Lekker/not lekker
Lekker:
Our four days in and around Cape Town were mostly fabulous. I don't want to become one of those travel bores so I won't drone on and on about how pretty the scenery is, etc. Capetonians certainly love their city though, and the usual phrase you hear is "there are two types of South Africans - those who live in Cape Town and those who want to live here". You can see their point, as their city has the massive advantage of being built in a stunning natural ampitheatre (not sure if this is the correct geological term but it sounds good) surrounded by imposing mountains, including the daddy itself Table Mountain.
Climbing the Table was really hard, mind. For some stupid reason, maybe because all my hill climbing experience was years ago in the Malverns/Brecons/Snowdonia, I was thinking the climb would consist of steepish slopes, not the vertiginous, endless rocky steps that were the reality. It was immensely satisfying once we reached the top, however.
It should be noted that we met one Joburger at the mountaintop cafe who said the best thing about Cape Town was the road out, which I suppose is fair enough if you're a Joburger who lives in one of the fabulously affluent northern suburbs. Really though, money can't buy you this kind of scenery.
Not lekker:
England's performance against Algeria. Like, seriously, WTF dudes?? Nobody could have seen this performance coming, based on our domination of our qualifying group, quality manager and reasonable opener against the US. The players looked scared shitless out there, which could partly be blamed on the manager but is more likely to be a combination of factors, chiefly the quality of the Premier League and the comfort most of these players get from playing for huge clubs with star-studded lineups of teammates week in, week out. Perhaps it's inevitable that this gives them a false sense of security, and that therefore once they are stripped of these accoutrements and asked to do it all themselves on the biggest stage of them all, with everyone expecting them to perform to at the very least quarter-final standard, they just crumble.
Let's bloody well hope not though and that they have now been given the kick up their collective backside required for them to beat Slovenia and actually get a foothold in this tournament. It's pretty great being here, but the sense of anticlimax we'd feel were England to fail to even escape the group stages would be crushing.
Lekker:
Whale watching in Hermanus, along the south coast. Very expensive, but we saw two whales and a load of dolphins all playing with each other (so to speak). See above aphorism about money not being able to buy certain things.
Also lekker, just about, are the vuvuzelas. Quite simply, they will define this tournament as clearly as the 2002 finals will be remembered for the crowd's fevered "oooh"s and "aaah"s every time a team got into the penalty area, as if they were all aboard a giant rollercoaster. On the other hand, of course, the sound is totally fucking annoying. It's also worse depending on whose hands the instrument resides - the locals can play them with the result being a vaguely tuneful crescendo, at least. When blown by an inexperienced player, however, they can sound like nothing so much as a constipated Alice the Goon.
Not lekker:
The random backpackers' lodge we stayed in last night, which was admittedly somewhat out of the way but still failed to provide a working lightbulb in our room, or a working washing machine. The hostel we're staying in this evening, though, is pretty lekker, posessing as it does a working internet, nice bar with actual people drinking in it and very friendly dogs.
Also rather lekker was Germany losing to Serbia, the North Koreans' plucky performance against Brazil, Switzerland somehow beating the beloved Spaniards and New Zealand's unlikely draw with Italy this afternoon. Oh, and also the general atmosphere in South Africa as football fever spreads, even faced with the imminent elimination of the Bafana Bafana. But that should probably be another story, as I'm now very hungry and Brazil-Ivory Coast is kicking off soon. Ta ta for now.
Our four days in and around Cape Town were mostly fabulous. I don't want to become one of those travel bores so I won't drone on and on about how pretty the scenery is, etc. Capetonians certainly love their city though, and the usual phrase you hear is "there are two types of South Africans - those who live in Cape Town and those who want to live here". You can see their point, as their city has the massive advantage of being built in a stunning natural ampitheatre (not sure if this is the correct geological term but it sounds good) surrounded by imposing mountains, including the daddy itself Table Mountain.
Climbing the Table was really hard, mind. For some stupid reason, maybe because all my hill climbing experience was years ago in the Malverns/Brecons/Snowdonia, I was thinking the climb would consist of steepish slopes, not the vertiginous, endless rocky steps that were the reality. It was immensely satisfying once we reached the top, however.
It should be noted that we met one Joburger at the mountaintop cafe who said the best thing about Cape Town was the road out, which I suppose is fair enough if you're a Joburger who lives in one of the fabulously affluent northern suburbs. Really though, money can't buy you this kind of scenery.
Not lekker:
England's performance against Algeria. Like, seriously, WTF dudes?? Nobody could have seen this performance coming, based on our domination of our qualifying group, quality manager and reasonable opener against the US. The players looked scared shitless out there, which could partly be blamed on the manager but is more likely to be a combination of factors, chiefly the quality of the Premier League and the comfort most of these players get from playing for huge clubs with star-studded lineups of teammates week in, week out. Perhaps it's inevitable that this gives them a false sense of security, and that therefore once they are stripped of these accoutrements and asked to do it all themselves on the biggest stage of them all, with everyone expecting them to perform to at the very least quarter-final standard, they just crumble.
Let's bloody well hope not though and that they have now been given the kick up their collective backside required for them to beat Slovenia and actually get a foothold in this tournament. It's pretty great being here, but the sense of anticlimax we'd feel were England to fail to even escape the group stages would be crushing.
Lekker:
Whale watching in Hermanus, along the south coast. Very expensive, but we saw two whales and a load of dolphins all playing with each other (so to speak). See above aphorism about money not being able to buy certain things.
Also lekker, just about, are the vuvuzelas. Quite simply, they will define this tournament as clearly as the 2002 finals will be remembered for the crowd's fevered "oooh"s and "aaah"s every time a team got into the penalty area, as if they were all aboard a giant rollercoaster. On the other hand, of course, the sound is totally fucking annoying. It's also worse depending on whose hands the instrument resides - the locals can play them with the result being a vaguely tuneful crescendo, at least. When blown by an inexperienced player, however, they can sound like nothing so much as a constipated Alice the Goon.
Not lekker:
The random backpackers' lodge we stayed in last night, which was admittedly somewhat out of the way but still failed to provide a working lightbulb in our room, or a working washing machine. The hostel we're staying in this evening, though, is pretty lekker, posessing as it does a working internet, nice bar with actual people drinking in it and very friendly dogs.
Also rather lekker was Germany losing to Serbia, the North Koreans' plucky performance against Brazil, Switzerland somehow beating the beloved Spaniards and New Zealand's unlikely draw with Italy this afternoon. Oh, and also the general atmosphere in South Africa as football fever spreads, even faced with the imminent elimination of the Bafana Bafana. But that should probably be another story, as I'm now very hungry and Brazil-Ivory Coast is kicking off soon. Ta ta for now.
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