NICE AND HARD

 NICE AND HARD

We are introducing our blog with Tina Turner's introduction to "Proud Mary".  "I think you might like to hear something from us Nice and Easy. But there's just one thing. You see, we never, ever do nothing Nice and Easy.   We always do it Nice and Rough."  Which is our way of letting you know that we have arrived in Cape Town and are safe and sound, but the trip getting here was anything but nice and easy.

We left Boston Monday night on a 12 hour flight to Doha. In the middle of the night, Jane became seriously ill with one of her worst attacks to date. Trying to help her in the dark airplane, Neal banged his head, which looked worse than it was. When we arrived in Doha the airline insisted that if we wanted to go on our next flight to Cape Town, we had to go by ambulance with paramedics to their travel clinic to be examined by doctors, who cleared us for travel. Our layover was 9 hours, so even with the medical detour, we were able to rest in a lounge before our ten hour flight into Cape Town,  arriving without any further significant medical excitement. 

We had an interesting discussion with our driver who told us about growing up during Apartheid, and we witnessed the great degree of wealth disparity as we passed from shanty towns to downtown Cape Town. 

The Hyatt Regency where are staying has provided some much needed rest, and we have been able to briefly venture out a couple of times to some art galleries and shops within a couple of blocks of our hotel. It will surprise no one to find out that Jane has spent lots of time talking with lots of locals. Today we met a native who was more knowledgable about our US election in November than most Americans. The staff at the Hyatt Regency has  been very attentive and protective. Overall the service that we are receiving from the employees at the Hyatt has been excellent. 

Here are some pictures from our journey to date. 

                                                         Our layover in Doha, you can see two big teddy bears... 

                                                                                                   

From one of the galleries we visited, where we met the artist. 

                                                                  A random piece of art on a street in Cape Town.

                   Another interesting art piece, as you can see, it incorporates cubes as the surface

This is down the street from our hotel, in the Bo Kaap area. The surrounding mountains are beautiful. 

View from our hotel. 

    

                                                                               

Also taken from our room.

Our tour starts on August 20th, so until then we will continue to rest and explore Cape Town.  While we are gone we are having our home renovated so we can live on one floor with wheelchair access. Here is a picture sent from our neighbor of what was our exercise room.                                                                 

                                                           

With a game of musical chairs,  much of our exercise equipment ended up in the dining room when the music stopped at the end of "Proud Mary".