Cape Town

Last week I traveled to the continent of Africa for the first time in my life. I went to Cape Town to present a couple of papers at the International Energy Workshop. The conference was great, but what made it worthwhile to fly 28 hours to get there was the trip to the top of Table Mountain. Geoff Blanford (who I went to High School with, and now we both work on issues relating to climate change, so we run into each other at conferences a fair amount) and I took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain on Wednesday. We were up on top for almost two hours, plenty of time to explore the mountain and appreciate the views of the Cape of Good Hope, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, Lions Head, Devils Peak, Robben Island, and Cape Town itself. We stayed on top of the mountain for sunset and were treated to some spectacular views of the warm evening light illuminating the low clouds that were starting to roll in over the Cape.

The other great part of the trip to Cape Town was watching the World Cup. Of course I was in South Africa exactly four years too soon, but watching the action in Germany with a bunch of South Africans amped about their chance to host the World Cup in 2010 was truly exciting. I've been out of the country for at least part of the last three World Cups now (I was in England and France in '98, and in Cozumel in '02), and it's always great to be abroad in order to really feel how passionate the rest of the world is about the soccer. On my return flight, my layover in Johannesburg coincided with the second half of the Germany vs. Argentina quarter-final match. The whole airport was riveted to every available screen and the roars that were let loose as Argentina scored to take a 1-0 lead and as Germany scored in the closing minutes to tie the game were tremendous. As time expired and the match was sent into extra time, I had to board my flight and endure an 18 hour flight without knowing how the match ended. Upon landing in New York, I was able to read about Germany's 4-2 win on penalty kicks, but the buzz was gone from the atmosphere. By the time I arrived at National in DC, the England vs. Portugal match had already begun, but the only television showing it was a little 4" portable TV by the shoe-shine stand. Soccer in the US still has a long ways to go.

(click here to see all the pictures, or here for the slideshow.)