Feels like home –  Hello beloved Cape Town

~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

Do you know this feeling when you return to a place and get overwhelmed by the feeling of coming home? It happens to me every time I return to Cape Town. I smile, I hop and I cry at the same time. And that’s although it has been 15 years since I’ve lived here for twelve wonderful months. It’s not that I come here that often. In fact it took me five years to return for the first time and then another eight until the second time. I think it was because I feared it wouldn’t be the same again coming back as a mere visitor and without being with the friends I made (who moved to different places). But coming back in 2015 I finally realized that this most important feeling will never fade: the feeling of coming home. I don’t know what it is exactly, but probably it is because, although things change, everything feels so familiar. I jump into a rental car and I easily switch to driving on the left. I turn on KFM 94.5, sing along and I know my way without GPS. And I feel embraced by the vastness of the landscape and the sky, and the loveable Capetonians. You think I romanticize? No. I’m well aware of the downsides, especially of how hard it is to make a living for so many people who live here. But I can’t help it. It still feels like home and I am very grateful for that.

As a tribute to the Mother City and the Cape Peninsula I’ll share some of my pics with you in the coming days. Hope you’ll enjoy them.

Feels like home – bevoled Cape Town!

~ Nina ~ Leave a comment
Do you know this feeling when you return to a place and get overwhelmed by the sense of coming home? It happens to me every time I return to Cape Town. I smile, I hop and I cry at the same time. And that’s although it has been 15 years since I’ve lived here for twelve wonderful months. It’s not that I come here often. In fact it took me five years to return for the first time and then another eight until the second time. I think it was because I feared it wouldn’t be the same again coming back as a mere visitor and without being with the friends I made (who moved to different places). But coming back in 2015 I finally realized that this most important feeling will never fade: the sensation of coming home. I don’t know what it is exactly. Probably because, although things change, everything feels so familiar. I jump into a rental car and I easily switch to driving on the left. I turn on KFM 94.5, sing along and I know my way without GPS. And I feel embraced by the vastness of the landscape and the sky, and the loveable Capetonians. You think I romanticize? No. I’m well aware of the downsides, especially of how hard it is to make a living for so many people who live here. But I can’t help it. It still feels like home and I am very grateful for that.
This time (March 2017) I spent eleven wonderful days with my brother and his family in Hout Bay.
As a tribute to the Mother City and the Cape Peninsula I’ll share some of my pics with you in the coming days. Hope you’ll enjoy them.
Cheers!

San Miguel de Allende – relaxed and colorful colonial town

~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

San Miguel de Allende is a 4.5h bus ride north of Mexico City and it’s definitely worth a visit. A relaxed vibe, loads of lovely shops and restaurants, colorful colonial houses and churches…

Centre:

View of the city – from the rooftop of our lovely AirBnB accomodation, a 15 min walk from the centre:

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The botanical garden:

Mexico mi amor…

~ Nina ~ Leave a comment

It has been over a year since my last blogpost. It’s not that I haven’t travelled in the meantime, but none of my travels came anywhere close to my RTW trip in 2015 and I just couldn’t seem to motivate myself to write. So why now? Because I  came to Mexico City to meet my friend Laura – 17 month after we met for the first time in Chile during our long term travels. To my advantage she’s settled down in Mexico City a year ago and thus I enjoy having a most enthusiastic tourguide.

Mexico City is said to be the most underrated City and indeed it has a lot more to offer than I’d have expected. Although like any other vast City it has a traffic and pollution  (and crime) problem, D.F. (as it is referred to by locals, meaning distrito federal) has its charme. Every neighbourhood has its own vibe, e.g. the Colonia del Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán,  where the Casa Azul – the Museo Frida Kahlo – is situated  (highly recommend, but book online to skip the line http://www.boletosfridakahlo.org). After that check out the Bazar Artesanal at the Jadin Centenario, have coffee and snacks at Alverre Cafe Bistro (corner of Cuahtémoc and Gomez Farias) and a sundowner beer at Mezcalero (Caballocalco btw. Francisco Ortega and Higuera).

While in Mexico City a visit of the ancient Mesoamerican City of Teotihuacan is a must. It is located 40 kilometres northeast of Mexico City, 1h by bus from the Terminal del Norte. The site boasts of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Its vastness and beauty is best captured from the top of the pyramid of the sun.

As Laura and I are both foodies I’ve been lucky enough to eat myself through some local mexican delicacies. While some are not new to me, such as Guacamole (though it tastes a lot better here, especially with a cactus formed taco…)img_20161030_084607, or Empanadas and Tortillas (though a lot more fun with all the different sauces), others were new, fascinating and delicios, such as:

“Chilaquiles” for desayuno, a rich dish made from fried and marinated corn tortilla triangles with meat, e.g pulled chicken, and covered with red or green salsa or mole sauce. It is commonly garnished with crema, shredded cheese and raw onion rings. Accompanied by a pot of café de olla – coffee simmered with cinnamon, sugar, and other spice – you’ll be really stuffed but happy…

One of the many street food options is “Elote“, roasted corn on the cob spread with loads of mayonnaise, rolled in grated cheese with a little  (or a lot) of cayenne on top… not a very light option, but very delicious.

As for soup there’s “Pozole“, a traditional soup or made from hominy, with meat and seasoned and garnished with shredded cabbage, chile peppers, onion, garlic, radishes, avocado, salsa and limes and topped with fried tortilla triangles.

My favourite though was “Chile en Nogada“, a seasonal dish translating to “chilies in walnut sauce”. This dish is traditionally served in the month of September – its red, white and green colors mimic the Mexican flag, these colours being present everywhere during independence month! Itis made of a large green poblada chili (not spicy) filled with picadillo (a mixture of shredded meat, aromatics, fruits and spices) topped with a walnut-based cream sauce and pomegranate seeds… yummy!

 

P.S. The title of this blogpost is also the title of a hideous song written for the Football World Cup in Mexico in 1986 and sung by the German National Team. It is still quite known in Germany. Hilarious.