I started the day walking with Donna and Kevin. Exploring the harbor and surrounding area, we covered 2.8 miles in 55 minutes. There is an enormous amount of construction taking place. After he walk, I did a 30 minute upper body Peloton workout.
Getting cleaned up, I caught up with Donna and Kevin for breakfast at the hotel.
The objective for the day was the Groot Constantia Winery. As a kid, Tom had collected an early 1960s South Africa postage stamp that commemorated the winery. Tom said that "even then a budding traveler wanted to someday go there." When Sharon started planning our two open days, Tom quickly pushed the idea of visiting the winery.
Groot Constantia is a historical and picturesque winery located in the Constantia Valley of Cape Town. It holds the distinction of being the oldest wine-producing farm in the country, with a history stretching back to its establishment in 1685 by Simon van der Stel, the first governor of the Cape.
The winery's original Cape Dutch manor house and Cloete Cellar are national monuments. The winery's famous "Constantia Wyn" (wine) was a favorite of European royalty and aristocracy, including Napoleon Bonaparte.
I called an Uber XL just before 10 am. It was about a 25 minute ride from the One & Only to Groot Constantia.
The winery grounds are up on a rise with a beautiful view of the valley towards the ocean. The five of us did a self guided tour of the Manor House and the Cloete Cellar. Afterwards, we did a guided tour of the Production Cellar followed by a wine tasting.
Sharon had made a lunch reservation for 1 pm at the Jonkershuis Restaurant on the property. Tom and I both had the estate tasting plate of Cape Malay Specialities [chicken curry, lamb curry, bobotie, samosa, rice, poppadum]. Sharon had Chicken thigh curry [aromatic rice, tobacco onion, poppadum, panned roti, fresh coriander].
Cape Malay food is a unique and flavorful cuisine that originated in Cape Town. It is a wonderful example of a fusion cuisine, blending the culinary traditions of the Southeast Asian slaves and exiles who were brought to the Cape by the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, with influences from Dutch, French, and Indian cooking.
After our late lunch, we caught an Uber XL back to the hotel. The Ubers are working very well. The only issue is that the XLs are smaller SUVs with a third row.
With the late lunch and two more extravagant dinners planned for the next two nights, Donna, Kevin, Sharon and I finished the day with a light dinner in the hotel bar. Sharon had mushroom toast, while I had a broccoli caesar.
Still trying to catch up on our sleep, Sharon and I crashed about 9:30 pm.
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