Tag Archives: Low Cost Activities

Wine, Whales and Penguins – All on the way to the Cape of Good Hope


Our journey continues with a lovely breakfast at the Cape Heritage Inn (oh, I do love this place), fond good-bye’s from our hosts, and our first attempt at driving on the Left in South Africa.

Unlike St. Croix, which is also drives on the Left, but with normal US cars – these cars have been built for drive on the Left. That means that the driver’s seat is on the right, and the controls for simple things like windshield washers and turn signals are reversed. Victor struggles manfully with the controls – while I attempt to navigate us out of Cape Town.

Our first destination is a Winery called Groot Constantia. It’s the home of Grand Constance – world famous for being Napoleon’s wine of choice while he was on St. Helena. Naturally – we have to try some. It’s quite yummy, and the personalized tour of the wine making facility, while not new news, is still very interesting. Our wine tasting paired the wines with chocolates that had been custom made to match – yummy.

All of this takes quite a bit of time – so we decide to eat lunch at the Vineyard, and we share a traditional African meal, Bobotie. It’s a ground meat pie, topped with a fried egg, and served with yellow rice that’s been flavoured with raisins. It is huge and delicious – and very filling. We relax (perhaps a bit longer than we should), and eventually head out ever Southward.

Our next stop is Boulder Beach near Simon’s Town. It’s home to over 2,000 Penguins – who have been living, fishing, mating and having babies in this rock strewn bit of South Africa since 1982 when 2 breeding pairs first arrived. The Penguins are everywhere – they live in depressions under the African shrubs that dot the hillside, and they splash around in the waters of the Indian Ocean that lap the shore. Because of all the huge rocks, the waters here are just rough enough to bring in the fish, but not so rough as to make it hard for the Penguins to get in and out. It’s a perfect place – and they clearly love it.

Part of South African’s National Park System – there’s a fee to enter, but it’s clean, well kept, and well – full of Penguins. It was great.

We take lots of pictures – my favourite shows a tiny baby staring directly into my camera from under his mother’s protective wing, and then head on South.

Every Southward we go – past adorable towns, beautiful beaches, and African Scrubland. We arrive at the entrance to the “Cape of Good Hope National Park”, and pay our $13.50 Canadian each to go in. A bit steep – but clearly this is a place for tourists – and South Africa knows a tourist trap when they see one. If you went to Cape Town – wouldn’t you go to the Cape of Good Hope?

The well maintained road winds along the top of the ridge – with the Light House at the tippy top of the final peak – Cape Point – clearly visible in front of us. When we arrive at the base we realize there are two options for going up to the Light House – climb a zillion steps, or take the tram. We decide to do neither – Victor has plans for later today, and wants to see and get gone. So we turn around, and head to the lower road that runs along the shore. Here we end up at the actual Cape of Good Hope – and reward ourselves with a bit of a walk, a bit of a stare into the ocean – and a photograph! The waves that roll in are unhindered in their journey North from Antarctica and are huge. They crash onto the rocks at our feet – then fall back into the ocean for another try. It’s beautiful. We spot Ostriches that have made this scrubland their homes – and they are apparently raising a family based on the number of what I think are Ostrich chicks at their feet. We also spot Baboons who have decided that the tourists here are easy pickings. They aren’t the least bit concerned about us – unless we happen to have some food. They climb on cars – try to get into car windows, even test the door handles. Wily beasts…

We now head back towards Noordhoek, where there is a Food Market on Thursday evenings. The idea – grab food from a stall, and enjoy sunset! Sounds good – so we head North. We pass folks doing a bit of whale watching in the Indian Ocean (I can see the spouting of the whale as we drive past) and somewhat surprisingly – a shanty town.

Housing in this part of the Cape has been quite a bit better -so the sudden appearance of the shanties is a bit of a surprise. It’s the one and only we’ve seen since we left Cape Town. In general this part of South Africa is less barricaded and blocked in – which feels better to our western sensitives.

And after a few wrong turns, and some GPS confusion, finally find ourselves at the Market. This is a hugely popular local event – the food is reasonable, and the view spectacular tonight – not a cloud in the sky.

We check out the offerings – there are about 2 dozen stalls, set up with cooking facilities and serving Pork Belly, Fish and Chips, Pork Steaks, Greek Food, Vegetarian options, BBQ Pork Belly Sandwiches, even Tuna Steak. So many choices, and all priced at around $8. I opt for the Pork Belly with cooked yams, Victor gets the BBQ Pork Belly Sandwich, and then goes back for the Tuna Steak. He also gets a bottle of white wine, and we relax on a picnic table to watch the sun set into the Atlantic Ocean. Peaceful and so lovely.

