A few weeks ago Portfolio''s Heidi and her husband spent a wintery weekend exploring the winelands of Stellenbosch...
On a recent Saturday morning, I took a chilled road trip to Stellenbosch with my husband - a much needed mom and dad break.
The weather was cold and miserable, but since winter is my favorite season I thought of it as cozy cuddle winter getaway.
Our first stop was for a warm cupper and breakfast at the The Farmers Kitchen. I decided to go for something different, since this weekend was supposed to be about an experience and opted for French toast, crunchy bacon, banana and Nutella chocolate spread all drizzled with maple syrup… and it was so good!
My husband, being a creature of habit, decided to order the Farmer breakfast, which did not disappoint either. I can only imagine how lovely this restaurant must be in summer as this was a ‘cold winters’ day … and it was buzzing at 10am. There is lovely entertainment for kids and it would make a great place to start any road trip or even just for a good family breakfast out of the norm.
After our lovely breakfast we took a leisurely drive around and saw some lovely farm animals - most of which did not want their photo taken. We stopped off at Vredenheim Wines and Big Cat Park and walked around to find that Vredenheim is a lovely venue for any function.
They also offer the opportunity to rent one of the classic cars in their collection which are all simply beautiful.
We went for a quick tour of the Cat Park and we lucky enough to discover that we were just in time for the feeding session. Although it was great to see these beautiful animals up close and personal, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about them being kept in cages….
After the tour, we went for some wine tasting – which I believe is a MUST once you enter the Winelands… especially the Stellenbosch area. We needed something to warm us up so I was quite excited but my husband, Nathan, a beer and whiskey drinker, was not too keen on the idea of wine tasting. He had to give in, after all we were in Stellenbosch.
We had a seat at what looked like a retail store come bar area… quite odd for a wine tasting area… BUT the staff more than made up for the seating area.
A barman by the name of Weinand was really lovely and explained each wine to us, which made our experience really enjoyable… and we warmed up quite quickly.
Weinand, also explained that they will be renovating the wine tasting area in the coming weeks and told us about what to expect… we can''t wait to go back to experience it all again once it has been revamped.
After a lovely afternoon spent chatting and enjoying our wines, we opted to buy a bottle to remember our stay.
We then drove to where we would be spending the night - Rusthuiz Guest House in Stellenbosch.
From the moment we pulled into the driveway we were treated like VIP’s. Lynette, came outside and greeted us with the most beautiful smile and we walked into a lovely lounge area heated by the warmth of a crackling fire. So comforting! We sat down and were offered tea/ coffee / juice and lovely warm cloths to warm our hands….
Lynette proceeded to tell us about the area, the guest house and all the things we should know about and left no questions unanswered. We immediately felt relaxed in our home for the night - Rusthuiz.
We were then shown to our room so we could freshen up before exploring some more of Stellenbosch. I don’t know if it was the weather or the lovely room or the combination of the two but from the minute I walked into our room all I wanted to do was run a lovely HOT bubble bath and snuggle in the warmth of the lovely bed that greeted me. As a mom of a toddler and a 8 year old a long relaxing bath is a precious experience!
So we decided to go for an early dinner and then to spend the evening relaxing in peace and tranquility that is Rusthuiz.
With social media being the way it is, my cousin who is a student at Stellenbosch, saw my check in and recommended that we try 5 On Ryneveld for dinner.
This was one of the nicest restaurants I have been to in a long time - different, quirky, fun, chilled… and the FOOD was GREAT. Our waiter, Senzo, was great with a fun personality and lovely speech - he should seriously be in tourism!
The restaurant is set in an old Victorian-style house. Each room in the house is turned into a seating place - the lounge, study, bedroom and a library lined with books. Even a courtyard for warmer weather.
We watched the Springboks vs The World 15 rugby match in the study and I had my first experience of a D & G cocktail, recommended by Senzo.
We ordered starters of Cajun chicken strips and jalapeno poppers which were hot as hell but so good. The best I have had… and I have had my fair share of poppers!
The starters were so filling that I was really disappointed when I could not manage a main meal or a dessert.
As it started storming outside we headed "home" to Rusthuiz for a relaxing evening indoors….
The next morning we woke up refreshed and headed down to enjoy a tasty breakfast. The only fault I could find with Rusthuiz is that having breakfast felt a little like eating in a library - it was so quiet! There should really be some background classical music in the eating area, but other than this little fault I would say that a stay at Rusthuiz is a perfect breakaway - it certainly was for this exhausted pair of parents!
Click here to book your stay at Rusthuiz Guest House in Stellenbosch