ukraine: ivano-frankivsk (it used to be stanislav)

I didn't originally intend to visit Ivano Frankivsk during this trip, but train schedules made it necessary to spend the day in the city. Wikipedia tells me the city is called Frank by locals, but who knows. Wikipedia also tells me that the name of the city is relatively new, it was known as Stanislav until 1962.

Ivano Frankivsk is the capital of the oblast, so of course it is where I had to come to go and get back to Kyiv from my days in the Carpathian Mountains. On the way back, I had to take a train from the mountains that arrived in Ivano Frankivsk at 0440, in the morning.

Since it was still before dawn I found the waiting room in the train station and dozed for almost four hours.

When I finally left the station I walked along a road that brought me to a church. (Surprise, a church in Ukraine.) This one wasn't listed on a travel app anywhere, it was just a 'regular' church. There were two beggars sitting out front. I didn't give them anything, but felt sortof guilty about it. The church wasn't exciting or unique in any way.

From there I kept walking, and the road took me to a giant government building. I think it was the general administration building for the entire oblast (state.) I didn't go in, as I'm pretty sure it isn't open for tours. I remember this building from my first visit, when there was a protest camp set up on the square in front. (The protest camp was the local 'branch' of the protest camp in Kyiv.) There was a statue of someone in front of the building, but that's it time time around.

On an adjacent street was where I spent the next couple hours. I went into a cafe and stayed there for a while, just because I could. Their wifi worked relatively well, which was also nice.

From the cafe I could see both the government building and another church. I don't know the name of this church, but it is listed in guidebooks and on travel apps. In my head I think of it as the blue church. I peeked into the church, but saw immediately that there was a private ceremony taking place, so I backed out straightaway.

My walk took me to City Hall, which is unique as far as city halls go, especially in this country.

The shape is distinct, and there is a gold dome on top. The sign on the front of the building says it is the only secular building in the country with a gold dome on top.

Like Lviv, the city hall in Ivano Frankivsk has a tower, and visitors can climb the stairs up to the observation deck. I walked in the front door and paid my fee to climb (only 20 griven, less than a dollar,) and up I went. The top two thirds of the climb was on very tight spiral staircases. The spirals were so tight I was almost dizzy from spinning around so much.

The view was nice. It wasn't spectacular, but I enjoyed looking out over the city. It was cold and windy, I could feel the wind a lot while I was up there.

There was also a museum in City Hall, but I skipped that. I saw some artwork on the walls but I"m not much of an art museum person, especially when I have limited time.

Back down the stairs and out of the building, and I kept walking. I wasn't looking at a map, and ended up going in the opposite direction of where I'd intended, but oh well. I ended up in a giant local market area. Stalls selling everything from food to clothing to toiletries, etc... I didn't need or want any of it, but it was nice to walk through and look. Part of the market is in a large circular building, which looked different if nothing else.

I circled around the entire market, then headed back in the direction I'd originally wanted to go. I got to what I thought was a church, but it turned out to be another art museum. I'm pretty sure it was originally a church. There is a bell tower with this church, but it is out front of the church. I thought about going in the museum, but opted to skip it at this point. I wonder if the bells ever ring.

Not too far from the church/art museum was another church, the Holy Ressurection Church. The front facade is tall, but not particularly exciting. The inside of the church is gorgeous.

It's not a place I will ever want to worship, as it is too busy, but I definitely appreciate the beauty of the art. The entire interior is painted in bright colours, with a lot of variety in the colours. The iconostasis at the front is gold, a few levels high. There are a few pews in which you can sit, which told me it wasn't an Orthodox church, as those don't have pews for worshippers. This was a Greek Catholic Church.

There were people coming in regularly, both people who wanted to pray and those who were visitors like me. I took my photos, but I also sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the atmosphere.

It's absolutely beautiful.

From the church I walked to City Lake. When I'd been in the city for a couple hours on Saturday morning I'd walked to the lake but I hadn't had time to walk around. This time I had plenty of time, so I walked all the way around the lake. The path isn't in good condition, though some repairs are being done. I imagine there are more people walking around the lake in better weather. (It was a nice day, but windy and much colder than I wanted for the middle of May.)

There is a small island in the middle of the lake, with benches and a couple photo taking spots. Nothing worth getting excited about. I liked the bridge to get to the island better than the island itself.

When I got back to where I'd started I made my way to City Park, not too far away. There is a main pedestrian walkway through one side of the park, good for strolling. There are a number of paved paths through the trees in another area, with benches for sitting. (I saw entirely too many couples sitting and making out – or more – on those benches.)

There are a couple small ponds in the park, but neither one of them had good water circulation, I could see stuff growing that shouldn't be growing in a well circulated body of water. The park is a great place for people watching.

I walked back toward the city center and somehow found the tourism information center, which I'd missed earlier in the day. They had a few postcards, and magnets. This was where I found out the city has only had the name of Ivano-Frankivsk since 1962. Before that it was called Stanislav.

