Paula’s Birthday
Last week, on 5 June 2015, we celebrated Paula, my sister-in-law’s birthday. They arrived on Friday afternoon. For the birthday feast, we booked dinner at a restaurant in Bloubergstrand, called Ons Huisie, a heritage site. Before we left for dinner, we toasted Paula with a glass of bubbly.
Ons Huisie (or Our Little House) was formally a fisherman’s home. We were impressed with the warm atmosphere which met us inside, as it was extremely cold outside. The friendly waiter also stole our hearts. Paula and Johan ordered the Lamb Bredie, which was a lamb and green been stew. Deon decided on the Seafood Platter and I, as usual, ordered a pasta dish – this time it was the Sir Baird Pasta with chicken strips and mushrooms in a béchamel sauce.
The next day, we decided to introduce Johan and Paula to the Cape Town that we love, and we took them, first of all, to the Palms Market in Woodstock. It was a wonderful experience, with a buzz of people, aromas of curry and everything wonderful, little shops all around the market to browse and people to talk to. Isabella Niehaus, organiser of the Saturday market, was there and showed us where we could find the beautiful mushrooms that we photographed so eagerly during our photographic course at her house in Langebaan a few weeks ago.
Then we took the family to the Eastern Food Bazaar in the heart of Cape Town, a favourite with Capetonians. I could see that Johan and Paula really loved the buzz, as it took them back (in their minds though) to Zanzibar, which they love.
It was far too busy to order a meal at the Eastern Food Bazaar, so we had to come up with Plan B. Not too difficult to come up with Plan B – after two seconds of contemplating, we decided to introduce them to Maria’s. And we were (again) not disappointed. Johan, Paula and Deon ordered the grilled calamari and they were in heaven. My vegetarian meze platter was a winner. The ambiance on Dunkley Square is just the best. Dogs and people share the space. It was the best lunch ever.
That evening Deon was in charge of the main dish – which was shoulder of lamb. I added the veggies and potatoes and we enjoyed another wonderful evening chatting and laughing about a wonderful life – and is the following quote of Douglas Adams not true: “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
Wow, Sandra. Ek dink jou quote is in die kol!
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
Dit is net so.