Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The African Nations Championship 2014 will come to an end at the Cape Town Stadium tomorrow, with a closing ceremony, followed by the third and fourth place play-off, and the Final thereafter. The Closing Ceremony is themed ‘Celebrating Africa’s Home Champions’, explained City of Cape Town Councillor for Tourism, Events, and Marketing Grant Pascoe to The New Age. Ghana plays Libya in the Final, while Nigeria and Zimbabwe will battle it out for places three and four.
* American air travellers would ideally like a passage that allows free baggage, confirmed seats, and security fast passes. They do not want to pay for baggage. They are however prepared to pay for overhead space for hand luggage, for their luggage to come out first at Baggage Claim, to have comfortable seats, to have extra legroom, complimentary meals, and to not have a reclining seat in front of them!
* South Africa ranks 29th out of 140 countries on the World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Index, and third in Africa (after Seychelles and Mauritius) on this Index.
* Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, with their family, are said to live in Johannesburg for a few months, while Pitt works on a movie with his buddy George Clooney! The project is shrouded in secrecy to date.
* ‘Riesling rocks. It also delights, surprises and excites those who have discovered its numerous charms‘, writes wine writer Myrna Robins, and has noted the increasing number of wine estates making Weisser Riesling or Rhine Riesling.
* The South African International Ballet Competition will be held in Cape Town in February, with 48 participants from our country as well as from Switzerland, Cuba, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, and China, reports The New Age. The competition, likened to the Ballet Olympics, attracts prize monies to the value of R340000, and is held in Cape Town every two years.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