Interestingly, I noticed the name of Stanislav (in several languages!) on more than one manhole cover while I walked around the city.

Also in the city center was a pink and white library building. Probably not the colours I would've chosen, but hey, who am I to say?!?

There were small stalls selling coffee and sandwiches and the like, but not all of them were open. I suppose they will be when the weather is guaranteed to be better.

From there I walked to dinner, which I had in the same place I'd had lunch. To get to this cafe I walked past the blue church again, and go figure, it was hosting another private ceremony! Will I ever get to go inside this church?

I hung out in the cafe for a few hours, eating and drinking. From there it was a short walk back to the train station. My train left about ten minutes late and I arrived on time in Kyiv the next morning.

I would like to come back to this region, but probably not back to Ivano-Frankivsk except for transit.

ukraine: lviv never gets old...and a day trip to rava ruska

I will never get tired of spending time in Lviv. I think this was my 9^th or 10^th visit, and I loved it, as I always do. I booked a place to stay and quickly found out that the owner (it was a private flat,) didn't speak any English. Thankfully, the front office manager at school was able to help me out with arranging a check in time. At least, that's what I thought. The man called me back Friday evening before I got on the train, and through a difficult (almost impossible) conversation (with my limited Ukrainian) I was able to change the check in time to one that suited me better. Note: if you know the person with whom you're speaking doesn't speak your language, use simpler words and speak more slowly.

For the first time, I was on one of the newer night trains, and it wasn't immediately obvious how everything worked. The other people in my area didn't know either, much to the amusement of us all.

As usual, I arrived in Lviv before dawn, and wandered around the city as I usually do. I got to the location of my accomodation just as we'd arranged. I got to check in at 0800, which was awesome.

Even more awesome was the flat itself. It was a studio flat, but it was big. There was enough room for a big bed, and a sofa/tv area. I didn't watch the tv at all, but I loved the area in terms of being able to have something separate from the sleeping area.

After settling in, I looked at my watch and realized I needed to get back to the train station really fast if I was going to make my train. I alternated between running and speed walking the entire way, arriving at the front of the train station 3 minutes before my train was supposed to leave. Since Ukrainian trains generally leave on time, I kept going. I ran through the station and out to the track I needed. Thank goodness I was able to buy the ticket on the train, otherwise I would've been out of luck. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest person on the train by a couple decades, at least.

Under three hours later I arrived in Rava Ruska, Ukraine. It's not quite on the border with Poland, but it's only a couple kilometers away. It's not a tourist destination in Ukraine, but most of the places I've visited in the country wouldn't be considered tourist destinations.

The train station in Rava Ruska is totally different from the other train stations I've seen around the country. It is small of course, but seemed much more homey, as opposed to the grand classical look I'm used to seeing.

Another thing I noticed was that it said the name of the town on both sides of the station (track side and outer side,) which isn't normal. I'm used to seeing the town name on the track side and the word Vokzal (train station) on the outer side.

From the train station I could see the gold domes of a church, so I started walking in that direction. Eventually I got there, finding a Greek Catholic church. It was painted dark yellow, and the front door was locked. On the same property was a much smaller church, this one made of wood. It wasn't open either. I got the impression I was looking at the old and new versions of the same church.

As I walked through town I found heaps of old, abandoned looking houses and buildings. I couldn't tell if they were lived in or not. Some of the properties had chickens running around, so I assume those were inhabited. I also saw a number of wells, so not everyone has running water in their home.

The sidewalks in Rava Ruska were lacking in that they weren't complete. I would walk for a little bit on a sidewalk then it would disappear. I'd switch to the other side of the street, then it would disappear after a little while. Weird.

My first sight was something that looked like a war memorial. I'm not sure what specifically it was honouring, but I admired it anywho.

As I was leaving the memorial an older gentleman started to talk to me. As he was speaking Ukrainian and missing a few teeth, I had no idea what he was saying. I kept saying I don't understand, over and over again. I said it in English, Ukrainian, and Russian; he didn't seem to care or didn't understand.

I think at one point he might've been inviting me to his place for coffee, but I turned that down and tried to walk away. He seemed determined to communicate with me, but I wasn't very comfortable with the situation. I'm all for getting to know locals when traveling, but there has to be some sort of language in common, whether spoken or charades; this wasn't the case with this conversation.

At a few points he took a step closer to me, as if that would fix everything. I don't like strangers getting close to me when there is plenty of space available, so I took steps back. He noticed this and laughed about it, which I did not appreciate. Why do men think it is funny when a woman is clearly not comfortable with their behaviour? Argh.

Eventually I just walked away, even though I felt rude.

I followed this street, past another memorial, to a main street in town. On one corner of the intersection was a small chapel, quite pretty.

