Tag Archives: Slovenia

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 49 of Level 3, 19 July 2020.

 

Sunday 19 July 2020, Day 49 of Level 3, after 66 days of a level 5 and 4 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a summer day at 21C, everyone happy, with a spring in their step, and Camps Bay experiencing a second boom day, just like a normal weekend summer day, with a traffic jam since midday, and still continuing, and our first picnickers visiting our suburb, feeling a lot like pre-Lockdown days; for minimal litter on my walk to Clifton, enjoying this walk, not having been here for more than a week; for a second shorter walk to Woolies, always happy to spot a bargain, seeming to become cheaper than our Pick n Pay; for a long sleep last night and the indulgence of a lovely snooze on the terrace, digesting Vit D; for my cute Minsky playing carguard from her perch on the terrace, as the cars inch through Camps Bay; for quick service from Camps Bay CSI; for another lovely concert by Daniel Hope of Hope@Home performed with the Slovenian Signum Saxophone Quartet in Bonn this evening; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Fantastic Fantinel Italian wines now in SA, good pairing with Mondiall menu!

Fabtinel branding Whale CottageYesterday we went Italian at worldly Mondiall, enjoying nine very fine and fantastic Fantinel wines, with a broad spectrum of Prosecco, light white wines, and rich earthy red wines, introduced by Dr Marco Fantinel, President of Gruppo Vinicolo Fantinel. The company is adding South Africa to its list of elite distribution points.Fantinel DR Marco Fantinel Whale Cottage

We were served a glass of Fantinel Prosecco Extra Dry as the welcome drink, and served canapés of ceviche on sesame crisps, as well as pork belly.  The pork belly canapés appeared just as we were going upstairs for the tasting, and were finished before I could photograph them!

Dr Fantinel traced the development of the company back to his grandfather Mario Fantinel, a hotelier and retaurateur in Fruili, in Continue reading →

World Cup teams give Cape Town a red card

The tourism industry in Cape Town will be disappointed that none of the 32 World Cup teams have chosen a base camp in or near Cape Town.   The base camp location has an important attraction for fans, who want to stay in the same towns and cities as their home team. 

Despite a deadline of the end of last month, FIFA has given the teams one more week to finalise their choice.  Six teams have not yet announced their final base camp choice.

The Western Cape has 2 teams (France and Denmark) staying in Knysna at Pezula and Simola, respectively, and Japan will be based in George at the Fancourt Hotel. 

Gauteng has the most teams to date, who chose the province for the altitude for their practice sessions, the top quality sport facilities and top quality accommodation : The Netherlands, South Africa, Portugal, Serbia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Brazil, Australia, Honduras, Switzerland, North Korea, and Mexico. 

Pretoria has attracted USA, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, and Argentina.   KwaZulu-Natal has secured Algeria, Ivory Coast, Greece, and Paraguay.   Uruguay is staying in Kimberley.   Ghana  is staying in White River. England and South Korea are staying in Rustenberg.  Chile is staying in Mapumalanga.   Spain has not chosen between Rustenburg and Potchefstroom yet.

Many municipalities spent big money trying to encourage teams to set up base camps in their towns.  Mossel Bay was sure that it had bagged Paraguay, and both Val du Vie and Pearl Valley outside Franschhoek were rumoured to have signed up a team.  The Sunday Times reports that the Mossel Bay municipality spent R 200 million on its bid, and had launched an extensive Spanish language campaign for tourism players in the town.   Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and East London also did not attract any base camps.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com