"THE COMPANY'S GARDENS at the top of Adderley Street as laid out on order of the Dutch-East India Trading Company by Jan van Riebeeck to assure vegetables for Cape Town inhabitants. Today it is a large public park and botanical garden"
"MUSEUM - The South African Museum, the oldest museum in South Africa, was founded in 1825, and in 1897 moved to its present building at the top of the Company's Gardens. Here you may see the remarkable fossilized human footprint - about 117 000 years old - and the «Lynton Panel», one of the most extraordinary stone-artworks of the San people. The South African Museum shows hundreds of different species, and the view towards the Table Mountain on its back is fantastic. In particular when the table is set with a white towel..."
"PARLIAMENT - Houses of Parliament: Plans were initially designed by Charles Freeman but later - when it was found that the foundations were inadequate - were amended by Henry Greaves. The building incorporated a high central dome, Corinthian porticos and pavilions at the four corners. The foundation stone was laid in 1875 and in 1884 the Houses of Parliament were completed"
"DOWNTOWN - Back to Long Street, I believe..."
"GREENMARKET SQUARE, with the original cobblestones still in place, hosts a flea market with closely packed stalls. The Square is flanked by restaurants and on one of its sides by the Old Town House, which started out as the Burgher Watch House and is now an art gallery"
"THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT WATERFRONT is situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain in the heart of Cape Town's working harbour. Set against a backdrop of magnificent sea and mountain views, one can park, shop, meet, work, holiday, play, berth and even live at the Victoria & Albert Waterfront..."
"HARBOUR CRUISE"
"PORTUGUESE PARTY - Cape Town has an important Portuguese community, mainly from Madeira Island. The community holds some parties and every month there is a dinner of the Portuguese Association «ACADEMIA DO BACALHAU» («Cod Fish Academy», the second oldest in the World, I think), where the traditional dried cod fish is eaten"
"PORT"
"SUNSET, with Table Mountain"
8 comments:
Such a beautiful series of photos.
Friends have been but stories of robbery and violence prevent me from visiting.
I think the first two are my favourites; everything looks so new it's hard to believe it's quite old.
Angela
Hi Angela,
It's true that South Africa in general and Johannesburg in particular are a bit tricky, with stories of robbery and violence. Cape Town used to be somehow a little more controlled, but nowadays may have derailed... Anyhow, it’s a beautiful town!
I’ve been posting about French Polynesia in the Blogtrotter and Mexico in the 70s & 80s, so the 90s didn’t get much attention... but I’ll be back with the Cape of Good Hope and surroundings!
A friend of mine told me the same thing, viz-a-viz the difference between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
BTW, my brother and his family, who love going on cruises, are going on the Alaskan Cruise this coming June. Have you been on that cruise?
Ming, Alaska is fantastic!
We were on a cruise tour in August 2002 (posts under label Alaska at Blogtrotter), and enjoyed it very much. First we did a land tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and then we cruised from Seward to Vancouver, B.C., including College Fiord, Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage. It was great! In June, daylight is almost always present, and maybe the famous wet summer has not stricken yet… though it might be a bit cooler than a month later!
Thanks for stopping by at our blog! Your pictures are fantastic, and I have to admit that you've included information that I didn't even know (I'll have to do some reading, so that my ignorance doesn't become too evident :) ). I'm glad you enjoyed Cape Town so much. Yes, crime is certainly worse in Johannesburg, although we do have our share here too. But I think you just need to use common sense and follow the same rules you'd follow in any big city - don't walk around on your own at night, listen to the advice given to you by locals (most of the stories I've heard of crimes perpetrated against tourists have been where they were warned not to go to a certain area, and yet chose to go anyway...), and try not to act and look too much like a tourist. :-)
Hi Kerry-Anne, you're right: one has to be careful anywhere nowadays...
Thanks for dropping by!
Peter,
Sorry, no spam...
Post a Comment