Last weekend was a hard one for us—all our friends studying abroad in Europe flooded our newsfeeds with pictures in lederhosen, sipping beers as big as their faces, and chowing down on gargantuan soft pretzels: Oktoberfest. This is not to say we have any regrets about deciding to take go “off the beaten path” and come to Cape Town, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have major FOMO of the wild weekend in Munich. Instead of drowning in our sorrows (okay, we are being a little dramatic), we decided to keep ourselves busy (and off Facebook) with a few especially “Cape Townian” activities.
1. Mocktoberfest
The only way to get over missing Oktoberfest: make your own. If you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em – am I right? We headed to the Old Biscuit Mill, a Saturday-only food market that is nothing short of heavenly. We wish we could go on and explain how extraordinary it really is, but we are trying to keep this post a reasonable length, and we are fairly confident we could complete a senior thesis about its offerings. After picking up a plate of pancake balls and an artisan pizza (and a burger, hotdog, Belgian waffle, paella, cake pop…again, trying to keep this post short), we headed straight for the beer and pretzel vendor. If it weren’t for the fact that everyone around us said, “cheers, bru”, instead of “prost”, we would have thought we were in Deutschland. Although we didn’t get to reunite with all of our friends studying in other cities and chill at the Holiday Inn (literally), we had an amazing time with our new friends that we met here and got to celebrate the weekend in true South African style. To conclude: Mocktoberfest > Oktoberfest.
2. Go to a Rugby Game
In South Africa, the springbok is not just the national animal and a scrumptious dinner option, it is also the name of their rugby team. We got to see the team in action this past week in their highly anticipated game versus Australia. Before the game, we didn’t really know what to expect or have a remote idea of the rules, but we definitely could not have predicted we would be able to finagle our way into sitting front row when our tickets clearly indicated our rightful place was in the nosebleeds. The game was filled with cheering fans, a sea of green and gold, and players with some of the thickest thighs we have ever laid eyes on. But really though, lamb shanks. We had an awesome time and got to experience a traditional South African pastime. Go Bokke!
3. Visit the Breathtaking Beaches
While our friends in Europe spend each passing week in an additional layer of clothing, summer is on its way to Cape Town! Cape Town is a port city that is surrounded on the one side by mountains and on the other by beautiful beaches. We recently determined that it is appropriate to occasionally opt out of class (sorry, Mom and Dad) for some much needed R & R. After spending the day attempting to bronze our current Casper-like complexions, we often continue our days into the night. All along the beach are restaurants and bars where one can go for “sundowners”—a drink with hor d’oeuvres—while they watch the sun set. There is no better way to end a stress-free day than getting to relax and enjoy the most beautiful area of Cape Town, Camps Bay.
Even though we might miss out on some of the amazing opportunities that traveling abroad to Europe has to offer, our friends don’t get to experience all of the awesome uniquely South African activities that constantly remind us why we made the decision to spend our semester here. Oh, and just in case you were worried that our Europe FOMO persists, don’t fret, we just booked our tickets for an 11-day Eurotrip as a pit stop on our way back home in November!
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