Merry Christmas!!

What a Christmas we had!!

Started the day at a Dutch Reform church service at St. George's cathedral. It was a lot like a Catholic mass. Very formal -- even alter boys walking with incense in front of the priests! The sanctuary was beautiful -- the entire cathedral is beautiful. And the service was conducted in three languages: English, Affrikans, and Xhosa. Pretty interesting. The service closed with the choir doing a spirited rendition of "We wish you a Merry Christmas" (perhaps my favorite part!).

After church we did a lovely hike to the top of Lion's Head Mountain. It's about 600meters high, and sits next to Table Mountain, the city's most famous landmark. The views from atop Lion's Head were spectacular! We had 360 degree views of the city, its bays & beaches, Table Mnt, the 12 Apostles (beautiful mountains that follow the East Coast). And the weather was perfect -- not cloudy, not too hot, not too cold - just spectacular!

After the hike, we got cleaned up and headed down to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and caught a sunset champagne cruise on a sailboat called "Spirit of Victoria." Now that did get a bit chilly, but it was so satisfying watching the sun set next to Lion's Head from the water, having just been up on its peak!

Definitely a Christmas day for the record books, and yes, Ally, Lou & I did wear the Santa hats on the entire hike and boat cruise! Hope yours was merry & bright too!!

xo,
Mere