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Dispatches

Dispatch from Cape Town: Rowan Flad on FanFest, USA-SLV, ENG-ALG

June 23, 2010 — by Suman

We just received via email a dispatch from South Africa: friend, former teammate, and archaeologist Rowan Flad on watching the US-Slovenia game last Friday at the FanFest in Cape Town, followed by watching England-Algeria live:

Today [Friday, June 18] we (me and my wife In Paik) attended our first live match of WC2010 – England v. Algeria.  We spent the day exploring Cape Town a little more, after having done Table Mountain and some other sites yesterday, first going to a sweet little coffee shop in Observatory (Obz), the part of town where we are staying, called “Queen of Tarts,” and then heading into the City Bowl area where we had a lunch of African tapas at a joint called “Africa Café.”  We then headed to the District Six museum, which was only a few blocks from “Fanfest” – the designated viewing area where a huge screen had been set up outside city hall for people to watch games.

Dispatches

Dispatch from South Africa: Well that was a wet one…

June 14, 2010 — by Larry1

Sometimes seats above the roofline are a good thing.  But, first, let’s rewind a bit.  Winter found its rhythm today, managing sun, wind, rain,and hail, rotated nicely about every hour til the sun went down.  The other three left him behind without missing a beat.

Visited the & Union for the Netherlands v Denmark match.  It’s the brewpub of sorts for a South African craft brewer, but, strangely, their product is actually brewed in Germany according to their bottles.  Both the Amber and Dark Lagers were perfectly drinkable, yet lacked depth, leading to quick finishes.  Sadly, in a bid to maintain some sort of sanity and coherence, I had to cut back, and those were the only beers tried.

Dispatches

Dispatch from South Africa: Days Two and Three

June 13, 2010 — by Larry4

Obviously, there was no way anyone could expect SA to keep up that pace. Needless to say, by morning, the hangover was in full effect, and there was hardly a vuvuzela to be heard before 10. The actual onset of winter weather (for here) has not helped, creating an extremely gray day. At the fanfest for the Arg/Nig first half, the crowd split fairly evenly, Messi v Africa, but far more of black South Africa participated than in the bars in around Long St.

We managed a side trip to see some endangered African penguins. The metrorail train took us right there, skirting the coast of False Bay, to a sleepy, sleepy, off-season Simons Town. Very relaxed atmosphere on board, groups mixing and mingling easily, unless the vuvuzela was blown.

Dispatches

Dispatch from South Africa: Opening Day

June 11, 2010 — by Larry1

Thus begins our series of on-the-ground reporting from South Africa courtesy of the lovely and vivacious Laurence Weinstein

Just a huge, big, gigantic first day.

First, the easy. Cape Town, with the sun shining, absolutely beautiful. Hop the topless tour bus (the bus is the one lacking a top), ride it around. Stunning views from above the city, and great town for lunch on the other side of Table Mountain in Camps Bay. Maybe we are too familiar with the Paulaner restaurant, but don’t want to discount a quality place for German food and drink. The Irish place around the corner from the flat becoming another easy destination.

Too, too easy.