Further down the main street I found city hall. Its a unique looking building, definitely not what I would've expected in a city hall. City Hall was located next to the fire station, which was really good looking.

Not too far away I found a bakery with a tasty looking eclair. I was right, it was tasty.

I turned around and walked back in the other direction on this main street. At one point I noticed a small local market, so I wandered through there. Nothing special, but still nice to see. All the vendors I could see were older folks.

At another intersection I found another park area with a much bigger war memorial. I'm sure this one was dedicated to WW2, and it had the same Soviet realism I've seen all over the country.

I kept walking down the street and found a church. This one was painted a dark yellowish orange, as was the outer property wall. I found it quite ugly, but I still wanted to see the inside of the church. I walked through the outer gate, and immediately noticed that the bell tower wasn't on the church itself. It was a lot small, and looked more like a mini aqueduct, with three arches and a bell in each arch. It was also painted the horried yellowish orange colour.

I walked into the church, I was the only visitor at the time. A couple ladies inside were cleaning, and only glanced at me. I wasn't a big fan of the interior, though I don't know why. The ceiling was a turquoise kind of colour, and there was a low hanging chandelier. The carpet was patterned red, and the iconostasis was painted wood.

I got back to the street and wound around some smaller streets to a Polish Catholic church. (Since this was western Ukraine, I expected to see Catholic and Orthodox churches.) Unfortunately, not even the front gate of this one was open.

When I started walking on the main street again I could see the top of an abandoned monastery. I love abandoned places, and after not getting to see the abandoned monastery in Sokal I hoped to change that this time around.

I ended up walking almost all the way around the monastery to find the entry. It turned out there was a motel on one side of the property, which seemed a little strange to me. I found an open gate and walked through. From there I circled around the church, which has definitely had better days. There was rubbish all over the property, as well as what seemed to be building materials. From the outside appearance I couldn't tell if renovation work was being done.

The front of the church didn't appear to be open, but there was an open door to the building next door. Of course I went inside.

This building must've been the cloister and living area for the monastery when it was active. I walked down the halls and up the stairs and down more halls. I peeked into small rooms off the halls, but there was nothing except abandonment.

Falling down and peeling paint. Not a speck of furniture anywhere. I found the remains of one fresco painting on a wall, that was it.

In the hall next to the church I was able to peek into the church, but the door that allowed me to do so wouldn't open far enough to let me in the sanctuary. Argh.

In one of the upper hallways I found a window of sorts that I was able to climb through and get to the balcony of the church. Awesome. I loved it.

When I got back out to the yard in front of the church I noticed there was no lock on the church door, it was just one of those sliding doohickeys.

Since it hadn't been moved in a while I had to rock it back and forth, but it did open. Then I was on the ground floor of the sanctuary, yay!

This church clearly hasn't been used or taken care of in quite a while. I could see the remains of frescoes all over the walls and ceilings. There was a bookcase of sorts at the front, behind where the iconostasis would've been I couldn't identify anything else in the room.

Eventually I went outside again, and walked back toward the city center. As I walked, I looked at the city on google maps and noticed a mass grave marked, of course I made my way in that direction. I made my way up the street and first stopped at a cemetery.

It was a typical cemetery with a variety of styles in grave markers. In one corner was a Soviet memorial of some kind, I don't know what it was for specifically. Soldiers, maybe? Next to this memorial is what used to be a stone chapel.

When I got to the mass grave sight I immediately saw the sign describing the sight. The sign was in three languages, Hebrew, English, and Ukrainian. It said that the grave held the remains of 3000 or so people who had been massacred in the area during the war. The sign also said that over 10,000 people had been deported from the area during WW2, not many had returned afterward. (Sadly, this is typical of much of Eastern Europe.) During the war over 1 million Jews were murdered in what is now Ukraine.

From there I started walking back toward the train station. Along the way I went through a park and saw another statue. I think this one was of Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet. For a reason I don't know, there were also statues of bears in this park. Weird.

The train back to Lviv departed on time, and three hours later it arrived. I was cold and uncomfortable the whole time, there were no heaters on this train. Argh.

After returning to Lviv I walked across the city to dinner. Along the way I picked up goods from a bakery I hadn't visited before, and ate some before getting to dinner. They were good, and I really ought to stop eating dessert before dinner. Ooops.

I slept well in my flat that night.

The next morning I woke up and actually got moving earlier than normal. I'd arranged for checking out at noon, but I wanted to go for a walk before then. When I got outside I realized it was colder than I'd expected, and it was really windy. Really really windy. The clouds above the city were rolling by quickly.

I walked to the square around City Hall, enjoying the lack of people. I saw a couple lions (one of the symbols of the city,) in one area, each had been covered with locks. I suppose this is the local version of locks of love.

