Sunday, February 22, 2009

36 hours in Camps Bay: The Neptune, Maranellos, The Hussar and some exercise.

The hibiscus bush waves and makes leafy sounds in the odd energetic gust outside on the verandah of our Ground Floor Superior garden unit. I'm glad it is a hibiscus bush, if it was a bush of indeterminate type I would not have been able to use it as a scenic mood-setter for this Camps Bay chapter. I'm looking at the bush again wondering how to brew it into a healthful cup of hibiscus tea.

These are the sort of thoughts you have when the surroundings and comfort around you have smoothed off the jagged edges that stress has etched onto your wave form.

We’ve got 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 1 of the bathrooms is en-suite and the other conveniently placed so as to be within easy reach of the living area and bedroom 2. The fittings and decor are a consistent theme of uncluttered rectilinear polished wood with upholstered creamy bits to sit on, lie on or affixed to the wall to muse at. I like the expansive and blocky central sofa thing in the lounge: part chaise-longue, part bed and part railway platform it compels you to recline and reach for the flat screen’s remote controller or your Nancy Drew Omnibus. There are sliding doors from the main bedroom and lounge to the verandah and garden from where you can just about see the sea and where there is a good-sized crystal clear swimming pool. 2 pools actually: if you go round the corner of the building there is another pool bordered with wooden decking. What else? The second bedroom has two single beds, bathroom en-suite to the main bedroom has a shower and the second bathroom has a bath with a shower and glass enclosure built around it. The dining room has a glass table that seats 6 and the kitchen has pretty much everything you need. The units are serviced every day so no need for a dishwasher. The living area is air-conditioned, there is a landline telephone where the rates are more favourable for phoning local numbers. There is also a wifi antenna in the garden that beams on the complex giving you fast internet access. If your service provider is MWeb or IS or a handful of others you can jump on the network for free by just logging on. If not then a credit card will buy your bytes.

 

 

The Neptune consists of 1 and 2 bedroom flats in one complex. With  the large,landscaped grounds, sloping terrain and open walkways and galleries giving access,  each apartment has an almost freestanding feel.

On our first night in Camps Bay we went to Maranellos. It used to be called Luigi's Trattoria and the menu seems to have expanded under the new Ferrari inspired name. The big and fragrant frangipani tree is still in the private courtyard but it was windy enough to blow the tagliatelle of your fork so we sat inside. Chorizo type sausage folded pizza was my choice and Rose had the fish. I like to think that a calzone comes with more filling than its 2 dimensional counterpart.

Here we are up on Hely Hutchinson Rd having a run. With gentle beaches and many furlongs of restaurant frontage to lounge at it is easy to be contrary and try out the roads, grass verges and pavements of the high altitude reaches of Camps Bay. The road slopes cruelly upwards, the wind hootles and shrieks and we stride and grimace like something out of Chariots of Fire. O Clouds unfold...

It was then neccessary to replenish spent kilojoules on Saturday night. The Hussar Grill in Green Point once allowed us to use their bathrooms as non-patrons. We vowed to repay the kindness by eating there. This was their Camps Bay branch that we went to.  The Hussar specialises in being a steak place. They will tell you to the day how old their meat is: 28 days is the play-it-safe optimum age for a well stored steak. Up to 31 days is doable but the meat needs the final scrutiny by the Hussar of steaks before being flung on the grill. We wents for the massive 840g of hog ribs. With chips. To share. Tender, delicious and delicate flesh. The meat for firemen, explorers and hog farmers with a sensitive leaning. And bring your own wine if you want 'cos there's no corkage.

Make Camps Bay your town for a weekend or a month by contacting us at Holiday Rentals Cape Town.