Cape Town named 6 attractions as their "must-see" places: Cape Point, Groot Constantia (oldest winery), Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Robben Island, Table Mountain and V&A Waterfront. I plan to go to all six of them. V&A Waterfront is the third on my list. This huge shopping and entertainment complex is named after Queen Victoria and her second son Alfred. This used to be a run-down wharf area until about 20 years ago when some entrepreneurs developed it into a multi-purpose waterfront shopping and entertainment complex. Since then it's been one of the most popular places to visit in CPT.
First, you have a big shopping mall that has all the same popular stores that you see in an American shopping mall. It even has a big supermarket, Pick N Pay, in the basement. Scattered around the shopping mall are many popular chain restaurants, including McDonald's, Mugg & Beans (a popular local restaurant cafe), and high-end restaurants serving seafood, steaks, etc. Then you have entertainment places like the Aquarium, the Cape Wheel (Ferris Wheel), and Harbor Cruises. Also included are historical and cultural sites like the Clock Tower, Chavonnes Battery and the Nobel Square, where they have life-size statues of the 4 Nobel Peace Prize winners from South Africa: Chief Albert Luthuli (1960), Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (1984) and former presidents FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela (co-winners in 1993)
This is also where you take the ferry to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for his protests against apartheid.
V&A Waterfront is also a working harbor, where you see ships loading and unloading containers, fishing vessels getting ready to go out to sea again, and ships under repair.
It's an amazing complex of different businesses all coming together in a big waterfront area.
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| Big Shopping Mall |
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| It's also a harbor |
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| Clock Tower (yellow building) |
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| Artisan market. This store selling biltong (jerky) |
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| Aquarium |
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| Crafts Market |
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| Nobel Square. L-R: Luthuli, Tutu, de Klerk, Mandela |
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| Hotel and Table Mountain in background |
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| Can't resist getting a picture of me taken with Table Mountain in background |
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| Band Stand with Cape Wheel in background |
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