Tuna nicoise at the Olympia Cafe

Russell asked me to collect a German colleague from the airport this morning. He had written her name on a piece of paper which I held up alongside representatives from various tour agencies. It certainly worked as Susanne spotted me straight away. She didn't appear bleary-eyed, dishevelled or swollen as I do after an 11 hour flight.

Bow Wow was eagerly waiting at the gate to welcome our guest prospective ball thrower. We had a cup of tea before getting stuck into some sight-seeing.

As I'm trying to please several people and a dog, our first stop was Muizenberg. Hamish immediately disappeared into the surf with the red flag flying (high shark alert!),while Susanne, Fizz, Bow Wow and I set off along the beach. The tide was much further out than I've seen before and there were lots of shell creatures busying themselves on the surface of the wet sand.

We left H surfing and continued on to our favourite eating place, The Olympia Cafe* at Kalk Bay. There was a table for us outside where Bow Wow could sniff around and be fussed over by other diners. We ordered the tuna as it had just been delivered from a fishing boat and cut up. It was a taste and texture sensation - the dog thought so too.

I needed to buy some wine to pack in the Landy before it leaves, so Susanne experienced her first South African wine tasting at beautifully situated Glen Constantia. We then met Russ in town at Royale. It was a fun evening but I declined the invitation to finish with a Gorgeous Girl at The Mount Nellie and opted for home and my scratcher instead.



Lucie's description of The Olympia:

*The Olympia Café is a legend in it's own lunchtime! A thousand flies can't be wrong! This Cape Town institution is the grubbiest and best bohemian place to be. Flames frequently fly high in the open noisy kitchen and fresh seafood comes in daily, from Kalk Bay harbour across the road. Surfers tuck into Strangled Eggs before hitting the surf and we wonder how many novels have been written between it's crumbling walls and how many friendships made over the ritual dunking of bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The food is SERIOUSLY good, mostly organic and inexpensive, the atmosphere always electric, and the people who the Olympia attracts are wonderful to watch or even meet! Everything about this place is real and being pretentious does not go down well. You either get it or you don't and we do, frequently! All of the waiters want to be there and are lovely people who welcome Bow Wow and always provide him with a bowl of water. For breakfast, lunch and dinner this is our top of the pops!