castle of good hope May 31, 2007
(31 may) yesterday afternoon i visited the castle of good hope, the oldest building in south africa and its military seat. the castle is pentagonal and used to sit on the seashore (the dungeon floor was made of wet sand), until a large amount of land was 'reclaimed' and became the downtown area. i had lunch (something interesting called 'waterbluitjie soup,' which as far as i can tell means soup made from water lilies - tasted a little like asparagus) and looked over my map to get my bearings, then wandered around a bit on my own before taking an official tour. some of the highlights included the several-hundred-year-old graffiti on the cell doors, which have since been reversed on their hinges so you can see the carvings (made using nails pulled from the prisoners' boots); the reconstructed dolphin pool; and the museum collections of colonial furniture and black-and-white portaits of san people taken in the early 1900's. oh, and the brass plaque outside - see below. 
