The ninth week

On Monday I did not go to school because I got an invitation from Eugene's host Mom to climb Lion's  Head. It is a mountain in Cape Town between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. Lion's Head peaks at 669 metres above sea level.  It got his name because the pick looks like a proud lion looking at the city. It was quite heavy to climb up.  It was a little bit foggy but anyway the view from the top of Lion's Head was spectacular and I took great photo's of the Cape Peninsula and Robben Island.  At that moment on the top I thought this is the best view what I have ever seen in my life. I am very thankful for this unique excursion.

On top of the Lion's Head

In the evening we had tickets for a Show at Bishops Memorial Theater.  Bishops presented Herman Charles Bosman's play "Cold Stone Jung", directed by Wayne Tucker. It was a historical performance played in The Pretoria Central Prison.  Mitchel Christy, the exchange partner of Kian played the main role - the young teacher who is sentenced to death for murder. He played so extremely good that we had a feeling that we were with him at the prison.  Elise's nephew, James also played very well. It was an unforgettable show and incredibly high standard for a boys high school. This show will be played at the Festival in Edinburgh in August. On Tuesday Trini's host Mom organized a wonderful outing to Stellenbosch  and to Franschhoek. We visited at first The Stellenbosch Village Museum, where we could look around in four different houses: The Schreuderhuis / 1709/, Blettermanhuis / 1750/, Grosvenor House /1782/ and Omi Berghouse / 1850/. Each of these houses represents a different historical period of  Stellenbosch.  These houses have been restored and furnished and decorated to illustrate the style of the certain historical period.  We found a pleasant cafe next to the museum for a cold drank.

Fun together in Stellenbosch

Then we went to the Rupert Museum  which has a beautiful  location in the middle of a picturesque vineyards and next to the bank of Eersterivier.  It is a fine art gallery with paintings of the best South African artists such as: Maggie Laubser, Irma Stern, Walter Battiss. I liked these paintings very much. Some of the statues were also very interesting. Our next stop was in Franschhoek which is known as the most beautiful wine valley in the world.  It is a lovely place surrounded by mountains . It was settled by French refugees in 1688. They settled their farms  there and started wineries. The name "Franschhoek"  comes from the Dutch phrase "Fransche Hoek". The Dutch referred to the area as the "French corner" because of the significant number of French nationals living there. We passed by The Huguenot Monument which is situated  at the top end of Franschhoek. The memorial monument honours the history of the first settlers. It is also in a scenic setting with mountains in the background and gardens to the front. Beautiful and peaceful place. We had a nice lunch in this lovely village.  After lunch we walked around and we bought some little presents.

The Huguenot Monument

Wednesday I had a regular school day. In the evening we went to see the musical "Love Across the Universe". The music of the Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for the romance between an upper class American girl and a poor artist from Liverpool. This was a fantastic show!So much talent in Hershel!
Thursday I stayed all day at home because I had to catch up with RLW homeworks. Friday early morning Andries and Jeff left to Hermanus, beacuse Jeff had a rugby tournament there. I went to school with Steff but straight after school we headed to Hermanus. I was excited about this weekend, because this is my last weekend together with my host family.