Even though I've done it before, I decided to climb up the tower of City Hall again. The entry fee is only 20 griven, so less than $1. You get to climb plenty of stairs to get up there, it's a workout. As soon as I walked out the door my hair felt like it would be ripped off my head it was so windy. From the top there are great views over the entire city. Beautiful.

I came back down all the stairs, and walked toward my next destination. picking up breakfast along the way. Two filled croissants, yum. I ate them as I walked, I'm never very good at holding onto food.

My next sight was another place I've seen before. This was the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of Occupational Regimes Prison at Lonsky.

It was originally a prison, and was used as a prison by several different governmental organizations of the Polish, Nazis, and Soviets. It was last used by the NKVD as a prison and torture facility. When they left in the early 90s the building was left as is. Nothing has been changed since, except to arrange specific exhibits.

It's an intense place to visit, especially knowing the history of what happened. Out in the yard is where mass executions took place on six days of June in 1941.

Along the main wall is a temporary exhibition of sorts. There are photos of several Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Canada, originally built when Ukrainians fled the country.

Many of those churches have since been abandoned, but they're still photogenic.

I wandered through and took in the information, then left. While I was wandering I avoided the tour group of Ukrainian soldiers.

After the museum I tried my luck at entering a couple churches in the city. Lviv has so many, and it seems like they're all quite beautiful. Not surprisingly, many of them are full of people in services on Sunday morning.

I went back to the flat and checked out. That meant I had to carry my backpack with me for the rest of the day. Not fun, but not too bad. I can't wait till summer when clothes take less space.

My next stop was a museum I'd never seen before. It was a branch of the Lviv Historical Museum, also on the old town square. The specific displays were all about Ukrainian culture and history in this specific area.

This particular branch of the museum was on several levels of the building, with three or four rooms on each level. I went through all the rooms, I really liked the money display. It seems I have a knack for noticing docents while they're at their best, I saw one dozing off.

After leaving the museum I went back to churches, they're such an important part of the city. Even though I'm not a fan of worshipping in churches with complicated decorations, I do appreciate the art and thought put into the decoration.

After several churches I went to another branch of the Lviv Historical Museum. This one was on the other side of the old city square. This one had a photo fee, which I generally hate but paid anywho. Why aren't these extra fees just put in the ticket price? It's not as if anything is that expensive.

I really liked this museum, as it had a few rooms arranged as they might've been during the lives of various people. They were fancy rooms, of course. Beautiful. I also liked seeing the fancy jewelry that used to be owned by rich folks.

When I was back out on the streets and walking along the area in front of the opera house I noticed one street had been blocked off to cars.

It was jam packed with people, all of whom were processing along. I figured out it was a religious procession, but that's all I could figure out. There was no holiday, so I really don't know what it was. There were a LOT of people crammed into the area that was blocked off.

I changed my route and continued walking to a place I'd never seen before. A large park on one edge of the city. I've seen it on maps before, but never remembered to come out and explore it. It's called Stryski (sp?) park and is mostly woods and trails. I loved walking through, even though there wasn't much green to be seen. In one area of the park I saw a couple university buildings, but I didn't know what they were for specifically.

I also saw a couple empty fountains and abandoned buildings.

I finally saw the giant WW2 memorial I'm used to seeing in every Ukrainian city and town. How had I not seen this before? It was as big as I expected.

Back in the city I went to the same restaurant as the night before (remember what I've said before about eating the same food again if I like it) and enjoyed my meal. I killed time there for a while, then went back to the train station and caught my train back to Kyiv.

Another successful weekend in a city I love.

ukraine: lviv/sokal

International Womens Day is a holiday in much of Europe. Though the date is the same in different countries, the day is celebrated for different reasons. Regardless of the reason for the holiday, I was just happy to have a day off. This year it was on a Wednesday, right in the middle of the week. I chose to do what was essentially a day trip, with a lot of time spent on trains.

I started my trip with a night train to Lviv, arriving at a ridiculous hour of the morning when it was still dark outside. I found a plug in the train station to charge my phone for a couple hours, then walked into the city.

Each time I arrive in Lviv I have two basic choices as to how I'll walk to the city center, I try to alternate. This particular morning my walk took me past the circus building. It has always looked a bit sad to me, though I don't know why. I'm not sure how often performances happen there. This time it was nice to see the sunrise coming up behind the circus.

My walk took me to the opera building, which is one of the most noticeable buildings in the city. For the first time I realized the back side of the buiding is just as gorgeous as the front. It doesn't get nearly as much attention because it is set right on the street, so there is no place to walk and look and enjoy.

In front of the opera building is a fountain, which was dry at the time. Fountains in Ukraine don't seem to be turned on all the time. Since it was early Wednesday morning, there was no one else around, but I couldn't find a place to set up my camera to take a time delayed photo. Argh.

I continued walking, making my way to one of the many churches of the city, known as the Latin Cathedral. The door wasn't open, darnit. (I found out later if I had pulled a little harder it would've opened. I should stop being so scared of doing something wrong.)

