And the winner is ...... South Africa !!

I cannot help feeling like a small child right now after Christmas has come and gone. There is always such a big build up and a point where you even start to wonder if it will ever arrive at all.... and then before you know, it is gone in a flash!
I am of course referring to the World cup and that even though the final curtain has not yet come down,when I drove through Cape Town yesterday, I could not help feeling a twinge of sadness .... similar to when the festive decorations come down in the new year. Although part of you is happy to get back to 'normal' ...there is also a huge part of you that wished you could have carried on forever. In this case though, I do not mean the football so much, but rather the 'Ubuntu' that embraced the whole of South Africa and inevitably, the world. I have been very vocal in my past blogs about my dreams and aspirations for this world cup and the legacy that it would hopefully leave the country, but even I did not expect to be as blown away as I have been, at not just how the whole country came to the party .. (literally!!) to make it the success it was, but also as to how we were received by the visitors. Once again, my thoughts on the overseas media have been made very clear in the past. Whilst I knew that they would enjoy it as much as anyone, I still expected them to go digging up negative stories, but even the Journalists it seems got sucked in ... infectious is really the best word I can find to explain the incredible feeling that was swept over everyone like a huge big mexican wave!

Like many Capetonians last week ,having heard on the radio almost daily about the 'great vibe' that existed on the fan walk that goes 2.4 Km from Cape Town Station to the stadium, it suddenly struck me, that unless I wanted to bunk work on Tuesday for the final Cape Town Match, Netherlands V Uruguay, Saturday was going to be my last chance to enjoy this unique experience. So myself and a couple of friends, decided go the whole hog and take the public transport and all! It sounds dramtic when I say I will remember that day for the rest of my life ... but it really is true. Every race, colour, religion and culture was amongst the tsunami like crowd that ebbed its way through the city... and as crazy as it sounds, for just a few moments that afternoon, it felt like all the problems in the world had disappeared! Some how though, I do not think Maradona would agree with me! :O)

Before I sign off, I wanted to share with you just two of the many heart warming articles that have been written following visits to The World cup . They tell the story much better than I ever could ... Enjoy!
Shari Cohen - Huffington Post

Boris Johnson - Daily Telegraph