Page 90 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

Greenmarket Square
A short Uber ride brought us to the meeting place
for our tour of central Cape Town - a coffee shop at
Greenmarket Square. We were shocked by the
chaotic scene before us: a throng of people carrying
boxes in an area littered with tents, blue tarps and
mountains of stuff. The driver told us to be careful as
he dropped us off.
We didn’t know it at the time but we learned that
this scene takes place every morning, a groundhog
day-ritual to set up a giant outdoor market. By the
time the city awakes the cobbled square is filled with
stalls selling local art, crafts, street food, jewelry,
clothing, and souvenirs.
Greenmarket Square was established in 1696,
during the early Dutch occupation of the Cape
colony. It gained its name when the square was the
place to buy fresh vegetables grown at the nearby
Company’s Garden to replenish ships rounding the
Cape. Sadly the Dutch also bought and sold slaves
here as well.
Among the historic buildings in the square is
Burger Watch House built In 1716. The impressive
building, with pillars, and a crest over the upper bal-
cony later, became the Old Town House and the orig-
inal headquarters of the Cape Colony’s citizen
patrols. Men between 16 and 60 worked in shifts pa-
trolling the city and keeping an eye out for fires. To-
day, Old Town House is home to the Michaelis
Collection of 17th century art work by Frans Hals,
Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruisdael, Anthony van Dyck
and other Dutch artists.
While in Africa, we had purchased a number of
souvenirs including a large tribal mask. We needed a
suitably large suitcase to transport our new trea-
sures home. After getting sticker shock in traditional
stores, we decided to give Greenmarket a try and
quickly found the perfect rollaway suitcase for a
fraction of the price. Of course the wheels fell off
when we pulled it from the carousel at the San Diego
airport. But it did its job and the dramatic mask
adorns the wall in our home today.

90 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020