One of the most magical ways to spend an evening in Cape Town (and escape the 21st century altogether!) is to have drinks on the terrace at The Mount Nelson and then stroll down to watch a movie at the Labia cinema which is just around the corner. This is what we did for Lucie’s 28th birthday a few days ago and it is like going back in time.
The Labia has barely changed for over sixty years and is the country’s oldest independent art cinema. All of the original Art Deco features remain, including a little wooden box office where a woman in a pill box hat will exchange a cardboard theatre ticket for only R30 – that’s less than 3 and one cheap date!
Buy hot buttered popcorn in a brown paper bag and home made tablet from the Choc Bar (which still has the same innocent tagline ‘Nothing Nicer’) and then order drinks from Harold’s bar AND be served by Harold himself, as he has done for almost thirty years! Take your drinks into one of the four small theatres and, for a truly authentic nostalgic experience, sit in the back row with your arm around your girl!
