The Girl With The Hat is the latest installment of the blog loved by numerous adoring followers (3 and counting) that now sadly remains as neglected as the author was as a child. Pause your perusal of the author's clear cries for help and shitty cultural criticism from her early teens and enjoy her travel musings: the word on the street the world over from a third culture kid who copes with her existential loneliness and unease with the concept of home by wanting to explore the globe.
Windhoek (August 14th, 2016 - August 17th, 2016)
Upon learning that I would be traveling to Windhoek, I wondered "What the fuck is there to do in Windhoek?", a question I am hoping will generate traffic to this godforsaken page. If that description fits you, fear not, Windhoek-weary traveler - Zahra is here!
14th
I arrived in Windhoek on Sunday afternoon, and was greeted shortly afterwards by sort-of family friends; an aging, academic German couple. They took my father and I out for a sunset drive around the city (a must!) and dinner at Joe's Beer House (160 Nelson Mandela Ave). I know you've probably read the TripAdvisor reviews of the place, but I genuinely recommend this one! The beer is good and the lighting is poor - perfect for when you are tasked with enduring your family friend's laboured but oh so very important opinions on everything.
I don't know why men do that thing. Oh you know what I'm talking about. The thing. Actually I know exactly why; it's because men have been trained to be so confident in the expression of their thoughts that they are completely willing to listen to the sound of their own voices droning on for the duration of a dinner. That thing. I would call it a Ted Talk but listening to a Ted Talk is a voluntary action.
Anyways, Joe's menu is wonderfully Windhoekian in its combination of German and African influences. For example I had a delicious oryx schnitzel, which occupied me nicely while I was sending "please shut up already" brain waves to my dinner guest.
15th
I started the day by going to the Independence Museum (Independence Ave). The museum, which frighteningly does not have a fire escape and rather resembles an elaborate coffee grinder in appearance, would not be recommended if you actually want to learn something about Namibian history. It appears as if the curators were presented with a word count akin to Stalinist Russia rationing, for there is no information presented on the fascinating topics covered by the multiple levels of the museum. The only writing is found in the captions of photographs on display and as the headings of terrifyingly graphic paintings of violence that adorn the coffee grinder's walls.
I then moved onto the gardens outside Namibia's parliament, a short walk from the Independence Museum, which were gorgeous and lush and I definitely did not illegally pick flowers. I then walked down Robert Mugabe Avenue. Two wonderful spots on Uncle Bob Ave are the National Art Gallery of Namibia (corner of Robert Mugabe Ave and John Meinert Str) and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Center (118 Robert Mugabe Ave). The former had an excellent solo photographic exhibit of striking portraits by Kyle Weeks. The shop adjoining the gallery is well worth a visit, too! The gallery also hosts plenty of events, so be sure to check out their programme before your visit. There is gluhwein and artsy people at their events so why wouldn't you want to go? (I should note here that Namibian tap water, likely as a result of water restrictions, tastes like the piss of a horse fed on a diet of only asparagus so gluhwein is an inevitable option after exhausting beer, beer, and more beer.) The FNCC is a short distance from NAGN and is the Alliance Francaise equivalent in Windhoek. It also has a very cool gallery space, but I especially recommend the FNCC's restaurant La Bonne Table, which is so unkitschly French that one is tempted to say "merci beaucoup" to the waitstaff.
16th
On Tuesday I lunched at the Goethe Institut (5, Fidel Castro St) on "goulash mit Klöße" (Klöße being German potato dumplings), returned to the NAGN for some shopping, and then walked Independence Avenue. With the sun shining gloriously on my back, and a bowl of Cramer's (FNB Head Office, Independence Ave) ice cream in hand, I decided that I did like Windhoek. I liked it a lot, in fact. When I travel I divide cities I visit into three categories:
1) I could live here for maybe a couple of months. (A feeling I last felt with Shanghai.)
2) I wouldn't mind visiting here again. (Last felt with Hanoi.)
3) Baghdad cities: places people should only go to to blow themselves up. (I've thankfully never felt this way.)
Windhoek was a 2) after my discoveries over my short stay, and my time at the Craft Center (Old Breweries Building, Tal Street) solidified this. A lot of the stuff is very South African or rather generically African, but highlights were doll-versions of Herero women, gems at one of the places bordering the courtyard area, and the loose leaf tea and jams sold by the Craft Cafe, which I would definitely recommend for a bite. So those are my Windhoek recommendations - hopefully they will help someone out there.
