International Museum Day was launched a few decades ago with the main aim of raising awareness of the importance of museums and the huge role it plays in our communities and our lives.

This year, 18 May 2012 marks the 35th anniversary of International Museum Day and Cape Town will be celebrating this day with the rest of the world.

This year’s theme is Museums in a Changing World. New challenges, new inspirations.

Image by Iziko Museums*

There are several unique museums in Cape Town filled with rich heritage, history and culture. Many of them offer free entry and have a number of activities available in celebration of International Museum Day…

Chavonnes Battery Museum
The Chavonnes Battery Museum in the V&A Waterfront offers free entry in Celebration of International Museum Day on Friday 18th May 2012. A trip to Chavonnes Battery is like a blast from the past. Here you can get the feel of what Cape Town was like 300 years ago. Information boards are presented in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. The museum is situated in the Nedbank/BOE Building, Clock Tower in the V&A Waterfront.

South African Museum
The South African Museum located in the Company Gardens in Cape Town is one of the oldest, most beautiful museums in the City. The museum offers a distinct range of collections that are thousands of years old. From fossils, to stone aged tools to extinct wild life, the South Africa Museum has it all. On International Museum Day the CEO of Iziko Museums will present a public discussion regarding the role of relevance of museums in the digital age. Entry to the Museum is free. This is one discussion you do not want to miss.

Iziko Museums
The Iziko Museums of Cape Town are an amalgamation of national museums located in and near the CBD, along what has been dubbed the “Museum Mile”. These museums aim to inspire, inform and encourage all people to celebrate and respect our diverse heritage and culture.

In celebration of International Museum Day the Iziko Museums has a variety of activities in line for the entire day that include book sales, film screenings and presentations at the Planetarium. A detailed programme can be found on their website.

Cape Town is home to many other great museums:

Bokaap Museum

Castle of Good Hope

District Six Museum

Robben Island Museum

Heart of Cape Town Museum

Slave Lodge

Iconic, breathtaking, magnificent and awe-inspiring are only a few words used to describe Cape Town’s (and South Africa’s) landmark mountain — Table Mountain.

Those of you lucky enough to have reached the top will know that standing on the flat-topped mountain feels like standing shoulder to shoulder with the clouds…no words can describe that feeling.

Besides rubbing shoulders with the clouds, you can also absorb views of the city, Robben Island, and overlook the Atlantic seaboard (depending on which direction you are facing).

Table Mountain by new7wonders

On Thursday, 3 May 2012, Mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille, (bursting with excitement) announced that Table Mountain has been officially named one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

According to an online source: “The New Seven Wonders title has great long-term marketing value for Cape Town and South Africa. The wonder becomes part of school curricula, it becomes a ‘must see’ and ‘bucket list’ item for travellers and explorers,” said De Lille.

A three-year contest to select seven of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders resulted in hundreds of millions of votes being cast via mobile and online platforms from 220 countries worldwide.

Along with Table Mountain, the Amazon forest in South America, Halong Bay in Vietnam, the Iguazu Falls in Brazil and Argentina, Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo Island in Indonesia and the Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines complete the list of Seven Wonders of the World.

Weather hiking up the mountain with a group of friends or taking your family on trip up there with the cableway, exploring Cape Town’s natural wonder should definitely go on your bucket list.

Cape Town has shone this year – being awarded recognition in so many different spheres. On the last day of the year, That’s Cape Town thought it fitting to reminisce, as so many people do, on a Golden Year for the Mother City.

Beginning with being awarded the TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice best destination of the year, we saw Cape Town’s stature in the travel and tourism industry really grow. Cape Town was also announced as the Leading Destination in Africa for the seventh time! We’ve now won the award four years in a row. Eight of the nineteen South African properties making the Conde Nast Traveller’s Gold List this year were from Cape Town and surrounds. That’s half of the South African properties on the list! And the Cape Town International Airport won Best Airport in Africa (ACI award) in March this year.

Of course, it’s now common knowledge that the city was awarded the World Design Capital for 2014, adding to the list of accolades Cape Town has received this year. And there is evidence that everyone has been working at making our City better and more beautiful – with even the Cape Town Roads and Stormwater Department being acknowledged for the work they’ve done this year in improving the roads and traffic problems.

In the food world, Cape Town came out tops in the Eat Out 2011 Awards. Acknowledging restaurants across South Africa for quality and overall dining experience, a whopping nine of the Top Ten list were Mother City establishments. With Chef of the Year; Restaurant of the Year; and the Service Excellence Award all being scooped by local restaurants, too.

