A Tale of Two Hotels, Cape Town

Two hotels sit across the street from each other.

Both are on the edge of Greenmarket Square in the Old Business District of Capetown, South Africa. Both are quality hotels…but they represent two entirely different aspects of the city. So different from each other yet they have so much in common. Welcome to the Tudor Hotel and the Inn on the Square.

Hint: Click on the photo to enlarge it.

The Tudor Hotel (yellow building) is on the right of the photo, Inn on the Square on the left.

See, they are literally right across the street from each other…

yet they are worlds apart.

So, what do I mean by that!

Well…the Tudor Hotel is the oldest hotel in Cape Town. It has quite a history. Established during Dutch settlement in the 1750’s it was known as “the only place in town that could provide sophisticated accommodation”. Naturally it has gone through several rebuilds and renovations over the hundreds of year, but it maintains its sense of history while providing comfortable accommodation.

The Inn on the Square is in an elegant building modeled after a “notable piece of architecture”…the Shell Mex House in London, England. So, late 1890’s look on the exterior, but the interior! Well, that is ultra modern…clean lines, elegant.

We stayed in the Tudor…I love high ceilings (truly, that’s what made the difference for me!)

But next time I would like to try the Inn of the Square.

The Square. That would be Greenmarket Square and its daily African Market. Early each morning we watched as workers wheeled their goods and kiosks down to the square.

And each evening we watched as they took everything down and away. So much work!

Being so close to the market, we were there frequently. Some of the pottery in the next photo  is now in my home in Canada.

Remember you can click on the photo to see the beautiful designs better.

Numerous restaurants in the area. Our first evening in Cape Town we walked a short distance (to the next street) and found the Da Capo! restaurant. (Aside: yes, we walked and yes,  I was a bit nervous but felt secure.) 

At Da Capo! we ordered three unique tapas…

• seared Kudo sirlon

(if you do not know what a kudo is, check out my posting from Kruger Park, click here)

• Prawns Involtini (prawns and a layer of ham, all wrapped in philo pastry)
• Spring rolls with marinated ostrichThis is a marinated ostrich spring roll…never thought I would ever eat ostrich!

Just up the street from the hotels is Long Street where we find more restaurants, lots of shops, and the Pan African Market. This is an indoor market with hundreds (?) of little shops on four levels featuring goods from all over Africa…not just South Africa.

 

Do you see the yellow sign, ground level, right side of the yellow building?

That’s the entrance to the huge Pan African Market

where we bought…

a Zulu mask.

Like in many markets around the world, every other booth seems to carry the same merchandise and soon you become indifferent as it all seems so familiar after you have seen the same thing a hundred times. However, I have learned to purchase if it captivates me because when you get home you realize how unique it was.

When you  were looking for the Pan African sign, did you notice this restaurant?

One enters the Timbuktu Cafe on the second floor of the Pan African Market. We were intrigued and decided to check it out…and were glad we did!

It is gorgeous…colourful and eclectic.

We are invited to wash our hands in this bright blue sink that has coloured glass beads and a little glass turtle in it. The water comes from the over sized fancy decanter above it. This invitation should have clued us into the upcoming lack of utensils…but it didn’t! 

I am not sure what we ordered…

but it was delicious.

Notice the white “rolls”…they are not napkins.

Those “rolls” are your utensils.

Break off pieces of white “bread” “rolls” (I am struggling to find the name for something so unique to me!). Use these pieces to scoop up your food. You eat the “utensil” along with the meal!

Aside: I went back to  my journal and discovered those “utensils” are Ethiopian flat bread.

The things one learns when you travel outside your own culture!

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Happy travels!