If It's Wednesday, It Must Be Cape Town

Today was spent in town.  Chuck and Sarah were up early to return to a gallery to blow their art budget for the trip.  (They did that quite well...with a great large-format color photograph by Pieter Hugo...you can see a sample of his work at http://www.pieterhugo.com/.)  Rita and I slept in, then visited a photographic gallery, and also saw several prints we liked by South African artists, including Lien Botha (www.lienbotha.co.za/), Brent Meistre (http://www.brentmeistre.com/) and Obie Oberholzer (couldn't find a personal web site for him).  We didn't buy any works...but then we don't have any empty walls that need filling!

After souvenir shopping and a quick lunch at an outdoor restaurant close to the National Gallery of Art, we headed to the National Gallery for a private tour of their collection by one of their curators.  Their collection dates from 1910 to the present, and includes many works that resemble movements going on in Europe and the US at the time, as well as many original works.  An obvious theme in the modern works was Apartheid.  The collection included about any media you could think of, including automobile tires and AK-47s.  I have included photos of some of my favorite works in another post.

During our trip to the National Gallery, a modern dance group was performing works in various locations that mimicked the nearby art.  Here are a few shots at one of the sites in the museum (the three figures seated on the bench are artworks, not people):

Here is a cute sign in the parking lot for the National Gallery:

After the National Gallery, a stop at a coffee shop for rest and java (it's no Starbucks, but what can you do??).  After coffee, a drive back to the hotel, with a stop for photos in the Moslem section of Cape Town -- brightly painted well-kept homes:

Out guide told us that the Moslem community does not have any significant conflicts with the rest of the community, primarily because all radical Moslems have been jailed.  (Maybe not politically correct, but she said it gets the job done!)

Out guide also mentioned that she is coming to the US, and asked us if it was ok to drink the water everywhere there -- she had heard that you shouldn't drink the water in NYC.  We got a chuckle out of that, but probably no more so than she did when we asked the same question about South Africa.  (She says the water everywhere in South Africa is OK to drink.)

Back to the hotel to rest and clean up, and then dinner at a great restaurant in the Garden District, Aubergine.  Now it's time for a little sleep, packing, and heading to wine country Thursday.  Not that we haven't had a little South African grape already!  We're looking forward to the countryside, after spending a few days in the city!