After dinner, We carefully drive on to our lodging for tonight. We’re staying at the highly rated Tuscan Villa Guest House in Fishhoek, and it’s worth it’s rating. Our double sized room features another of these huge bathrooms – with a large shower and huge freestanding tub. We’re warned yet again about the water crisis – and asked not to use the tub. Well – we weren’t planning on it – so you are ok. Our charming hostess explains that the fines for ‘over use’ of water are extremely high, and she’s being forced to use the shower at her son’s place to avoid having the guest house deemed an over consumer. That kind of thing is really hard to control too. We promise to be careful, and she wishes us good night.

We remove the fresh lavender stalks that have been carefully laid on our towels, our pillows, and the bath mat, and settle down for the night.

Tomorrow we are heading North to the wine tasting district of Stellenbosch.

Signing off out of total exhaustion – The Soup Lady

2 Words to Avoid when Reading Descriptions of upcoming Theatre Events


As declared several time before, I love theatre – and I’m not particularly picky about what I go to see. if it’s in English – I’m keen to see what’s what.

That said – there are 2 words that when used to describe an upcoming theatrical offering have a tendency to convince me to go elsewhere.

1. Innovative. As in an Innovative look at a story, or an Innovative group of people.

What exactly are we innovating? Theatre is about telling stories – are we not going to be telling a story? Are we going to do without sets, without actors, without costumes? What about theatre are you planning to change? I just can’t see how an innovation is going to better my theatre experience. I suspect you termed it Innovative because you couldn’t think of a better word to describe what you are doing. And that’s really off-putting.

2. Experimental.

This one is really scary – and for many of the same reasons I shy away from Innovative. Are we going to be experimenting with sets? with stories? with the acting. How can you experiment with acting – you do it well, you do it poorly – what kind of experiment is needed?

I’m not afraid of works by new authors, in fact – that’s a lot of fun. But don’t experiment with my time and money – learn how to do it first – then present it to me. I really don’t want to have to suffer thru your experiments

“The Matchmaker” – Dawson 3rd Studio students give it all they’ve got – and it’s quite a lot!


I love going to the theatre – you just never ever know what will strike your funny bone – bring a smile to your face – or tears to your eyes.

What I truly love to see, however, is heart and soul on the stage. When the performers do their very best to convince me that this is their very best – I’m pleased, entertained, fascinated, and enthused.

And Dawson Year 3rd Studio Students delivered.

http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/2012-2013/3rd-studio-the-matchmaker

The pay as you go performance of “The MatchMaker” I attended was packed. Every seat in the lovely Dawson theatre was taken. The sets were definitely at Dawson standards – they managed to convince you that you changed location – by just moving bits and pieces around. My favorite ‘directing’ bits were the interludes while the crew moved furniture in the background. In one interesting piece of theatre business – the cast grabbed suitcases, brought them to the ‘train station’ and the proceeded to use them as seats. Some sound effect later – they were off – jiggling down the line – going from the country into the ‘big’ city. Great bit of business – and carefully timed to cover up the set changes.

The performances, as can be expected of studio students, were far from professional quality – but what they lacked in polish, they made up in a keen desire to please the audience.

Like many ‘amateur’ performances I’ve seen and enjoyed – the cast grew stronger and stronger as the evening progressed – and the rousing final act was a delightful farce – enjoyed by everyone. (Thanks Adrienne for the spell check!)

Next  up at Concordia is the 4th Studio students in “The Cone People”.

http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/2012-2013/4th-studio-the-clone-people

After just a few years of training – these guys and gals are good. And like their less experienced fellows – generally bring to the stage an enthusiasm for being there that can be lacking in the performances of more jaded professionals.

Prices are great too.

Yo Tohu – Stripped down Cirque – but so much fun!


I’m such a sap for the Circus – both old school (with animals) and new school (acrobats, jugglers, and the like). Which is why Pista del Tango was such a disappointment. How dare you ruin the Circus for me?

Thank goodness for Tohu. I always assume that everyone knows what I’m talking about when I say Tohu – but based on the lack of audience on Thursday (2/27/2013) night, I’m guessing that maybe I need to start off with a – how to find the Tohu.

