We've been in Johannesburg for almost 24h now, but don't have internet access yet. We had planned to get data packages on our phones when we arrived at the airport, but the cell phone store was closed. We weren't able to get to another one until late today, and apparently it doesn't take effect for 24h. Meanwhile, the hotel internet access requires us to buy a package for about $40/week. So I am typing this in Word, and hopefully we'll get access soon.
For UG's birthday, our last day in Amsterdam, we went to the NEMO science center. It started off pretty tame, with the usual magnets, soap bubbles and perspective exibits. Then in the DNA department (where you can select different traits in Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad, and see what kind of kid you get), they had a collection of animals and fetuses collected and preserved in jars by a couple of guys in the 18th and 19th centuries out on display. Kind of creepy and probably nothing you'd ever see in North America. Then we saw something you'd NEVER see anywhere but Amsterdam, the teen sex exhibit. Most of it was educational, like the things your body goes through in puberty, normal feelings caused by hormones, STDs and contraseptives, etc. But they also had little wooden artist mannequins posed in various positions, with name cards for each one. And the main attraction: peep show booths specifically for 12 to 18 year olds. Yes, for the little ones who don't have good enough fake id to get into the real thing a few blocks away, take em to the science center! You had to get a token from the staff to play the video, and we didn't want to seem like perverts. Or at least I didn't. But the booths were set up almost exactly like DVD viewing booths in the red light district.
Then we discovered the best reason to visit NEMO, and it's not advertised. The rooftop patio. The roof is sloped, so the patio is terraced, with views of the entire city, lawn chairs and beer and wine sold at possibly the best prices in the city. At least the best prices in the tourist district. The sun had come out, so we spent a couple of hours just lounging and drinking beer. I discovered "Rosee Beer", aka "girl's beer", pink beer with a fruity flavour. I have had strawberry beer at home, but this came in a pink can and was actually described as "girl's beer" by the girl selling it. You can access the roof without going through the science center, so it's free, and it wasn't very busy on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon.
UG's birthday present was his first vacation sunburn, seeing as it was grey and icky out when we left the hotel, and it had been so cold the day before, so we hadn't bothered to put on sunscreen. I had a hat instead of doing my hair, so I managed to keep the sun off my face.
For dinner we went to a fancy dinner at a 400 year old house that's been a restaurant for about 80 years. There were 3 other occupied tables on the main floor, and at one point we overheard someone at the next table explaining Chinooks to his table mates. UG and I started laughing so hard they all turned and stared at us. Turns out 2 guys at the table were there on business from Calgary, being taken out for dinner by their Dutch counterparts. The Dutch counterparts had been in Calgary last week. Small world.
And then we wandered around for about an hour checking out all th bakeries in the area looking for eclairs. We did eventually find one, but of course it wasn't as good as the one at the market the day before.
Yesterday, we flew 11 hours, plus airport time to Johannesburg. KLM may be my new favourite airline, thanks to free booze and self serve mini Mars bars. However, the flight was completely full, so not so comfortable for an 11 hour flight. A couple of rows back, there was a kid *screaming* for most of the flight. Every time I noticed he'd stopped, he'd start again. On one of my trips for Mars bars (yes, "one of"), I noticed that it was a blonde child of about 3 years old, seated with a Filipino woman, without his own seat. I suspect the parents were up in first class, and couldn't spring for the kid to have his own seat, so the rest of us had to be subjected to his screaming. And these people are breeding.
Flying over Africa was interesting in that I could never imagine before flying for so long and looking out the window and seeing nothing but sand. We even see more signs of life crossing the Atlantic.
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