Yet another wonderful benefit of life in Cape Town is it's proximity to hundreds of the best wine farms on the continent. And, where there is good wine, there is good food. And where there is good food and good wine, B and I can usually be found. So, this weekend, the Bs and Mary packed up the Polo and headed to wine country for a little R&R and a lot of eating and drinking. We didn't have to drive far to begin the festivities - Stellenbosch is the first official wine-country-town and is only about 30 minutes outside of Cape Town on the way to Franschhoek, our final destination. So, by 10am we found ourselves sitting around a table at Ken Forrester, a small family-owned-and-run wine farm, sipping Chenin Blanc and other light white "breakfast wines." Another tasting followed at Kleine Zalze and before lunch on day one we were well into our best wine-tasting characters and had managed to "accidentally" leave several purchased bottles behind like a trail of bread crumbs (which we picked up on our way home a few days later).

We arrived in Franschhoek and amazingly found our way to Bedside Manor, our adorable home-away-from-home for the weekend. The owners are interior decorators and the house is very well done. Our favorite spot was the sun room looking out onto a side-yard garden. And, if the weather had been warmer, the backyard and pool would have been at the top of the list. To top it all off, we got a great deal and it was so much cheaper than most hotels in the area, with so much more to offer. Thank you Home Away!

Franschhoek is beautiful. It's Napa, but even more dramatic - or maybe the idea of drinking amazing wine overlooking picturesque vineyards in AFRICA just makes it seem that way. And, most of the wine farms are just that - small, family-operated farms. Our favorite vineyard and tasting was at Le Petit Ferme. The owner, who was a farmer in his earlier life, built the place by hand and gave us the tour personally. He loves the romance of wine making and gives all the credit to the French for doing it right. However, he did divulge that a massive insect outbreak in the mid-19th-century killed all the vines in the world with the exception of the US, so, technically, all wine currently grown in the world is from American plant stock. America... F#*k yeah! The French couple in our group was not amused. Either way, the tour, the owner's knowledge, enthusiasm and general awesomeness and the wonderful wine made for a great experience.

If we weren't spoiled enough already, Brendan and I splurged that night and treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at one of the best restaurants in Africa. To get snobby for a second... The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Frances has been named one of the 50 best restaurants in the world eight times and the Best Restaurant in Africa and the Middle East four times. The executive chef, Margot Janse takes traditional Cape-Malay to a fine-dining level, but makes sure that each dish has its own story. So, the dinner is an eating and educational experience all in one. The laid-back vibe of the restaurant and the friendly, communal wait staff made the 3.5 hour, 5-course meal and wine pairing fun and informal.

The next day brought more tastings, more delicious food and more memories with Mary (the ones we can remember at least). We tasted at Boekenhoutskloof and Moreson, sipped bubbly at Haute Cabrierre. We ate at Bread and Wine, Rueben's and the Cafe de Arte. We'd recommend them all with the exception of Rueben's, which felt a bit like a chain steakhouse (Rueben is actually a Cape Town institution, so hopefully no one is offended). We finished off the wine-tasting weekend with another drive through Stellenbosch to pick up our lost wines and visit beautiful Tokara - for a tasting and food. Our friends Chrissy from San Francisco (that we met in Kenya) and Ralph, an ex-professor from Durban with a soft-spot for science fiction drove out to join us. We celebrated with bubbles and dessert oysters and goofed around around on the vineyard's rustic, artsy playground.

Note that all the indulgence did have a price... I can't speak for Mary or Brendan on specifics, but I gained 3 kilos over the weekend, which when converted equals about 6 pounds. Yikes! Yoga anyone?