Since that church wasn't open, I found another to enter. This particular church was in the middle of a service, so I kept to the back. Like so many of the other churches in Lviv, this one was covered in frescoes everywhere and was gorgeous.

I went back to the Latin Cathedral and found other people going in. They pulled hard on the door and it opened. A minute or two after we walked in the lights were turned out, which made it seem rather dark inside. (Keep in mind it was still very early in the day, the sun wasn't very strong.) It's so pretty in there.

I walked back to the train station, bought my ticket, and made my way to the train I needed. It was an electric train, not exactly made for comfort or speed. I found a seat and waited to go.

Not long after the train took off the conductor came through to check tickets. Given how cheap my ticket was (approximately 66 cents USD,) I was concerned it was the wrong ticket, but she validated the ticket and all was good.

Three hours later I arrived in the small town of Sokal. The train station in Sokal was small, and almost empty. I checked what time the afternoon train would leave, then started walking into town.

From the train station I could see the domes of a church, so I figured out how to get there and walked in that direction.

It turned out there were two churches on the property. One was much smaller, wood, and much older. The older was bright yellow, big, and new. Neither was open, but I loved the contrast between the two from the outside.

I kept walking, and tried to get to my next destination, an abandoned dominican monastery. I tried to get there by walking at it from opposite directions, but I never found an entrance. Argh. I know there was be a way to get in, even if it is closed, but I didn't find it.

I ended up walking along a street that had at least three houses with chickens. One of them let the chickens run free, they were even in the street.

I crossed a bridge that took me toward the city center. One side of the bridge had a fence painted yellow and blue, but the other side was just old and unpainted. Just after the bridge were the signs marking the official entrance to the city. One of them told me Sokal had been an official city since 1337.

While walking through Sokal I saw a heap of abandoned buildings and homes. They were photogenic, but sad at the same time. I took photos of a lot of them. People walking past probably wondered what I was doing.

I walked past a church, but the outer gate wasn't open. Darnit.

I continued walking and got to the city center pretty quickly. It is rather photogenic, especially considering how abandoned the rest of the city looked to me. There is a fortress tower in the middle of a small platz, it seems to be all that remains of a fortress that once guarded the area.

I found a supermarket and stepped inside to find snacks and drinks.

Further down the street I found City Hall. It's a cute building, and I noticed that two flags were flying in front. Blue and yellow, and red and black.

I saw a basketball hoop in the play area of a school, which made me think of where I grew up. Indiana is known as a basketball state, you'll see hoops everywhere when you drive through the state. If I'd seen a basketball I might've taken a couple shots.

I continued walking, making my way to the edge of a park. On that edge was a small church, quite lovely.

I continued walking and circled around the long way. I was walking fast at this point because I didn't know how long it would take me to get back to the train station and I knew I had a ways to go. Every so often I stopped to take a photo of some random abandoned looking home.

Near the train station I found an abandoned warehouse, which I loved. Lovely!

I took the same three hour electric train ride back to Lviv, which arrived after dark. Since it wasn't warm, and it was dark I walked quickly to the place I wanted to eat dinner. It was the same waffle place I've visited previously, yum. It was also a nice place to hang out for a couple hours before I walked back to the train station.

The night train back to Kyiv left on time and arrived on time the next morning. I love the trains of Ukraine!!

south africa: capetown

I knew as soon as I booked my flights to South Africa that I would spend some time in Capetown. Every person I know who has ever been to South Africa said Capetown was a highlight, a must see city/place. Though Johannesburg is the capital and has more people, Capetown gets a lot more visitors. I think it could be easily argued that Capetown has more culture, and has/d a larger effect on who/what the country of South Africa is today.

My bus was supposed to arrive a bit after six in the morning, but of course it was late. We arrived closer to eight in the morning. I'd made a booking through airbnb, and kept my host aware of where the bus was.

When I arrived, he picked me up at the bus station and took me to his house. I'm sure I could've walked it, but since I had my pack, the ride was nice.

I got the tour of the house, then my host went to work. While we were in the truck he told me about the neighborhood, as well as a bit about the city as a whole. When we parked in front of the house I looked up the street and realized there was a great view of Table Mountain.

I took advantage of decent wifi, and got caught up on everything as well as charged my phone. Hours later I walked out of the house, armed with a plan.

I used one of my apps to create a map of where I wanted to go that day, what I wanted to see. Needless to say, it did not go as planned. It was going to be a long walk no matter what, but that's always fine with me. I crossed over a set of train tracks, and found out that the exit I thought would be there wasn't available to me. It turned out I didn't work in that particular area, so I didn't have a badge to go through.

This block meant I had to walk quite a ways back, to find a way I could walk. I was annoyed, but there was nothing I could do. When I tried to explain that I just wanted to walk through everyone thought I was crazy for walking in the first place.