See you in two years' time, blogging world. (Okay, maaaaaybe in December, when I have travelled to Berlin. Maybe.)
Love,
Zahra
Windhoek (August 14th, 2016 - August 17th, 2016)
Upon learning that I would be traveling to Windhoek, I wondered "What the fuck is there to do in Windhoek?", a question I am hoping will generate traffic to this godforsaken page. If that description fits you, fear not, Windhoek-weary traveler - Zahra is here!
14th
I arrived in Windhoek on Sunday afternoon, and was greeted shortly afterwards by sort-of family friends; an aging, academic German couple. They took my father and I out for a sunset drive around the city (a must!) and dinner at Joe's Beer House (160 Nelson Mandela Ave). I know you've probably read the TripAdvisor reviews of the place, but I genuinely recommend this one! The beer is good and the lighting is poor - perfect for when you are tasked with enduring your family friend's laboured but oh so very important opinions on everything.
I don't know why men do that thing. Oh you know what I'm talking about. The thing. Actually I know exactly why; it's because men have been trained to be so confident in the expression of their thoughts that they are completely willing to listen to the sound of their own voices droning on for the duration of a dinner. That thing. I would call it a Ted Talk but listening to a Ted Talk is a voluntary action.
Anyways, Joe's menu is wonderfully Windhoekian in its combination of German and African influences. For example I had a delicious oryx schnitzel, which occupied me nicely while I was sending "please shut up already" brain waves to my dinner guest.
15th
I started the day by going to the Independence Museum (Independence Ave). The museum, which frighteningly does not have a fire escape and rather resembles an elaborate coffee grinder in appearance, would not be recommended if you actually want to learn something about Namibian history. It appears as if the curators were presented with a word count akin to Stalinist Russia rationing, for there is no information presented on the fascinating topics covered by the multiple levels of the museum. The only writing is found in the captions of photographs on display and as the headings of terrifyingly graphic paintings of violence that adorn the coffee grinder's walls.
I then moved onto the gardens outside Namibia's parliament, a short walk from the Independence Museum, which were gorgeous and lush and I definitely did not illegally pick flowers. I then walked down Robert Mugabe Avenue. Two wonderful spots on Uncle Bob Ave are the National Art Gallery of Namibia (corner of Robert Mugabe Ave and John Meinert Str) and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Center (118 Robert Mugabe Ave). The former had an excellent solo photographic exhibit of striking portraits by Kyle Weeks. The shop adjoining the gallery is well worth a visit, too! The gallery also hosts plenty of events, so be sure to check out their programme before your visit. There is gluhwein and artsy people at their events so why wouldn't you want to go? (I should note here that Namibian tap water, likely as a result of water restrictions, tastes like the piss of a horse fed on a diet of only asparagus so gluhwein is an inevitable option after exhausting beer, beer, and more beer.) The FNCC is a short distance from NAGN and is the Alliance Francaise equivalent in Windhoek. It also has a very cool gallery space, but I especially recommend the FNCC's restaurant La Bonne Table, which is so unkitschly French that one is tempted to say "merci beaucoup" to the waitstaff.
16th
On Tuesday I lunched at the Goethe Institut (5, Fidel Castro St) on "goulash mit Klöße" (Klöße being German potato dumplings), returned to the NAGN for some shopping, and then walked Independence Avenue. With the sun shining gloriously on my back, and a bowl of Cramer's (FNB Head Office, Independence Ave) ice cream in hand, I decided that I did like Windhoek. I liked it a lot, in fact. When I travel I divide cities I visit into three categories:
1) I could live here for maybe a couple of months. (A feeling I last felt with Shanghai.)
2) I wouldn't mind visiting here again. (Last felt with Hanoi.)
3) Baghdad cities: places people should only go to to blow themselves up. (I've thankfully never felt this way.)
Windhoek was a 2) after my discoveries over my short stay, and my time at the Craft Center (Old Breweries Building, Tal Street) solidified this. A lot of the stuff is very South African or rather generically African, but highlights were doll-versions of Herero women, gems at one of the places bordering the courtyard area, and the loose leaf tea and jams sold by the Craft Cafe, which I would definitely recommend for a bite. So those are my Windhoek recommendations - hopefully they will help someone out there.
See you in two years' time, blogging world. (Okay, maaaaaybe in December, when I have travelled to Berlin. Maybe.)
Love,
Zahra
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