06 March 2011

A Weekend Outing

So this weekend was supposed to be filled with cappucinos, textbooks, research and paper writing, but when I woke up on Saturday morning this is what I saw and immediately decided that there was no way that I was spending my day inside the house buried underneath a pile of books. 


And, just my luck, Jurgen also felt like being a slacker and getting outside a little bit.  Since we are hardly ever able to both take a full day off these days what followed was quite an extensive debate on what we should with an entire day on our hands... really the possibilities were endless!  :)  I suggested that we either go to the zoo (which is what I always suggest we do on the rare occassion that we take a day off) or go see what the hype is all about at the botanical gardens.  Jurgen had other plans in mind and suggested that we instead go "test out" the new Gautrain (a high speed train that opened about six months ago), to see how it works in case we want to use it to get to the airport in the future.  While this does not sound like the way I would normally choose to spend my day off, I was coaxed into going along with the plan since I normally get to choose.

But before we headed off on our train adventure we did stop and grab some lunch at our favorite restaurant which is pictured below:


Just kidding!... I just thought that this little caravan-converted street side cafe was so adorable that I snapped a quick picture of it to share with you all :)

No, we really ate lunch here, at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton which really is one of our favorite places to eat when we go out for lunch on the weekend... I love the vibe and the open atmosphere.


After lunch it was finally time for the train ride (is the anticipation killing you yet?).  The Sandton station is within walking distance from Nelson Mandela square just past that row of trees you can see in the above picture.  We were going to ride it to the airport and back, but they charge you double fare to go there since it's the airport and so we opted to just buy return tickets to the stop just before.

(He's trying so hard to contain his excitement in this photo!)

Even though I wouldn't have gone on my own to test out a train system if there wasn't a particular destination in mind, I will say that the experience was quite enjoyable and the whole system ran very smoothly.  The trains are clean and efficient and they have even implemented a system where you can purchase a card for about a $1 and then just load credit onto it as needed. 

Needless to say we will definitely be using the Gautrain to go to and from the airport in future and for any of you thinking of visiting lovely Johannesburg, I would highly recommend using this method rather than paying for a taxi, as long as you have someone picking you up at your destination of course.

Saturday night friends came over and we watched the rugby (our team lost - boo!) and then we played a friendly round of poker (I won - yay!). 

This morning it was back to the books, gym, etc and now I am just gearing up for Monday to start all over again.  I finally bought a chess board this weekend since one of my Goals for 2011 is to learn how to play, so the rest of the evening will probably be spent sipping a glass of red wine while Jurgen attempts to teach me... not a bad weekend if I don't say so myself!

But before I jump into my comfy clothes (it's 8:30pm here right now) I just wanted to recommend that you all try these Chicken Tacos that I found posted on Jane's adorable blog See Jane.  I would have taken pictures of the final product, but my camera's battery was dead.  But trust me, they are really truly delicious and turned out to be the perfect dish to serve to a group of sports-watching friends.  They do take some time (prob about an hour to 90 minutes) and I also varied my recipe like Jane using sour cream instead of mayo in the coleslaw.

What did you all do this weekend?

12 comments:

  1. Hey Jenna! I'm visiting from Comment Love on FTLOB, you were the link above me! And I'm so glad because I love this blog. Your adventures are definitely fun to read about! And I HAVE to try that chicken breast wrapped in bacon recipe for the husband. He would love that!
    Good luck learning chess! My husband, and even all the kiddos at my work, try to teach me to play but I always lose interest, ha! But it would be nice to know!

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  2. It sounds like you had a fun weekend:) Riding the train to check it out is something DH & I would do too.

    I came by from FTLOB comment love day:) I'm also now following cause I love reading about people's experiences living in other countries (I lived in China for a year and Viet Nam for too...I remember what it's like!)

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  3. I'm so glad you got out this weekend!! Too often I stay inside and waste a beautiful weekend (hmm...like this weekend!) to get caught up on things. Thanks for sharing your adventures and that yummy chicken taco recipe!! xox Have a nice week!!!!

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  4. So many people had a great mini little vacay this weekend, and your is making me jealous. Looks like ya'll had a fun time exploring :)
    Stopped over from FTLOB, have a great Sunday!
    http://texagermanadian.blogspot.com/

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  5. "A home away from home" means a lot to me, as I am a Romanian who used to live in Germany, and is currently in Japan. I found you on FTLOB, and I am your latest follower. Would love it if you dropped by my blog too :)

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  6. LOVE that you were on the Gautrain! I was in Joeys this weekend visiting friends and I spent time shopping at In Good Company and Melrose Arch, dinner at The Throbbing Strawberry and then dinner and drinks at The Baron and some dancing at Clapham Gold.

    Have a super week x

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  7. it looks like you had an awesome weekend!!

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  8. Sounds like so much fun! I think its good to leave the list of to-do's behind and do something spontaneous!
    Hope you have a wonderful evening!
    <3 Anna

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  9. Sounds like a fabulous weekend! We hit up a ball game. I think I'm going to have to try out those tacos soon. YUM!

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  10. That little cafe looks really nice. A super nice area. Gotta love high speed trains. I live right next to the high speed metro train and it is a lifesaver. Love reading your blog posts. Makes me want to get back to South Africa.

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  11. omg "favorite resturaunt" i totally thought it was. that cracked me up

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  12. Bahh this post made me miss South Africa so much! I absolutely adored waking up to those perfect sunny days...

    http://www.rubin-hood.blogspot.com

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Thanks for the love!