your own bible. There was a steady stream of young couples coming from every direction, hand in hand, the good book tucked under their arms, on their way to church. Now that's not something that you see in Canada!
The buildings of the university as well as most of the homes and institutions of the time were constructed in what is known as the Cape Dutch style. The homes were built in the shape of a T and were almost always thatched and gabled. All of the structures were painted in lime to produce a very bright white effect - impressive against the normally bright blue sky of South Africa. High quality wooden shutters and split-level (barn-like) doors add to the appeal.
That's it for now. Stay well!
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