I turned around and figured out another way to go. Since I'd had to walk more than my already long plan, I didn't get to everything I'd hoped to see that day. Oh well. I figured I would fit everything in over the next few days. On this new route I walked by a building that had a giant picture of Nelson Mandela on the windows.

Further along I found a cenotaph, though I don't remember exactly what it was memorializing. I like this sort of thing, even though they tend to be similar around a country. Capetown already looked and felt different to me as opposed to Johannesburg and Durban. Close to the cenotaph were a couple rows of green trees. Yes, I know that trees are typically green, but even the trunks of these trees were green.

My first sight ended up not being at all what I hoped for. The name is Gold Museum, but it is no longer a museum about gold. Booo.

It's now a museum about the life of Nelson Mandela. I was disappointed, but walked through anywho. There were a few items on display, but it was mostly quotes and pictures and description of Mandela's life.

I wound my way through the streets to St George's Church, which was lovely. Nothing extravagant, but I prefer less splashy. It felt peaceful, and was empty while I was in there.

Sortof behind the church are the Company Gardens. Lots of little areas in the gardens, so you feel as though you're seeing several different gardens.

There were a bunch of people in the gardens, but with the way it is arranged, it didn't feel crowded at all. It seemed to be a place people come to enjoy their lunch break.

I found a decrepit building on the edge of a parkplatz, upon which was a quote that should be noted around the world: All are equal before the law.

My next stop was the so called artillery memorial. The monument itself was backlit at that point, so I didn't take the photo. There was a small pond in front of the monument, I had fun watching a couple kids play in the water.

Next to the memorial was the museum of one person. This museum follows how humankind came to be, from way back all the way till now. There is a GIANT strand of DNA in front of the museum, it's impossible to miss. I had to be very patient to get the photo I wanted, as people kept walking into my frame. Then, just as people cleared out, a couple ladies decided to do an amateur photo shoot. Finally they left and I clicked away.

I walked back to Strand Street, a main street of sorts. I followed the street toward another part of the city, by the coast. The first part of the walk was uphill, which was exhausting for some reason or another.

At this point there was already plenty of traffic, which always makes me a little nervous. I walked and walked, and finally arrived at the coastal part of capetown.

I walked to the lighthouse, which wasn't nearly as exciting as I had hoped. It's painted red and white, and rather cute.

As I walked along the coast I realized how much more active people are in capetown than in other cities in the country. There were heaps of people out for a walk, or a run, or to do yoga, etc... It was nice to see people out in public.

There were large green areas, and paths along the coast. This isn't a beach area, as there are rocks there, not sand. In one of the large green areas was a huge frame for glasses. Since election day was coming up, someone had put a sign in the frames reminding people to vote.

I walk a lot more, making my way to an area of the city called Sea Point. It's filled with shops and restaurants, one of which is where I had dinner. Sushi, it wasn't wonderful or awful. To get home I used uber for the first time. Easy, convenient, and relatively cheap. I wanted to walk, until I realized it would be over an hour of walking, after dark in a South African city.

The next morning I followed the same path I'd walked the day before, which was a cycle and footpath for part of the way. I made my way all the way to V&A waterfront, passing a small shipyard along the way. I like seeing things built, and I could see where some of the workers were living.

In the waterfront area I could see a clocktower that reminded me a bit of the lighthouse I'd seen the evening before, it was painted red and white. I found the diamond museum, and entered. I tried to pay, but they said I could pay after the tour. To go through the museum one of the employees gives you a tour, explaining the different exhibits along the way.

The museum isn't big, but it describes how diamonds are made, how they're mined, and how they're used. Diamonds are described in terms of shape and cost and uniquemess. At the end, there is a shop if you want to buy something.

In a small area of the waterfront are a couple cannons, they're all that is left of what used to be a fort in the area.

I ended up having a hot dog for lunch, as I wasn't in the mood to stop and sit in a cafe/restaurant. Probably not the healthiest thing I could do, buuuuut.....

My next stop was the medical museum. It didn't seem well known, it's actually an old hospital (the infectious disease unit,) located near the modern hospital. After I pushed the doorbell, I had to wait while they opened the security door for me. As far as I could tell, I was the only person in the museum at the time, and no one paid any attention to me.

There were displays of old medical books, old medical supplies, a mockup of a surgical room, etc... There were also displays of various diseases that had come to this area of the world, along with the stories of specific outbreaks.

When I left, I signed the guidebook, which confirmed my thoughts that this museum doesn't get a lot of visitors.

I walked from there to the Slave Lodge. This building was originally one of the places where slaves were brought to be sold after being imported from east African countries. After the slave trade stopped, it was turned into a set of courts. Now it is a museum all about the slave trade. There is an area set up as the interior of a slave ship, which is horrifying. Sooooo many people were crammed into such a small area. There is a monument listing some of the known names from one of the major slave trading companies.

