Tag: unique

Uncategorized

Spitalfields Market

h4rri3t

Spitalfields in a covered marketing in central London. Found at: 16 Commercial St, Spitalfields, London E1 6EW. It has been on the same spot for 350 years – impressive right. Who knows when it will re open but wanted to make sure this travel tuesday it was on your radar.

With a whole range of stalls – it is worth going for a walk around even if you are not looking for anything. I found some lovely unique earrings which were like branches. So there are a whole range of different local businesses and local vendors – there are some chain shops in the permanent fixtures around the outside of the market – but that is not why we come to markets right!

There are two reasons I come to Spitalfields – the food and the books. The food is amazing. I could spend all day there eating sweet treats and lunches from all over the world. There is a whole section of the market kept just for the food stalls with old school benches and table to sit at and enjoy your food. There is a whole range of options, from asian, italian, middle eastern through to some of the more ‘traditional’ options. The sweet treats are a must… just be careful with how many to try and get home – they might now survive.

As I said the other reason I go to Spitalfields is the book stall – I love this book stall! There are the traditional reads to some different ones and all at affordbale prices. Around £3-4 a book – always end up buying a few. The choice is endless as you can see from the image above, there are a range of topics and it stretches across all of the stall, there are shelves behind and the owner is just sat on a stall on the outskirts of the stall. Generally they prefer to take cash (this might change) however it is a great place to pick up a new read or something you have always wanted to try.

Until next time 🙂

Uncategorized

Hope Distillery

h4rri3t

Seeing as it is Sunday – why not a tipple…

On the outskirts of the Cape Town this up and coming distillery is a lovely one if you are looking for that something different off the beaten track…Also if you like gin – which I do.

These are the choices of gin – all slightly different but all delicious.

Hope Distillery has a range of tastings available – there are nipples to go alongside too even! It is a lovely open floor – it looks a little odd from the outside and the area is a industrial place so no many people around on the weekends. But it is safe and there is a distillery upstairs.

The shop here, you can buy all sorts from bottles of gin, of varying sizes, even socks and all the extra thigns you might need for your own gin evening.

Its nice as it is so clean and open, there is space to walk around and see the product process in part. You can not go down to this section, naturally and when I went there wasn’t any information available to explain the process but the staff there are very knowledgable about it all.

As you can see everything is served together on a wooden board, and you are taken through step by step. This is not a guided tasting but once you finish one, they clear it, giving you another glass, garnish and mixer.

I can say which was my favourite but it was a lovely afternoon none the less – my usual go to is a dry gin with bitter lemon. I love the smell of the botanicals – always makes me think I am drinking something more sophisticated.

Hope distillery is shown in a few boutique places around Cape Town and at the Old Biscuit Mill market too – so please enjoy safely – best to get an uber there and back 🙂

Until next time.

Uncategorized

Mount Nelson Afternoon Tea

h4rri3t

As I have said previously, I love afternoon tea, so when my Brazilian friend asked me to join her at afternoon tea – how could I say no…

The Mount Nelson hotel is well known in Cape Town, a prestigious hotel with a larger archway at the bottom of the driveway. You walk up this palm tree lined drive to the front of the hotel. There is security at the gate and at the front of the hotel. The door opened and we were steered towards the afternoon tea.

This is what leads out to the gardens, where some of the afternoon is served. There are some tables inside but the outside is lovely.

We sat down at our table and given the tea menu which was incredible. There is a very extensive list of green, fruit and black teas to suit every taste. The waitresses are very helpful in figuring out which tea you want. The first part of the afternoon is the savouries, there is a range of quiches, sausage rolls, cauliflower bhajis, sandwiches, cheese bread etc. The choice is just amazing. It was filling, it was just so delicious. The china all matched and was immaculate. The serving was perfect. All very impressive.

What followed was warmed scones – with whipped or clotted cream and jam or even butter. They were plain scones so they were sweet enough but the cream and the jam was just the perfect compliment.

What followed were the clean plates ready for the final ‘course’ two tables full of every cake, sweet treat and desert you can think of. Allergens are on the descriptions/name plates of the items. You can stick to your favourites; millionaires shortbread, chocolate cake, lemon meringue, anything you could possible fancy. You can go back multiple times as well! Can you imagine? Unlimited tea and cake !

The gardens surrounding the hotel makes you think you cant be anywhere near a busy road. The vegetation, the trees and the bushes just seem to create this haven in the middle of the city. What an Eden. It is a stunning experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and although I will never afford to stay in the hotel, this small experience has been wonderful.

Uncategorized

Mojo Market

h4rri3t

Location: Sea Point

Times open: 10 – 10 every day !

This is an indoor market – not the most popular in town during the weekend, but i can imagine during the week at lunchtimes it would be manic!

Mojo market has food galore, again from a range of cuisines, the ice cream is exceptionally good here as well. There are a number of bar too, which have good floor space, so a cold beer with your food, this would be the place to go. I have not seem alcohol freely available at other markets.

Not only food and drink available here as well guys, amongst the labyrinth of corridors there are boutique shops with less of your usual souvenirs, and more African print t-shirt and children’s clothes. Ordinary clothes and jewellery. It is a nice space to walk around with two ATMs at either end of the market and the stalls seem mostly permanent and therefore card is more widely accepted.

Live music is definitely a theme for Cape Town Markets, these places seem to be just ready for these up and coming artists. The audience is quite large and with decent set times – its a gig you would want.

As you can see from the picture above, there is ample places to sit and watch the world go by, there is free wifi here for those who want or need to work. Their is upstairs seating for those that want to get away from the hub bub of below. The cricket was on in the background, no sound but enough to keep an eye on the score if that was your thing. I saw so many families here, relaxing with pizzas and groups of friends enjoying a bit of everything.

It is a good market and to be available everyday – one that I know I will be visiting again.

Uncategorized

Giraffe House

h4rri3t

Sounds pretty simple right – but it is so much more than that.

It is a ways out of town, R400 Uber, so go as a group if you can. It is out towards Stellenbosch, about 30 mins in time.

R30 to get in, and you get a bucket of feed for every two people. This feeds the giraffes, farm animals and ostriches. You can take any route around the farm.. There are birds, llamas, goats, monkeys, Giraffes, crocodiles, meerkats, tortoises, snakes, and plenty of others.

We went to the giraffes first, and at the end we managed to get the female to come over and say hi, she ended up eating 2 of the buckets all to herself – I was worried about over feeding her but clearly that is not too much of a problem.

I always have a conflict about these places – seeing animals in cages or enclosures is never great, but when the focus is education and understanding better I can get behind it a little more. I am always worried about their welfare, but some of them are animals you could never see in the wild, and some even you can’t see in their cage.

Moving on! We wandered about the dusty space, there is plenty of land put it that way. There were picnic spots and a small kiosk – I was surprised it as so quiet to be honest. Such a lovely space to be in, and see such amazing animals, getting to interact with them was even better!


If you can get a group together – or you are group of people then stop by this place. We spent an hour and a bit here, and it was a lovely afternoon out of the city.