Skotnes at the Norval Foundation

WESTERN CAPE REGION

Skotnes at the Norval Foundation

By Brendan Moran

On Sunday 3 July we had a breakfast run to the restaurant at The Norval Foundation in Steenberg (near Constantia, Cape Town). The weather did not play along initially, which meant that we lost a few attendees due to early morning rain predictions.

Despite this, about 20 of our trusty members braved the grey skies and joined us for the run and breakfast.

The Skotnes is a beautiful fine dining restaurant in Steenberg that is nestled beneath the Silvermine Mountain Range in a beautiful indigenous sculpture garden; which includes a protected wetland.

The Norval Foundation, where the restaurant is situated, is a modern twentieth century visual arts gallery dedicated to the research and understanding of modern art in Africa.

The Norval Foundation was established by the Norval family as an NGO to promote, educate and preserve African artists’ work. Apart from the great restaurant, Sculptured Garden, and the beautiful architecture of the building, visitors can always see a great collection of art in the gallery with permanent and highlight exhibitions all year round.

As we all know, many of us classic Merc custodians prefer not to drive our babies in the rain, and this run was no exception. Most of our members attended in their modern daily transport; of which not all were Mercs. One or two members did brave the elements in a classic, such as Jürgen Apel’s W124 300CE, or Hanjo Stier (our new club magazine editor) in a pristine W116 350SE with his daughter’s massive Garfield soft toy buckled up in the back seat.

Hanjo’s parents also attended in their lovely W123 280E, and I completed the Mercedes offering with my E500 coupe.

After a good catch-up over breakfast, some members enjoyed the grounds and Sculpture Garden when the weather cleared, while others viewed the gallery.

We will definitely be back at this wonderful venue soon for another club run, and would encourage anyone visiting the Steenberg area to visit The Norval Foundation. n