Imelda and Me

Sleep came quickly last night and lasted a long time. we were in bed at 10 and my eyes didn't open until 6:30 a.m. Jet lag will do that to you I guess.

When we checked in yesterday they told me that I had been upgraded to the executive Floor but seeing that the executive floor was closed they had put us into a little suite - think Embassy suites - a front room and a bedroom. We sat in the front room once and packed and unpacked there - a little less mess.

Breakfast comes with the room package and it was served in a very nice dining room/restaurant. This is a typical Hilton - a large conference/ball room and some very nice restaurant/bar/lobby areas. The breakfast was complete with hot and cold items with only one or two unrecognizable items.

Then we walked over to the Sandton City Mall - the largest in all Africa. We discovered that it is a few malls connected to each other so it is even bigger than advertised. Mandella Square is part of this complex and there is a giant sized statue of him where everyone was taking pictures.

We wandered the mall - one book store - quite a few restaurants/bakeries/coffee shops and many, many shoe stores. The shops were generally recognizable with some European names scattered throughout. The mall was anchored bu a supermarket and Woolworth's. We didn't go into either - there were shoe shops, you know.

Lunch was at this great bakery/deli - we had a Tab (haven't seen Tab in years) and salads. Not likely we'll have salad in Malawi - water there scares me.

Going back to the hotel was an adventure. I am direction challenged so I follow Helene where ever she goes and today she went out a different door and we walked for almost an hour. Given that it took 10 minutes to walk to the mall the long walk home was a bit of a surprise. This is a hotel area in the financial centre so we saw all the fancy hotels as well as the SA stock exchange.

we had run into one of the stewardesses from our flight and she told us about a great restaurant around the corner from the hotel called the Bull Run. We had a quick nap and then met our reservation time at 7:30. Early on New Year's eve but they close the restaurant at 9:30 so that the staff can catch public transit to go home - interesting.

Dinner was steak and pap (a hard polenta) and then a drink (or two) at the hotel and bedtime.

Helene and I hope that 2011 is one of the best years of your lives - happiness, health, joy and love.