Follow the giant strawberry

I'm going to let you in on a huge secret because it's just far too good to keep all to ourselves. If you ever find yourself peckish in a Saturday afternoon and you want to treat your taste buds you want to listen closely now...

Mooiberge Farm Stall is famous for the huge strawberry and brightly coloured animals and scarecrows they have in their strawberry patches (as well as the best strawberries). BUT their new treasure has to be The Farmers Kitchen. This little cafe/restaurant is a real hidden gem which you so often miss as you speed along the R44 between Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

The menu includes a number of very unique dishes, many of which include strawberries and they have some very decedent baked goodies - the chocolate brownies are to die for!! We'd recommend you don't sit next the cake shelf because the smell is absolutely intoxicating -this lead to us buying half the tray on our first visit.

The menu is full of amazing treats; our personal favourite is off the lunch menu - Bobotie Tartlets. This traditional South African dish is topped off with a softly poached egg and the combination is amazing!

Another perk to this trip is if you go over the weekend you can pop into the amazing Root 44 market and wander around for hours.

Phone: 021 881 344
e-mail: info@thefarmerskitchen.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri: 08:30 - 17:00

             Sat - Sun: 09:00 - 17:00

Cape of History

For years I have wanted to visit the Castle of Good Hopes, those walls hold so many stories and one can only imagine what has happened on that soil hundreds of years ago.

Last week we had to go to Cape Town to apply for our Schengen visas and decided that such a gorgeous winters day in the Mother City could not go to waste so we decided visit the Castle. We got there just in time because at 12pm sharp they have The Key Ceremony on the front lawns and it really is worth watching. You can see this at 11am, 12pm and again at 14pm every week day.

We bought a map and tried to figure out where what was and deep down inside hoped to run into one of the many ghosts that inhabit the Castle but there was no such luck that day. Instead we spent the afternoon wondering through old passages and up and down narrow stairways enjoying the view from the top of the bell tower. The map was a bit tricky to make head or tails of but the majority of rooms had a piece written about them outside.

Normally when you visit a castle or historical building you get a sense of the past and what happened many years ago so this visit was slightly disappointing as many of the rooms were being used for some political conference. There were tents and cameramen spotted all over the lawns and it really detracted from the history. There are 2 museums at the Castle, one is a military museum which was very interesting and the other the William Fehr Collection which is a collection of old paintings and furniture. 

We got in for an absolute bargain with our student cards - R15 per person - Adult rate is R30 and Children R15.
The Castle of Good Hope is open seven days a week (Monday to Sunday) and only closed to the public on Christmas Day(25 Dec) and New Year(01 Jan).

Contact Details:

Telephone:            +27 21 787 1260

Tour Bookings:     +27 21 787 1249

E-Mail:                    casteel@mweb.co.za

Gates open:                               09h00 daily (last entry 15h30 - close at 16h00)
Key Ceremony                          Monday-Friday (10h00 & 12h00)
Firing of Signal Cannon:          Monday-Friday (10h10 & 12h10), Saturday (11h00 & 12h00)

Stairway

Key Ceremony

Model train at the Military Museum

The most handsome man in the World

Sweet dreams are made of Cheese

Not so long ago we decided to take a post-Mothers day trip to Fairview and the new buzz about town The Spice Route.

What a treat! My Skoonma and I absolutely love cheese,any cheese and when you combine it with wine you have a winner (and possibly our favorite pass time).

This wasn't our first trip to Fairview but visiting out of season is definitely a more relaxed option - being the tourist hot spot it is November - March is always busy. The tasting fee is very reasonable and offers you 2 options, one includes cheese and wine and the other simple cheese- which makes it a fantastic outing  if you're taking younger people along or people who just aren't big wine drinker. That being said their wines are fantastic and very well prices. They have a number of very unique wines and Spanish cultivar which is something different for the South African palette but absolutely divine. Don't forget to ask your wine assistant which cheese pairs with which wine because then these two worlds come together you have something really special (it also give you a sneaky excuse to make your way around the cheese counter again). We walked away with a basket full of tasty cheeses and a bottle of the Goatfather-the bottle has such a quirky label you almost don't want to drink it. You can also stock up on lovely baked goodies like breads and croissants to go with your cheeses but defiantly get there early because they sell out of the good stuff very quickly.

Cheese, Wine and all things nice at Fairview

Once we had finished enjoy everything Fairview has to offer we hopped in the car with our massive Cheese-hangovers and headed towards The Spice Route. It's not a far drive and in fact they are neighbors. You can't miss the beautiful estate that has managed to capture one of the most magical views Paarl has to offer.
The Spice Route is made up of a number of different restaurants, tasting rooms as well as an art gallery. The Beer and Biltong tasting at Barley and Beer offers a 100% South African experience and afterwards you can actually visit the brewery and see the entire process. Not being the biggest beer drinker and still suffering from the cheese endued stomach coma we opted for biltong platters which although it was well price they were pretty stingy with the pieces.
We didn't have much time left that day so instead of having another wine tasting (we will definitely be back some time) we decided to try the chocolatier which offered a delicious MoocaHotChocolate. We also ordered a gorgeous piece of cake but once we'd had our first bite released the filling was actually mouldy-not very impressive and the staff did very little to try and fix the situation which put a bit of a damper on the experience, it was fairly over priced compared to other artisan chocolate that in my opinion are far better and I wouldn't rush back.  They also have a very interesting chocolate tasting and tour but unfortunately they close promptly at 16:30. 

The Spice Route has so much to offer you could spend a whole day enjoying it. 

DV Artisan Chocolate

CBC Brewery