Where/What is Tohu

Start by checking out their website – there’s both an English and a French version – you can get tickets, check the dates of different performances, and get a list of all the free stuff that happens there. I can personally recommend just about anything that they put on – I’ve never had a bad time – and frequently had a great time. This is NOT Cirque de Soleil, despite the physical closeness – those tall buildings to the right as you drive in are the Montreal headquarters of the Cirque de Soleil – and clearly there’s money and financing cross-overs. But Tohu is clearly independent – and rather feisty about that.

http://www.tohu.com

Festival Mondial Du Cirque De Demain

This is the third or fourth time I’ve seen these guys perform – and it is always a huge pleasure. Truly some of the best young (and not so young) performers from around the world come to Montreal as part of this group. There is no pretense at a story, or a theme, or even much of a set. Instead – this is a presentation by 9 different performing teams – each one of which has one at least one award – and in some cases – several awards. So we’re talking the best of the best at what they do. And what they can do is nothing short of astounding. We were 4 – and each of us had a different top act. My husband’s personal favorite was the Starbugs – 3 nutty guys – clowns with tremendous physical abilities. I just couldn’t stop laughing. One highlight – the fake ‘fight’ that started with the 2 guys in ‘contact’, and continued as they got further and further apart. What a hoot. My daughter loved the Chinese juggler/plate spinner who managed to take spinning objects to an entirely new level – and ended his act by pulling a ‘dragon’ out of his basket and spinning that! Another favorite was the Trapeze artist – who did things on a trapeze including several multiple spins high above the audience, unattached to the trapeze at all, that I’d never seen before.

Then there were the 2 male contortionists. I can’t find words to describe their act – except to say that sometimes they looked completely normal, and other times left me sitting with my mouth completely open in stunned surprise.

I particularly like the first act – a quick presentation by the students in the circus school. A teaser to encourage people to get tickets to their graduation performances in April – something I totally recommend that all my followers – and all their friends – do immediately. There are 2 different productions – they split the class in half, and each group gets their group of performances. I’ve done both – and never been sorry.

Finally – I wouldn’t do a fair review of this wonderful evening if I didn’t mention the guy (huge) and girl (tiny) team. The guy essentially tossed his partner around like she was putty – and she let him do it! Her grace was extraordinary, and his control when tossing her was so light and easy – you could easily fool yourself into thinking – I could do that. Word to the wise – Nope, you probably can’t.

Positive Stuff: Cafe at Tohu – little known but completely wonderful place to grab a grilled cheese sandwich, a bag of delicious popcorn, or even a Latté before a performance, Free stuff before the performance – in this case – a pile of circus toys that you could try out – including a tightrope to walk and plates to spin, and inexpensive parking – Just $5. Negative Stuff: Don’t count on the scenery and costumes to blow you away – that’s not the point, There’s not a bad seat in the house – but there are some side seats that are best avoided, and it ends late if there’s an intermission.

Go – Enjoy – Tell’m the Soup Lady sent ya.

La Pista Tango vs the Montreal Gospel Choir – No Contest


Sometimes you get what you pay for – and sometimes you don’t. This was one of those times when the high-priced option lost out – big time.

Last night (Feb 22, 2013) – the Montreal Gospel Choir performed for $12 a ticket at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montreal. The concert was simply wonderful fun. Not every solo singer was perfection, and the acoustics left something to be desired, but all 40 plus members of the choir put their heart and souls into providing outstanding entertainment. It was simply a rollicking good time. My favorite part – aside from the conductor (Carol  Bernard)’s willingness to have the audience participate – big time  – was the giant image of Mary that overlooks the audience. Somehow I’d like to think that she was having a good time too. For an hour and half (way to short a time if you ask me), the audience sang, clapped, stomped their feet, and generally enjoyed watching this talented group of singers strut their stuff.

Not nearly as much fun was La Pista Tango (Feb 21, 2013) – a high-priced waste of time and money held in Theatre Maisonneuve. For some unknown reason, the powers that be decided that watching Tango wouldn’t be good enough – so instead of just concentrating on dancers, about 90% of the performance was juggling and balancing acts. The problem – we in Montreal are spoiled. We have the Cirque and Tohu if we want to watch acrobats and jugglers – and the performers at the Cirque and Tohu are uniformly top-notch. On the other hand – the performers at La Pista Tango looked like amateurs in comparison. They just didn’t ‘do’ it for me – and judging from the lack of applause – they lost most of the rest of the audience as well. Too bad. Wonder if I can get my money back.