Cape Town is wine country – and the wines produced on the farms in and around the Mother City have shone both locally and internationally this year at Award Ceremonies.

On the whole, it’s safe to say that a visit to Cape Town will never leave one disappointed. And with a year like 2011, one can only wonder how much better things in 2012 can get. Have a great time today, remembering this past year, and welcoming in the new one.

In the last few weeks leading up to Christmas, That’s Cape Town (being lovers of good food and suckers for anything festive) visited many Christmas Markets. Some were really lovely, a few were a complete disappointment, but a few really stood out. The Blaauwklippen Christmas Market is one of these.

Fun at the Blaauwklippen Market

Blaauwklippen’s weekly market has been running for some time now, so when Market Architect, Hugo Le Roux, got to work planning a specially Christmas-themed, evening market, he had a strong sense of what would work and what wouldn’t. Adding a number of new craft stalls, and  stringing long strings of lights through the big trees created a festive, almost magical feel, with the horses playing in the paddocks a little way away, and the many old-fashioned carriages standing out on the front lawn.

Candy-floss, popcorn, pony rides and a jumping castle, ensured the kids were very well taken care of and mom and dad were free to sip on a glass of wine, listen to the Marimba Band and wander through the stalls. A number of stalls struck us as unique and special: an antique jewelry stall was a breath of fresh air, considering all the modern jewelry most markets have for sale nowadays; Burtschers Chocolaterie was also there, selling a vast array of handmade delicacies that were beautiful to look at, and delicious to taste. We were particularly interested in the chocolate appreciation courses Birgit told us she offers. The Art stall, too, with its original, local pieces for sale reinforced that local is, most definitely, lekker.

On the food side, the Thai stall, replicating an authentic Thai food market stall was a real treat. The shwarmas from Eddie and his team were definitely one of the highlights of the evening. With four different home-made chilli sauces to try, and the many shwarma ingredients stuffed generously into a bulging pita, the meal was both incredibly tasty and very good value for money. Lastly, the ice-cream stand, Cold Gold is so good it demands a mention. Only starting the company a few months ago, and creating each of her inventive flavours by hand, the proof of Janine’s talent lies in the fact that she has been nominated for two of the prestigious local Eat In awards. With flavours like White chocolate, cashew and coconut; and a kiddies ‘Bubblegum’ flavour made up exclusively of a mix of fruit flavours (taking her 3 weeks to perfect!) her ice-cream is an art and truly a passion for her.

Serving several award-winning wines, (you really need to try the Before & After – an aperitif made of fortified Nobel Late Harvest) Blaauwklippen has remained an unpretentious, family focussed farm. And if you missed out on the Christmas markets, be sure to visit their weekly market on a Sunday morning. You will be wowed. We assure you.

November 19^th was a scorcher. It was the first day that officially felt like Summer in Cape Town. It was the perfect day to attend the Summer Festival at Jordan Winery, and That’s Cape Town headed out for a lazy day of festivities and games.

Jordan Winery feels like it’s in the country, although it is only 45 minutes from the city. The long, winding dirt-road trailing away from the main road into Stellenbosch leads visitors through some of the most picturesque vineyards and farms. It is almost an Alice in Wonderland type experience; the further along the dirt road and into the hills we get, the further away the city with its hustle and bustle seems.

But being off the beaten track does not mean that Jordan is unknown, or unpopular. With award-winning chef George Jardine at the helm of the Jordan Restaurant, and husband and wife team, Kathy and Gary Jordan crafting the wines, this family-run farm has a winning formula.

To be able to visit and experience it first-hand was truly exciting. Upon arriving and checking out the programme for the day, the cellar tour with Kathy seemed the obvious choice for us. And we were wowed!  It was the most informative and fascinating cellar tour we have ever been on! Kathy’s humble approach to sharing a bit of what they do and how they started just revealed the passion with which the Jordans work. This couple’s desire to share of their craft and knowledge was unbelievable.

After the tour (and tasting of the latest Chardonnay from a couple of barrels), it was time to indulge in some of the foodie delights on offer. George Jardine told us that he’d been baking since the crack of dawn, preparing food for his Willowtree Market. His food displays the exact same passion that the Jordans possess for winemaking. It’s easy to see why the combination is a vibrant one.

The Willow-tree Market

Sitting under a tree, drinking the Jordan Outlier Sauvignon Blanc (2009) and feasting on mussels and sour-dough bread dipped into the coconut milk; fresh lemon; ginger; garlic and lemon-grass broth – it was difficult to believe that we could get any nearer to a perfect celebration of the arrival of Summer.