I won't go into details here, but lets just say that what people have done to other people over history is absolutely awful. No human is any less than any other human being.

One area of the museum had temporary displays; one of these was about music. The display had a bunch of cd jackets, which I loved.

From the Slave Lodge I wanted to go to the District 6 museum, but it was already closed for the day. (Museums in this country don't seem to be open very much.) Instead, I ended up at a place called Charly's Bakery. YUM. Definitely one of the most brightly coloured bakeries I have ever seen.

After stuffing my face with a brownie and a cupcake, I walked toward the city fort. Unfortunately, that was also already closed for the day. Argh. Since I still had some time, I walked back to the waterfront, getting to see sunset while I was walking. I got back to V&A waterfront, and took a few night photos. It's a commercially developed area, there are plenty of people out there every night for dinner, shopping, and just being outside.

From there I walked to the neighborhood known as Bo Kap (sp?) which is known for it's coloured houses. I'd arranged dinner with a guy I met while traveling through Turkey 4+ years ago.

We'd only met briefly, while each of us was passing time at a bus station; we had dinner together back then.

Since Terrence lived in Capetown, I asked him to choose a place, he chose a Malay/Indian restaurant. Apparently this place had been featured on an episode of Iron Chef (or another cooking show along those lines,) a couple years ago. There is a lot of Indian food all over South Africa, but unlike my memories of India, there is a lot more meat involved in South African Indian food. Terrence and I ended up closing down the restaurant because we talked for so long.

The next morning I got up early, even though it was a holiday. It wasn't a regular national holiday, it was Election Day. I love the idea of Election Day being a day off for most people, that way very few people have an excuse for not voting. My host had made plans to hike on Table Mountain with some friends, and invited me along. He said it would be a little technical, but I should be fine. I made sure I had water, snacks, and decent clothing, and walked out the door.

Mark's friends picked us up, and we parked under the bottom of the cable car. I think the original plan had been to hike up, then take the cable car down, but upon arrival we discovered the cable car was closed for annual maintenance.

That meant hiking up and hiking down. Adventures are always fun, right?

When I arrived in Capetown one of the things I knew I wanted to do was hike up Table Mountain. I wanted to be able to say I made it to the top of such an iconic place.

I was happy Mark had invited me along, as it meant I didn't have to do any research about how to get to a trailhead, or what trail to use, or how to get back after hiking. We met a couple other folks at the parkplatz, then started moving.

Almost as soon as we started, I knew I was the slowest of the group. I don't get to hike nearly as often as I'd like, and when I do, I stop quite regularly to take photos and enjoy whateva views I can see. I didn't mind at all that I was the slowest, and I hope I wasn't holding anyone back.

We followed a trail called India Venster. The sign at the trailhead warns that it is a difficult trail, and some climbing will be needed. Talk about an understatement. For me, there was real climbing.

I loved every minute of the hike, even though it was one of the toughest hikes I've ever done. A few times I had to use my arms to pull myself up and onto a rock, then reach for the next part of the trail. I felt like a badass, hee hee. The trail varied constantly, so I never settled into a rhythm. It was an awesome challenge, and one I would gladly repeat, with someone of course.

The trail was quite steep in places, and full of amazing views. I got to see the sun move in the sky, and I got to see clouds roll in.

At one point we went around a corner and all of us felt as though we would be blown off the mountain due to strong winds. Mark showed me that I could see down the ridge, and see what they called the 12 Apostles. Very picturesque.

We passed a sign that faced the other way, saying "not an easy way down.' That was even more of an understatement than the first sign I'd seen that day! There is no way I would risk going down the trail we came up, as I'm sure I'd fall all the way down the mountain. I can't imagine many people would hike down that trail, but I'm sure there are a few.

When we got to the top we found out the cafe was closed, along with the cable car. This was a disappointment, but thankfully all of us were prepared just in case. As we were on top it got really cloudy, and the wind kept up. We were all rather cold, and didn't linger as long as we would've in the sun.

Another reason I'm glad I was with other people: they knew other trails on the mountain, and knew how to hike down. We went down a trail called Platteklip Gorge, which was basically a giant, neverending, very irregular staircase. Since I have little to no natural grace or coordination, I had to watch every step I took.

It maybe sounds crazy, but my mind was exhausted as we went down, so I had a hard time staying upright. As with any descent, my quads were totally wrecked by the time I got to the bottom, waaaaay behind everyone else.

I was so far behind that I got totally separated. Thank goodness I had my phone, as I called Mark and figured out where to find everyone else. They picked me up, and we drove back closer to Mark's neighborhood. We stopped at a cafe, just because we could. I loved my sandwich, though it wasn't anything special. It's funny how simple food tastes so amazing after hard physical effort. If I lived here I'd like to think I'd do heaps of hikes like this one. 

