Welcome Hello and welcome to Cafe Society. I do hope you enjoy these pages and learning a little more about the places I have visited, the food I have enjoyed and of course the wine. The places I have visited are all in South Africa, and mostly in or around Cape Town. I dream, of course, of expanding my horizons and invariably my thoughts turn to Asia. And why should one not dream a little? If I may adapt Browning a little: " Ah, but one's reach should exceed one's grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" In this case 'heaven' is distant places and good writing. It started when I was at school and read, for the first time, a first-rate travel story. I was astonished and particularly taken by a passage in which the writer described a group of girls crossing the street in the faint drizzle. They were wearing straw hats. Thinking back, I am today not sure whether or not I saw a photograph. I concluded, after so many years, that I don't think there was a photograph at all. That is good writing I believe: to describe a scene so vividly that a picture is created in the imagination. There's a lot more I'd like to say and I hope to continue in Cafe Society's Table Talk. Please join me there. Pull up a chair. Light a cigarette if you smoke, and order a glass of your favourite wine. Most of the stories published here have been published in travel magazines, but not all. The first two 'Wild Mushrooms' and 'From the Ocean' I reserved for 'Cafe Society'. They are also my favourites (let me know what you think). The photograph of the boats was taken by my friend Jac, and will soon grace the cover of a new travel magazine.