Capetown, ZA

My new and most recent fascination is with Capetown, South Africa. I love the ZA. Z is an underutilized letter of the alphabet. So, thank you ZA for using a "Z".

I have a preoccupation with traveling to Capetown. or Johannesburg. or both.

I purchased Lonely Planet's South Africa (by the way, Lonely Planet is the BEST book -- I have traveled with LP books for twenty years!) I print information from the internet along with photos to entice my husband with the 'idea' of traveling afar. I found a cottage to rent for a week (very cute with a kitchenette!) I hang a beer from a string and dangle it in front of his face. I am not trying to be 'coy' with suggestions or possibilities -- I want to go to Capetown and I am extremely blunt about it.

I believe ZA has some new and interesting beers that we have never even heard of or tasted before. We could add those beer names to our repertoire.

I suggested traveling in January (a Capetown climate-friendly time to vacation) to my husband. He acted as if he had never even heard the word Capetown before. For a moment I wondered if he even knew which country or continent that I was referring to. But then I concluded that, of course, he did know -- it was just a 'stalling' tactic to get me sidetracked and off course.

"Are you serious?" (me: why wouldn't I be serious? I am not just pontificating for my benefit!)

"I thought you were just 'talking' about Capetown, I didn't know you wanted to travel." (me: how did you miss this 'hint'? I have all but booked the airline tickets. I just thought you might want to be involved with the travel plans.)

"Send a postcard!" (me: this is tempting!)

"Why do you want to go? Do you know how long it takes to fly there?" (me: first let's address the flying time. flying is definitely a faster option than sailing by about several days. second: I want to go because I have never visited ZA. Yes, I have been to Morocco but North Africa is not the same as South Africa. Plus, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront bears the name of our child... I want to introduce her to all the worldly places that bear her name.)

The Capetown discussion has taken on a whole new route. We have veered down the road and turned a sharp left into the world of "Victoria". "If you insist on going to Capetown just to see the waterfront that bears our daughter's name, then why stop there?" He's right, yes -- I admitted it (once) -- he's right. Why stop there?

What about Victoria, British Columbia? Victoria, Australia? Victoria, Texas? Victoria, Minnesota? Victoria, Virginia? Victoria, Kansas?

Are there any more locations? Because I could definitely start on other "Victoria" namesakes -- the Victoria statue in Berlin. The Viktoria hotel in Warsaw. The Viktorjia yacht in Hvar, Croatia. The Victoria Falls. The Victoria Station in London.

But what about our other daughter? I guess we will only be going to Jordan for her namesake. And! I just discovered there is a marathon in Jordan -- what a great way to experience her namesake!

Husband, you win! Momentarily, I am sidetracked from my obsession on traveling to Capetown.