Just to preempt your comments "Sidel" can be regarded as a plural because it refers to Sid and Elizabeth (Liz), hence the, I believe correct use of "come" instead of "comes."
With that out of the way, this post is an account of Sidel's visit, all the way from George.
Sid has a sweet tooth with a particular bias towards chocolate cake so we took them to the Bisibean coffee shop. Without sounding like a Tripadvisor review, the coffee and chocolate cake as well as the service, ambience and overall experience were totally up to standard and I would recommend them with a clear conscience.
Our next stop was the cableway. The advantage of going midweek is that we found plenty of parking and were second in the queue. Two uncharacteristically well-behaved school groups were among the other visitors, and gave me a new respect for our youth.
The winter smog limited the views a bit, so we couldn’t see the Jo’burg skyline and Botswana. Even after living in Harties for 35 years I am still impressed by the beauty of our area. It does help that you cannot see litter and potholes from up there but I suppose that is what is meant when you are advised to look at the “big” picture. Small pictures are mucky so I must remember to always try to get a squiz at the big picture. Except in art galleries I understand because the Mona Lisa is actually a very small picture. The trip down in the cable car was rather unpleasant because an alarm was repeatedly sounding from the speaker in the car. We were convinced we were either making the car unbalanced by our seating arrangement, and the car would come crashing to the ground at any moment, or the car itself was malfunctioning and we would come crashing to the ground at any moment. Either way we were convinced something was about to happen that matched the sound of the alarm which was, to be very clear, alarming. As it turned out the alarm was alerting us that the battery in the speaker was low, so we were told with a smile when Rose and Liz asked the official at the station. We do jump to conclusions - possibly seeking adventure?
One quick look at Heros, the restaurant at the cableway convinced us that other options had to be considered. Since Sidel had been to Silver Orange the day before we decided that Siesta Bistro would be a nice choice. Their style of food is Spanish and true to their old name - Tapas - they have a long list of tapas on offer. We ordered 6 plates to share and sadly had to send some of the food back uneaten because we were literally stuffed. Having been there before I knew the mixed mushrooms were superb and together with the chicken skewers, patatas bravas, roast veggies, chorizo and battered hake we had a feast to remember.
Our next activity was dictated by the size of the lunch and we returned home where we sat on the verandah and soaked up the unseasonably warm afternoon sun. Sheer bliss.
Having spent the evening solving South Africa's and then the whole world's political, social, financial and …. well, generally all the problems one can think of, well beyond Sid's normal bedtime we retired feeling we had done our duty to humanity (no payment expected and don’t expect any of us to remember the solutions). This morning, after a light breakfast we said farewell to Sidel having really enjoyed our time together.
We look forward to enjoying their company in George when next we take a break in that neck of the woods.
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