Day 3 Shelley's Birthday

This morning we went to Ulrich's parents home, the Brandts. Their home is really pretty and their backyard is amazing! They made us Roobios Tea (my new fav), toast, and muffins. On the toast we put some butter, bulton (dried jerkey stuff), and cheese - it was good and I am feeling awfully adventurous. Then we headed to Laborie, the site for their wedding reception (beautiful). Our next stop was franschoek, which means french corner in Africaans, it was really pretty and reminded me of a something out of Napa Valley. After Franschoek we went to Stellenbosch, South Africa's wine country and where Ulrich went to school. The town center where the University rests is a beautiful town with a danish influence. From there we headed to Delheim winery where we enjoyed a wine tasting and a cheese plate. It was sooo good and I have a new favorite wine, their Pinotage Rose. Of course we took a few pictures, bought some wine for tonight, and headed to Gordon's Bay for a sunset. We were a little late, but it was beautiful seeing the bay all lit up with twinkling lights.

Today also happens to be Shelley's birthday so we had dinner reservations at a place called Moyo. The reservation had to be made months in advance because we were going to eat in a treehouse. Ulrich's brother and sister-in-law joined us at the fancy african buffet restaurant situated in Stellenbosch. When we arrived we were given washcloths to freshen up and then our faces were painted with a white clay. We were taken to our "treehouse table", but after some consideration we thought we would be more comfortable inside (very cold and windy). Inside the tent style dining area there was entertainment. First was an acoustic style guitarist and singer and the next act was a trio of drumming, singing, and dancing. The buffet was plentiful and gave us the opportunity to try a plethora of "African Dishes". I tried some different meats and game and tried and liked the following:

Bobotie - a very old South African dish with probable origins in Indonesia or Malaysia. The name derives from the Indonesian "bobotok," and the dish was likely adapted by Dutch traders and brought back to the region around Cape Town. Every South African cook has his or her own favorite version of this dish, some very simple, others quite elaborate. Bobotie is typically served withgeelrys (yellow rice) and a side of mango chutney.

Pap and Tomatoa Smoor- it was like polenta, only made from corn, topped with a tomato and onion sauce

Malva Pudding- a sticky toffe pudding (more like a moist spongy cake) topped with warm custard (why this has not made it to America I will never know)

I recommend everyone look up some recipes!

After dinner, Ulrich and his brother surprised Shelley with a happy birthday serenade from the trio. It was really pretty and involved the clicking, though I am not sure if they were Zulu or Xhosa. To give an example of Xhosa language here is a cool video (not ours) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mwh9z58iAU