Home.

We're home.

Frankfurt Redux

Back in Frankfurt for another layover on the way home. Not as long a layover this time so not venturing back into town.

Two complaints:

1) The Lufthansa website/seat assignment system was designed by Satan himself, consistently assigning us to separate seats in the middle of rows even though we were checking in well ahead of most other passengers.

2) The toilet paper in Frankfurt airport has the soft, silky consistency of gritty particle board (even in the executive lounges).

These are easily the worst two things that the German people have ever done.

(Well, they're in the top three anyway.)

Cape of Good Hope

Table Mountain relented for our last day of vacation and we managed to get to the top for a view of Cape Town from above.


After that we went on a driving tour of the Cape of Good Hope. This photo at Cape Point at the southern end of the Cape represents the furthest we've ever been from home and therefore the start of our journey back.


A brief post today since we're packing up to head to the airport this afternoon. A short 30 hours of travel from now and we should be home.


P.S.... PENGUINS!!!

Cape Town

In Cape Town there ended up being an overbooking for our first night in our tour company's landmark hotel, the Mount Nelson. Even though we're not that fussed about it, over the course of the trip they've been making it up to us by plying us with free suite upgrades, a free helicopter safari, and more free booze than we can manage to drink (and if you know us, you know that's saying a lot). Here in Cape Town they moved us for the first night to a hotel across the street and upgraded us to a suite which was HOLY CRAP THIS PLACE IS BIGGER THAN OUR OLD CONDO!!!


The next morning we moved into the Mount Nelson which is more of an old colonial hotel, very Shining-esque like the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe. Ironically, we were happier in the first hotel that the touring company was embarrassed to put us in.

For sightseeing we were meant to go up Table Mountain but high winds had shut the gondola down. (Those familiar with our problems with mountains in Ecuador and Japan will know that mountains generally don't like us and usually arrange the weather to keep us off them.) Instead, we went for a driving tour around Cape Town followed by a nice slow lunch on the waterfront.


For New Year's Eve, we were booked in one of the hotel restaurants for dinner and dancing. In our usual style, we bailed early on NYE though this was a shame since we were sat at the best table in the house - they must have thought something was wrong when we got up and left by 10PM. We were asleep well before midnight. :(