After going home, I took a nap, and rested my legs. Around 1600, I left the house and started walking back toward V&A waterfront again. I went shopping in an outdoor store, finding a pair of pants that I sorely needed. Yay. From there I walked to Long Street, since I'd seen an Indian restaurant there a couple days earlier and wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, it was closed. Fortunately, there was another Indian place across the street. The new place looked cheaper, and more basic. I was happy to try it out :) I ordered a thali, which ended up being way too much food, but I was happy to eat as much as I could.

The next day after I came back from Simonstown I went back to the same restaurant and had a vegetable curry and roti. Yum. This is the life!

The following morning I was up early again, and walked back to the waterfront. I'd bought tickets online for a tour of Robben Island, thankfully there were still a few available during my visit in Capetown. They were booked out several days in advance.

I went through a security check before boarding the boat, going through a metal detector, and having to show my ticket and form of identification.

The boat that took us to Robben Island had three levels, I managed to get to the second level. On the way to the island I got to stand on the second level, in the back. This meant I got the view of the city and mountain as we drove away. I can see why there are so many photos of that view. 

The boat pulled up to the dock at the island, and everyone boarded one of several buses. On each bus there was a guide up front with a microphone, who started by introducing themselves. 

After the introduction, the us pulled out and started driving around the island. Almost immediately our guide noticed a penguin waddling down the road, he said they come to the island occasionally. Needless to say, this made me very happy. 

As the guide said, Robben Island is most known as where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years of imprisonment, but that is far from the entire history of the island.

We saw part of the village in which island employees live, which includes a church. We saw what used to be the school, (kids now commute to capetown every day for school,) and a small coffee shop. There aren't a lot of people who live on the island, but they're necessary, when you think about it. 

We also saw one of the quarries where prisoners did hard labor. We saw a little bit of the WW2 history of the island, where an artillery battery was located. Those guns could shoot a looong way, the island is a very strategic point. I wish we could've gotten off the bus at that point. 

Finally we came to the entrance of the prison. We all piled off the bus, and our bus was greeted by a new guide. 

All of the guides for the prison portion of this tour are former prisoners. When they describe parts of life and parts of the prison, they're describing parts of their prior life. It gets intense at times. 

Our guide showed us different areas of the prison, including the cell where Mandela lived. We saw group housing, the recreation years, the so called Mandela's Garden, etc... I was fascinated, and horrified. The only thing I wish I'd been able to hear was an idea of what daily life was for the prisoners. 

We walked back to the dock, and boarded the boat for the return trip. This time I had to sit inside, and it made me really really seasick. The waves weren't that bad, but I react to such things rather dramatically. The ride back to Capetown felt a lot longer than the ride out because I was miserable. Ugh.

We got off the boat back at the port, and I immediately noticed a group of seals laying out on the docks. Very cute. Ugly at the same time.

From the waterfront I walked to the castle of good hope, also called the city fort. It was under renovation in a lot of areas, but it was open. I paid my entry fee and went in to see what I could see. 

It turned out there wasn't a lot of anything of interest for me, argh. I saw a room with art on display, a couple goats in the courtyard, and a few ducks in the courtyard. I most enjoyed climbing up to the roof, though I don't think that area was open to the public. When I see a door that isn't specifically closed and blocked off, I like to see what is behind the door. I found a random stairwell and followed it all the way up to the roof. Great views of Table Mountain.

After the castle/fortress I walked to the District 6 Museum. It's called District 6 because that was the name of the area that had a huge flip flop in the days of apartheid. The neighborhood was mostly black originally, but in a location whites wanted. 

So the government told the blacks to get out, and tore everything down so whites could redevelop the area. The result of tearing everything down was in a huge loss of culture. Families lost housing, neighborhoods lost sports areas, hair salons, etc... Reading the information and seeing the photos was heartbreaking. It's a small museum, filled to the brim.

I stopped in Charly's Bakery after leaving the museum, but didn't buy anything. I have no idea why, but nothing appealed to me. I don't know how such a thing is possible! I should point out everything looked good, but nothing screamed "eat me!"

After the museum I walked toward city hall, going around the entire building. It turns out that the first public speech given by Mandela after his release from prison was right in front of city hall. There is a huge platz there, usually filled with some vendors, and cars.

I walked home, stopping at a supermarket for dinner food. Along the way I kept looking at Table Mountain, which was wearing a hat of clouds. After a few days in the city I could understand why there are so many photos of Table Mountain. It's appearance changes all the time, depending on time of day and the weather.

The next morning I got up in time to do laundry, then Terrence picked me up for a day trip. Read about that in another post.

When I arrived back home I took the time to start packing my stuff, and figure out arrangements for the next morning.

The next morning I was up in time to catch an uber taxi to the airport, which ended up being cheaper than I expected. Yay! I paid for my ticket (they let me book it on the phone, then pay cash when I checked in, I wish that happened more often!) and made my way through the airport.