Food, cars, trinkets---it's all downtown

I know some of you have worried about what we are eating here in Cape Town.  I took a few pictures of this special place where we shop for food so that you can see where to shop when you go downtown Cape Town.

One of our favorite places to shop is Fruit and Veg City---they always have lots of things we love.  They even have bulk nuts and candies and dried fruits of all kinds.  Of course their specialty is fruit and veggies!  But they also have a great deli with Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza (actually lots of kinds of pizza, but thats our favorite) and roasted veggies and African Mac and Cheese.  Here are some pictures we took there.

They have these great little carts that they call trolleys that just have a basket on top and one on the bottom.  They are fun if you aren't buying too much. 

Here are some of the fruits---peaches and nectarines at 19,99 rand a kilogram!  That's about $2.50 a kg or $1.25 a pound.  They have so many kinds of fruit and lots of veggies too.

Watermelons are just coming into season and they are really good.  We were waiting for the price to go down a little.   49 rand is just a little more than $7 right now, but they are really big melons. 

This is the cheese area - I know---it looks like Costco with every kind of cheese imaginable. . . .except Swiss, for some reason they don't have Swiss cheese down here. We have eaten a lot more gouda and parmesan than we did at home.  We aren't much into the specialty cheese like brie etc. yet! 

Here are some of my fellow shoppers who were lining up to check out.  I forgot to get a pic of the deli and the bakery.  The bakery is so super---all kinds of fresh rolls made daily and of course lots of kinds of bread.  We especially like their seed bread which has all kinds of grains and seeds in it.  And they sell ciabattas 5 for 10 rand---that's about 5 for $1.25.  We use them for lunches and quick dinner sandwiches.

And of course they have someone to help you out to the car with your yummies.  They really like it if you give them 4 or 5 rand so they can buy some food too.

Elder Herbert really hates this cobblestone road that you drive on when you go out, so we usually go a different way.  But I did want to get a picture of it.  There are a few like this around town.

If we have time, we stop at the local car dealers and check out the new Ferraris.  They are just around the corner from Fruit and Veg.

On this day we had to do some Christmas shopping and we drove down around the city square where the generals are all memorialized and went to Green Market Square.

We thought there might be some new and interesting items, and it is not hard to find some things that we haven't seen.

I always like to check out the jewelry and this young girl was very anxious to sell me some beads or earrings.  I finally ended up buying an African CD that they were playing and I really like it.

There is lots of art work, but I am not too great an art critic and have a hard time choosing because they are all so unique and fun.  If you see anything you want, be sure and send me a message so I can bring you something home!  I love the little tapstries painted on canvas and their hand printed fabrics. 

I asked this man about this stick that looks like a cane, but it is a little bit short.  He said, no its not a cane, it is a stick to protect yourself.  I told him someone would probably grab it from me and thump me with it.  He got a good laugh out of that.  We don't really need sticks for protection in the areas where we go, so don't start getting worried!  You can see that they use everything for their creative artwork.  The little rectangular pictures on my right---there on the corner of the table---are pictures made from banana leaves carefully pasted into scenes of Africa.  I haven't bought any yet, but I plan too.  I am watching for just the right ones.

These masks are pretty popular, but somehow I just don't like them and can't bring myself to buy any.  You can see it is kind of like going to the fair with everyone very anxious to sell their wares.  There is always music playing and lots of dancers and entertainers all around to keep you there too.

I really hope to go back later and buy a couple of paintings from this man.  He is really very good and very enjoyable to talk to.   You can't see his best work in this picture, but he paints scenes of Africa.  We mostly bought items from next door, so he was pretty frustrated with us.  But we will go back and see him some day.

I wouldn't want you to think Green Market is the only place to shop in Cape Town, so I'll include this picture of a shop at the airport that we saw when we went to pick up some couples who came to town for a conference.  We had a fun chat with this little lady, but I didn't get any beads----expensive!  She doesn't really have a flag sticking out of her head---that is something behind her.  Just love the dress---they really love color down here---especially orange.

I just remembered this shopping experience that is worth sharing.  This is a little market in the township in Paarl.  We went in to see if they knew where someone lived in the neighborhood. Elder Leach is right in front of me---he is our future TV announcer from Utah.  Next to him is Elder Parry---he is our rugby player from Wales.  I'm not sure I would ever buy anything in this store.  This is the opposite of self-serve shopping.  You have to point at what you want and they will get it for you.  There was NOTHING out where you could touch it or pick it up.  Ah, the joy of owning your own business in South Africa.  These little shops are on almost every street we go down.  Usually they are built in an old railroad car or a shipping container and you don't walk in, you just buy from the end.   

I think I'll include a couple of pictures of eating out with the couples because I haven't shown any for a while.  We went to the Braza Grill and had the kabobs again and I got a great picture of Vic!

His food was all on that thing hanging in front of him and he had just removed it from that.   He looks ready to eat, huh!  You can tell we haven't missed any meals down here. 

The Mahlers shared this huge platter of different kinds of meat with a good helping of chips on the side.  I think they even had some prawns on there.

This is not a great picture, but it shows how many of us were there.  We were sitting right across from the Mahlers, so that's why you can't see us.  Elder Ladle is looking at the camera--he and his wife had just arrived in the mission and everyone in Cape Town came out to meet them. 

I think this was my meal---it was chicken strips in a spicy sauce with lots of roasted veggies. They definitely know how to serve up a nice meal here in Cape Town.  I am coming home with lots of new recipes---especially rice and curry and chakalaka (beans and tomatoes, onions and carrots--a Xhosa favorite), bread pudding, malva pudding, savory rice, baby potatoes wrapped in bacon, German potato pancakes, and the Dutch Baby oven pancakes and even South African Lasagne.

So when are you booking your flight?  They say that March is the most beautiful month of the year here.  It cools off and the wind dies down for beautiful sunny days.  Better check on those tickets today!  And let us know when you are coming!  I'm sure we can find something for you to do.

Until next time---stay happy and plan for a mission as soon as you can!  Even if you just go in your own town---what a great service experience.  It is the most important thing you can do as you come to the October or November of your life.  I would not have missed it for the world.