Voting for Cape Town's Next Demolition Now Open!

Last week I posted about the upcoming demolition of the Athlone Cooling Towers. Now the event has passed and although most Capetonians didn't even get the chance to see it happen (perhaps the demolition team should have called 1026 to check the time before they hit that button), I've decided that there are a couple more demolition projects that Capetonians could enjoy to make up for missing this one.

1. Good Hope Centre

Seriously. Has this place been used for anything useful since KTV Market Day when I was like, 8? It's horrid, it's falling apart (note tiles on roof) and it really looks like something teleported out of the 80s...oh correction, it was built in 1976. Yuck. Apparently, the city of Cape Town has budgeted approximately R3.5 million for the general upgrade of the venue...and that was over a year ago. I see no change. Take it away.

2. Disa Park (a.k.a the Tampon Towers)

I didn't even know the name of these towers until I googled it now. For all 25 years of my life I have referred to them as the toilet roll towers or the tampon towers. They are HIDEOUS flats on the slopes of our beautiful beautiful Table Mountain! They stand out like an eyesore to anyone gazing up at the scenic view of from Table Bay. I would feel great satisfaction seeing these three towers go BOOM.

Disa Park

In an article on the same topic (Cape Town's Ugly Buildings), Real Estate Web ran a poll amongst readers to ask if they thought the Good Hope Centre and the Ritz Hotel should be demolished (I disagree with the later because the revolving restaurant is way too charming and makes up for it's terrible exterior). The results? 54% said yes and 46% said No...but maybe after the excitement of this past weekends demolition, the poll will swing.

But anyway, those are my votes...further suggestions for Cape Town's next demolition project are welcome!

Oh and for those of you who are actually interested in checking out some footage of the Athlone Cooling towers coming down, here's a video we shot.

Top Notch

My good friend Nicole (you can read her blog here) reminded me that I have just completed one of the things on my Pre-Dooms Day List (read that post here), namely, visiting Top of the Ritz! And now I have to tell you all about it.

Firstly I need to say that I didn't even know that this place existed until this year (SHOCK! HORROR!) and I've been living in Cape Town for almost a quarter of a century. For those of you who share this disgusting oblivion, let me fill you in. The Top of the Ritz is the Western Cape's only revolving restaurant situated on the 22nd floor of the Ritz Hotel in Camberwell Road, Sea Point. While you eat some Swiss Cuisine, the restaurant rotates (very slowly) giving you a 360 degree view of Cape Town. Each rotation takes an hour and 15 minutes, which is just about as long as it took for them to serve us our mains. The funny thing is that usually I would complain about waiting that long for my food, but I didn't even notice the time had gone by...we were having too much fun with the whole rotating restaurant thing!

When you sit down you do feel a bit funny, but after a while (perhaps it was the wine) you don't even notice the movement. Be careful of where you put your handbag though - I promptly put it down next to me (I was sitting window-side) only to look down a few minutes later and see that it was gone...the outer ring does not rotate (only the floor does) so my handbag was sitting comfortably where we had started our dinners. I'm sure a lot of people have experienced "stolen" bags at Top of the Ritz.

Before you go you should definitely brush up on your cuisine knowledge. My Blackberry came in handy for googling words like Cafe de Paris sauce, Chateau Briand and Spatzle. The menu is quite extensive (and I have to add that they have 4 options for vegetarians...panzerotti, risotto, gnocchi, and cous cous). Meals aren't badly priced, I would say between R 70 - R 100 for a main. I wasn't remarkably blown away by the standard of the food but the experience made up for it. But let's be honest...most people would say "when is vegetarian food ever excellent at a restaurant that doesn't specialise in it?". I meant to ask everyone else about their food but again, we were all getting too involved... or should I say REvolved (sorry, I had to!).

Describing the atmosphere I would say it's quite a romantic place...they have a pianist playing all throughout dinner, and you get to see the pretty lights of the city...you get the drift. A dinner for two there could be very elegant and romantic. On top of that I'd say it has quite a European feel to it - especially the bar; it reminded me of this awesome bar I went to in Stockholm called Sky Bar. What amazed me was how packed the restaurant was! It seats 120 people and it was almost at capacity on a Tuesday night??!! I suppose that's always a good sign.

Even if you don't venture up to the restaurant, the bar below (on the 21st floor) is pretty awesome and offers some great views as well. I had a cosmopolitan cocktail that was super...and it only cost R35 which I think is damn inexpensive for a fancy bar miles up in the sky. The decor is a bit old-school and could definitely do with a refurbishment to modernise the place, but I guess keeping it that way adds character. I would definitely recommend visiting the bar and the restaurant - it really is one of Cape Town's gems.

Thumbs up:

• Awesome cocktails at the bar (get there early for pre-drinks!)
• Friendly service
• Amazing views
• Absolutely fun and unique experience
• Extensive menu that caters for everyone

Thumbs down:

• Dodgy lift ride (I don't think the lift has been replaced since like the 60s...it feels that way! But I just have a thing about lifts)
• Decor (the place has such potential to be a very upmarket Cape Town bar and restaurant, but again to be fair, I'm not exactly their target market I don't think)
• The long wait for food to be served might annoy some - but as I said, the experience made up for that. It was really busy on the night we went.

Top of the Ritz restaurant

The bar at Top of the Ritz (on the 21st floor) - this part doesn't rotate.

Homage to the Twin Towers

This weekend marks a very sad occasion (well I'm feeling the nostalgia, I don't know about you)...the destruction of the Athlone Cooling Towers. Love them or hate them, these towers have been a prominent landmark since 1960, especially for Capetonians hurtling down the N2. And although they aren't really that pleasing on the eye (some would go as far as calling them an eyesore), for me personally, they've been a feature of my Cape Town landscape my entire life. As a young child traveling back from our holiday home in Arniston, I always felt relieved the moment we reached the towers; it meant we were nearly home. I'm going to be sad to see them go.

Tours au revoir.

P.S. CIVAIR is running an awesome competition to win a helicopter flip during the demolition. All you have to do is sms the word CIVAIR to 34445 before noon today (Friday 20 August).

Tea at Three

My mom is crazy. It's official. Each morning I stumble out of bed towards the kitchen, half asleep, to make some tea. Before I know it she's at me like a bat out of hell with some strange dream or story or even "what do you want for dinner?" before I've even thought of breakfast. I don't know anyone who can literally wake up in the morning and jump out of bed and be as active and talkative as she is.

Anyway, this morning confirmed my suspicions that she is in fact, crazy. She comes into the kitchen laughing hysterically. I look at her in horror through my messy just-woke-up hair and puffy red eyes.

Me: "And now?"

Crazy Mother: "What a horrible night! I hardly slept!"

Me: "Why?"

Crazy Mother: "I duno, your dad and I just couldn't sleep. So at 3am I decided to come downstairs and make us some tea. But you know, really, that's when the best ideas are generated!"

Me: "What idea mom?"

Crazy Mother: "Well your dad and I have decided to open a coffee shop for insomniacs"

Me: "oh.my.word..."

With a massive sigh I continue focusing my efforts on my tea while she proceeds to tell me her new business idea.

Crazy Mother: "It's going to be called Tea at Three, our opening hours are from 1am - 4am. Dress code is pyjamas and when we give our insomniac customers the bill, we won't give them mints, we'll give them sleeping pills!"

She bursts into another round of hysterical laughter. I shake my head and swiftly make my exit and leave her to stir up another one of her mad morning plots.

Got to love mornings with my mom. I should get her to start her own blog.