My first day in Cape Town..

My first 24+ hours in South Africa have been fantastic. I received a personal tour of Cape Town from my cab driver from the airport on the way to my hotel. It kind of felt like Chevy Chase's 1983 "National Lampoon's Vacation"... with the driver pointing out things of interest, The Harbor, Table Mountain, a few islands etc... He mentioned that Cape Town has many wine areas...I read an article a few years ago about South Africa being the "New Hot Wine Region". I'll be investigating and reporting back on this matter.

I arrived at the Westin Grand, Cape Town, Arabella Quays around 11:00am. Check in isn't until 3 but the nice guy at the desk said it would be ready soon and "did I care to go to the spa and relax"? Ummmm.... Yes I would love to knowing that the gym is in the spa. I've been sitting for what seems like a million years and need to do something. So here I am rummaging through my bag trying to find my gym clothes and not throw panties or other clothes items all over the fancy lobby. I head to the gym and got a nice workout in. How could it be bad when the gym is on the 19th floor overlooking the harbor? I was delighted to shower off all my yucky airplaneness in the serene spa.

I headed down to the lobby and my room was ready. Have I told you how much I love my Starwood AMEX? She's good to me. I'm a big fan of the Starwood Hotels. Very consistent. Nice boy at front desk places me in the King Deluxe room (I think I ordered a queen). Yea! The reason I tell you about what kind of room I'm in is there is no need to worry about my safety while at the hotel. I'm on the 15th floor with a beautiful view of the water! After exiting the elevator you have to swipe your card key to get through the bullet proof glass doors to get onto my floor.

I walked down to the waterfront area. This is like pier 39 on crack. Took some PEEPS pictures, walked through a few stores and decided it was happy hour. I went to a micro-brewery and had a local beer, yes people, I veered from my tried and true Bud Light. The dad-type guys two seats down from me were clearly American, hard to spot. I asked them where they were from. Mark and Greg are from Washington DC and they are here for some convention.

I came back to the hotel and took a little nap. Planned out my first meeting with Africa Unite in the morning.