A Lovely Relaxed Weekend

So I'm back at the Leadership Course / Cult for the week. I have checked in and now really have nothing to do till dinner at 6:30pm. I have however, had a wonderful weekend and have lots to tell :)

Friday turned out not completely terribly, I spent the entire afternoon on a project lunch ... in Troyeville. Where, I hear you cry. Well yes, that was my first question too. Turns out in a dodgy little area of Joburg just next to the CDB. Lunch was at the Troyeville Hotel.

Not a very impressive establishment and the food was decidedly average. I certainly won't be swinging by for a second time, if I can help it. On the plus side, everyone's cars where right where we left them when lunch was done :)

Friday evening I spent a fair amount of time doing emergency work standby for a critical issue - even tho it wasn't my shift, TheBrad was off playing Action Cricket and didn't hear his phone it turned out. After that Varen & I headed off to Phlippy's birthday bash at Moyo, Zoo Lake. Was lovely but having arrived so late, we didn't stay long ... a couple of drinks, a henna tattoo and some divine peanut soup later, we headed back to Varen's place for the night.

Saturday we went for our traditional breakfast at Doppio Zero, it has been a while! And then we headed Pretoria-wards for the surprise night away. We first headed to Irene to see if the Country Market was on this weekend - it wasn't :( So Varen made us stop at the Dairy. Which was fabulous! They have an amazing deli/market there and a restaurant I would love to try another time. And then there are the baby cows you can visit. We found a super friendly one that kept trying to lick me with it's gigantic tongue as I scratched the top of it's head. It really was more like a cat as it stretched it's neck up so we could scratch it under there instead. Wish I'd remembered to keep my camera with me!

And then it was off to Kievits Kroon to check in. I wasn't terribly impressed with the place as a whole (just the decor, architecture etc. was pretty average I think), but there were some truly amazing bits that definitely made it worth the visit!

We got to enjoy the general Spa amenities and made use of the sauna (my first time), swiss shower (18 shower heads) and jacuzzi for a relaxing 2 hours. That was lovely. Then came dinner which I cannot praise enough! We opted for their fine dining option, instead of the buffet since I'll be having that here all week!

I started with their Duo of Prawns and Varen had snails. Both were brilliant. But nothing can explain exactly how impressed I was by my main course: I had Beef Fillet gratinated with fine Brie cheese and peppered Strawberry salsa. It was amazing. I think Varen liked his Lamb Chops too ... Desert was Strawberry and Amarula Creme Brule.

Those two things made the whole stay completely perfect and it was lovely to spend some quality time with Varen before I'm stuck here for a week all by my lonesome - well, other than my course-mates, but you know what I mean. We are officially dating again and it's fabulous :)

Then this morning after a buffet breakfast (and a not too shabby omelette), we tried heading to the Pretoria Zoo for a few hours - I love visiting it! Unfortunately the queue was almost out the parking lot and because we had limited time before we needed to head back and I needed to check in here, we gave up quickly and rather headed to the Botanical Gardens for a laze in the sun. We weren't there long cause Varen's head ache came back - I think from the fancy cigar he savoured the night before. And then we headed back to my place for a quick lunch, a little more lazing in the sun and some packing.

And that about brings you up to speed. My room is a fabulous improvement on last time ... My shower is all glass at the head of my bed - I did take pics, but seem to have left my camera cable along with my phone charger at home, damn! Anyway, this time I have a view of the outdoor heated pool :)