February 14, 2020

Azamara Quest Cape Town to Athens - Pre-Stay Day 1

Day at Victoria & Alfred Waterfront 

The first order of business was to try our prepaid breakfast. Service stops at 9:30, so despite our late checkin we got up at 7: 30. 

When we gave our room number at the restaurant, the hostess said we checked in late. How did she know? We were not on the printout, but we were written in at 1:20 on the top of the page. She knew we had prepaid, but asked if we were having the continental or full breakfast. She simply logged us as full when we said that was our choice. 

The breakfast was fantastic. Fresh sliced fruits, yogurt, cold meats, and cheeses abounded at the continental side. Then in the corner was an egg station. In addition to eggs any style and omelets, the chef would add back bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes or potatoes as directed. The toast was ours to make. 

Servers were diligent in serving coffee and clearing plates. 

This was a superb way to break our fast. 

After breakfast, we walked to the Waterfront. After a brief misstep toward the city center, we followed a route past a large shipbuilding company. They had many vessels in for repairs. A few of these were having their bulls repainted. Then we entered the Silo district. This area near the waterfront is comprised of old grain silos that were used to store grain for shipment by freighter to other regions. One group of these has been developed as a hotel. Other silos now house art galleries. 

Moving on took us toward the clock tower, but before we got there we did a Finn tour. We just had to turn down a no longer used lane through the silos toward the sea. No one else took this route. They all took the straight lane to the clock tower. 

Well, we lucked out. Along the way were many statues of animals. These were all quite large and made of metal. After admiring many and just shaking our heads at a few, we kept walking to the water’s edge where some of the fishing fleet we're docked. One solo seal was cruising here and put on a nice show. 

We walked along the water a bit farther and discovered a very large forklift with its blades stuck into an opening in the side of a tour vessel. Close. Inspection revealed that the large Diesel engine that powered the boat was about to be removed. As the forklift started to remove the engine, the boat rose in the water as a result of the lightened load. This made getting the engine out a bit more challenging. Finally, it was out and placed on a waiting truck. Now an identical rebuilt engine was removed from the same truck and placed in the boat. There was no applause, but it was clear that the work crew was happy and relieved. 

Moving right along, we made it to the Water Shed. This large building houses a lot of local crafters selling their wares or products made by other local folks. We were impressed with all of this when the World Cruise stopped here in 2018. We were equally impressed now. 

One disappointment was that a very nice jewelry shop located just inside the entrance has been reduced to half of its size. The shopkeeper explained that the rent had been raised so high that she was forced to downsize after 18 years in this space. This has  been a disaster for her since the smaller space creates a jam at the register and shoppers cannot make their way past this blockage to see the other side of the shop. They have to backtrack and reenter the shop on the other side. Many of them just leave when they get outside. 

As we made our way around this wonder, we stopped at a handmade card shop. While we admired the cards, the gentleman tending the shop struck up a conversation. We learned that he is a pen maker. His displayed pens were beautiful. We talked with him for 20 minutes and learned much about his techniques. He showed us samples of blocks of wood he was creating for turning pens. He showed us how for some woods he creates beautiful patterns by cutting the raw wood in unconventional angles before turning them. He explained this was unconventional because it creates more waste. He feels that the creativeness of the grain patterns creates enough satisfaction to compensate for the waste. He did not say it but it is clear that he is an artist, not just a craftsman. This was a rewarding encounter even though we did not buy anything. 

Now it was lunchtime. We walked to the Victoria & Alfred Mall at the end of the waterfront shopping district. Our first stop was a restaurant we visited in 2018. We had pizza then, and it was very good. Today the menu was changed and not for the better. We left and searched for other restaurants. After perusing the menus at 8 others we settled on an Italian restaurant with a table for us on the patio looking out at the harbor. While we were struggling with what to order from the good menu, the waitress delivered two pizzas to two men at the table next to us. We had just decided to order a pasta dish and pizza so we could share both. They gasped at the size of their pizzas. We asked them if they ordered regular sizes. They had. We now decided to share one pizza. But which one. We queried the gents again. We learned that one of their pizzas was cheese and smoked beef. It looked great. He was happy and we placed our order for one of the same with two lagers. 

When our pizza came the guys asked if we were sharing it. We got a thumbs up when we said yes. They wished they had done the same. They commented that we would have had plenty with just what they did not finish. We said that seeing theirs convinced us that one pizza would be enough. They wished they had seen one first. 

Talking further with them we learned that they were from Scotland. They were touring Cape Town before joining a cruise to Dubai. I immediately asked if they going on Azamara. They are. We will be shipmates with Richard and Thomas until Dubai. One of them is not retired yet or they might have stayed on to Athens as we are. We bid farewell until Thursday when they were leaving. We do hope we see them on board. 

When we finished lunch we set out to find an adapter to allow us to plug our US cords into South Africa mains (outlets.) The lady at the mall info desk directed us to an electronics store. Once there we found adapters, but none  were suitable. A clerk directed us to a shop 7 doors away. There we found the solution. For about $8 we are plugging in and getting juiced. Ain’t life grand. 

The only thing left to do was to find a bank with an ATM so we could get some Rand to use for tips and local purchases. After a couple of bad steers, a mall cop gave us excellent directions. We found an FNB bank, and their ATM dutifully disgorged 1,500 Rand in exchange for $104 from our checking account at 5th 3rd. We’re in the money. 

We decided the day had been full enough and headed home. On the way, the tablecloth lifted from Table Mountain. We did some wandering to find views of the mountain unobstructed by wires and cranes. After shooting the pictures, we found a more direct way back to City Lodge.  Back in our room at 4:45, we found that we had walked over 15,000 steps while covering 6 miles.

TABLE MOUNTAIN & YACHTS

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE OPENS FOR YACHT

HARBOR SEAL

Another good day.