Simon's Town

Simon's Town's history is closely tied to OV's, but I will save that story for later. Simon's Town is now known for it's quaint shops and great dining, not to mention the Naval base.

We thought that while the boys were out having an adventure, we would have one too. A quick relaxing trip in to town, via the train, for lunch and shopping, would be perfect. Our journey began in Capri at the top of a LONG, STEEP hill where the house was. Traveling that day were Linda (the team mama), Summer, Carrie and her two boys, plus the girls and myself.

In order to get to ST we had to take the train. In order to get to the train, we had to take a taxi. In order to catch a taxi, we had to hike down the hill. So that is what we did.

We walked dooooown the hill with 6 kids, and two strollers, crossed the street and then waited for the taxi. When it finally arrived, we piled on board and asked the driver to take us to the Fishoek Train station. When we inquired about him taking us all the way to ST, he said that it would be 150 Rand and a 7 min drive, or we could take the train for R5 and have a 15 min ride. We opted to stick to our original plan and take the train.

We bought out tickets and waited for the train to arrive. And we waited, and waited, and waited. When the train finally arrived, we all hopped on and began to enjoy the ride. While riding I started a conversation with the lady next to me that went something like this:

ME : What is the next stop?

Lady: Kalk Bay. Where are you going?

ME: Simon's Town

Lady: OHHHH your on the wrong train!!!

ME: Girls..... get your stuff, we're on the wrong train!

Yes we never even considered that there might be another train, and that we might want to go the other direction. So we once again had to wait, and wait, and wait. When we finally made it on the right train.... the view was amazing!!

By this point, our fifteen minuet ride had become and hour and a half journey. But we pressed on, the our growling stomachs leading the way. In ST there aren't near as many taxis as other areas, so in order to get to all the shops we had to walk. Once again we tackled a hill only this we walked up.

We ate at a nice restaurant/pizza place. In stead of giving the kids coloring sheets while they wait, they bring out trays with pizza dough, rollers and cookie cutters, too FUN! I'm sure there are restaurants in the states that do that too, but I have never been to one. The kids enjoyed the rest and the play time, while the women decided that shopping with 6 kids might not be a good idea, so we came up with a plan "B".

Penguins! Seeing penguins would be a much kid friendly alternative to shopping, right?

In most situations the answer would be YES, but considering the fact that there were no taxis in ST, we would have to walk. (and walk and walk and walk.....) After lunch we continued our journey up the hill toward the penguins.

I realize that this is getting very long and drawn out, but I want you to get the full effect of how the day went. Never mind.... I'll try and wrap it up. We had to ask several people if we were headed in the right direction, and they all said "yes, just a little further." When we finally saw the sign we were elated, by that point I think we had walked almost 3 miles, all up hill.

We turned, and some where in the midst of the HUNDREDS of people trying to squeeze in one more weekend at the beach before their Holiday was over, we missed the next turn. So we had to back track a ways and try again.

We eventually made it, and 6 long hours (or more) later, we were desperately trying to get a hold of our dear husbands, so that they could rescue us from having to endure the journey home. OH and BTW once we were in a car...... it really only took 7 minuets to get from ST back home ;)