Saturday, February 13
We woke up anxious to see how Tisetso was feeling after the scare we had last night with his leg pain. Thankfully, he said he was doing ok and only woke up once with some pain. With Tisetso feeling ok, we decided to go to Stellbosch for the Slow Market, which came recommended by our agency.
On our way to Stellenbosch, Brian made a pit stop at the rental place so we could pay for the extra days in our flat. While Brian was in the office, Tisetso and I stayed in the car and had a heart to heart. The topic? If you were any animal, which animal would you be? I told him I’d be a dolphin so I could swim around and explore shipwrecks. Tisetso said he would be Ben 10. This kid. What superhero would you be? “Batman!” (At least he got that one right.) Unfortunately, Brian was unable to pay for the apartment as our realtor wasn’t there and the employee who was there didn’t know how to use a credit card machine. ( . . . ) We would have to go back on Monday before leaving to pay.
We headed to Stellenbosch, which was a beautiful drive! We were on the other side of the mountains we had been taking pictures of for the past few weeks. There were lots of wineries along the way. Stellenbosch is basically the Napa Valley of Africa. We passed at least 20 along our route. It was a fun drive with a lot to look at.
You know you're doing something right when the hashtag is Foodie Heaven.
We got to the Slow Market without any hitch. Our plan was to get a late breakfast / early lunch while there. It was really nice. There was a good mixture of art vendors, food stands, and entertainment. One of the best forms of entertainment we found was an oriental rug auction. The auctioneer was sitting up front with what appeared to be a karaoke machine and had the microphone turned to the echo setting, so everything he said was really echo-y. He was also the worst auctioneer ever. He was saying how people could purchase the rug for R5000 (about $250) today and sell it for R10,000 tomorrow. He then moved from speaking into the microphone to yelling at the audience at how dumb they were for not buying the rug. Then (back into the microphone), he announced that the rug was worth at least $16,000 and this was the best deal they were going to find in their lifetime. It was very entertaining.
With the entertainment finished, we got about to the task of lunch. We found a samosas place and grabbed a few of those. After insisting he didn’t want any, Tisetso proceeded to steal my chicken samosa. *sigh* After that, we found a place with a fun sampler platter with chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and cheese and steak croquettes. It was a good way to try a few things. We got Tisetso to try one of the beignets with jam, which he surprisingly liked.
We walked around the rest of the market and found a gift we needed. That was a win. Tisetso’s mood seemed to be deteriorating rapidly, so we decided to call it a day. Once again, the ride back was gorgeous. It was a perfect day with sunshine and white, fluffy clouds floating around. Come to think of it, we’ve not had any bad days here. We’ve had some hot one or windy ones, but not bad.
This old Merc pulled in and I had to get a shot!
After we got back, I really needed a break. Tisetso’s mood had been pretty flatlined for most of the morning and, after several days of it directed towards me, I decided to go to the tidal pools by myself. It was a good break. If you know me at all, you know I love nature. This had my nature meter pegged. It was nice to get outside and to explore without my kid wanting to go back and play Lego. It was the best of both worlds. I got to be in nature and he got to play Legos.
The Krusty Krab.
I got pretty far out!
Tisetso had found one of my headbands. While I was at the tidal pools, Tisetso worked on using up his stickers.
After my break and a resting time for Tisetso, we headed to the mall. Because the exchange rate is bonkers right now, I really wanted to get some clothes shopping in. I was able to get two organic cotton shirts for the price of Gap Outlet shirts. It was pretty great. Brian and Tisetso went to the stationery store to purchase some pens (for Brian’s work). When we were all done, Tisetso requested pizza for supper. We obliged and headed to Romans Pizza again. With two pizzas in hand, we finished our day out by wrapping up Robin Hood. It was a low key way to end a slightly frustrating day.