Over the course of my Saturday, I managed to see original Stubbs paintings, complete my year-long quest for a leather jacket, and get hopelessly lost in downtown Cape Town.
A perfect day for adventuring
I slept in - only to be woken up by the devil's hyena birds that live outside - and got ready to head downtown with my housemate Allison. For my art history class, I have to write a paper comparing paintings from the South African National Gallery, which is located behind UCT's fine arts campus in the center of the city (conveniently near Long Street, which has a bunch of cool stores. Hmm).
Although pretty small (we covered the whole gallery in about an hour), there were some really great pieces - some of which were pretty valuable too. Here are some of my favorites:
"Stage Study," John Dronsfield (oil on canvas)
"St. Stephen's Church, Riebeeck Square," Edward Roworth (oil on canvas)
"Two Bay Hunters by a Tree," George Stubbs, 1783 (oil on panel)
"Son-in-Law," Sir Alfred Munnings, 1927
"Water Babies," Charles Sims (oil on canvas)
After our dose of culture, we decided to class it down, and go argue with some vendors on Long Street. Like angels coming from heaven, I saw my leather jacket in the window of PETA's worst nightmare. Lined with full-on zebra hides, alligator belts, ostrich purses, and springbok fur, Skinz Leather Wear was full of glorious finds.
After endless ages of admiring cool leather jackets, I'm elated about the one I found: it's a motorcycle jacket made from super soft black leather. Mom, you'd be so proud of my bargaining skills: I shaved R200 off the price tag.
Edgy and cool like you can't imagine.
Apparently materialist elation causes the directional senses to break down, because before we knew it, Allison and I were aimlessly wandering the streets of the financial district (hey, it could have been worse), with no idea where we were, let alone how to get to the restaurant where we were going to meet the rest of the Lover's for an early dinner.
After several minor anxiety attacks, we found a relatively clueless-albeit-non-sketchy taxi to take us to Beluga. A R50 cab fare (this is a lot - trust me) and 20 minutes later, Allison and I made it to the restaurant with time to spare.
It was definitely worth it, as the place was incredible. A swanky Asian-fusion sushi restaurant, Beluga offered amazing deals on half-off sushi before 7pm (hence our enthusiasm to arrive early). I managed to stuff myself with a two-for tuna and salmon roll plate. Delicious!
In any case, I don't need to eat anything for the next 24 hours. Or go out in downtown Cape Town without a map.
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