A Shopping Experience

The neon of food and Canal Walk
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Saturday - 0700: Woke up and explored the hostel. The common area/TV lounge was large and bright and the kitchen was spacious and well equipped. I made breakfast before heading out to explore Cape Town.

It was overcast again, but the afternoon was supposed to be better, so I may be able to get up Table Mountain. I found the nearest internet cafe and was a five minute walk down Main Road in Green Point. I spent a couple of frustrating and expensive hours on the internet. The Real Travel' web server was acting funny and I could not upload pictures and created duplicate entries when I saved.

CTFM, Canal Walk, Cape Town, SA
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Table Mountain was open in the afternoon, but I thought I would give Sunday a chance, best forecast yet. I went on a hunt for some souvenirs and was told about Canal Walk. It is one of the largest shopping complexes in the Southern Hemisphere (http://www.canalwalk.co.za/index.asp).

I walked down to the Commadore Hotel and got on their shuttle to Canal Walk. The Commodore is a swank hotel on the V&A. Rooms go for R2000/night $245. The mall was the biggest I have seen since the Gallaria in Dallas. I actually got the best deal yet on gifts which was surprising. I picked up three ostrich eggs and a nicer Shona family sculpture.

Canal Walk shopping center
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The food court was amazing and luckily for me, they had a Cape Town Fish Market. By far my favorite restaruant in the world. See a picture of me watching the sushi go by on the belt.

After finishing my shopping, I caught the shuttle back to and walked back to the Sunflower stop. On the way back I stopeed at the market for some wime and chicken curry for dinner. There are plenty of shops and eateries on Main Road, even a Toys R Us.

The outdoor bar/pool area was inviting and met some interesting guests from all parts of the globe. I even got the chance to DJ by plugging in my mp3 player into their sound system. I introduced Jimmy Buffett to my fellow travelers.

The omnipresent Colonel
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The TV was out, but this guy from Zim had some DVDs and we watched Inspector Morse, a British murder mystery series, not bad. I talked to a few people who went up Table Mountain, and they said that they were walking around in a cloud bank all day and there were no views of anything. I hope that it clears.