The blog challenge on Female2Female is about your favourite city - where you live or where you want to live.

I am a Cape Town girl and until my husband was transferred to Johannesburg almost 14 years ago I never thought that I would leave Cape Town.

Because it is my home town and I have an obvious connection to it I love Cape Town.  I love the sea - to walk on the beach or just to sit and watch the waves roll in.  In the first year that we were in Cape Town I really missed the sea.  Each time that we got take-away we had to stop ourselves from thinking that we could go down to the beach to eat.  No more going to walk on the beach while debating important issue - like the house that we wanted to put an offer in for.  Before we found our rhythm in Johannesburg, we were a little bored on the weekend.  And unfortunately the botanical gardens is no substitute.

One of our rituals in the first year of being married was to have a Monday evening drink.  Much needed after the first day back at work after the weekend and a good way to ease into the rest of the working week.  We either went to a pizza place at the V&A Waterfront to have pizza and share a bottle of red wine, or to a pub in Tableview that overlooked the sea.  On the weekend, going for tea at the Rhodes Memorial and walking up the mountain afterwards was a great end to the weekend.

When we moved to Johannesburg I missed our rituals and the places which were a part of those rituals.  I missed knowing where things were and recognising names of schools.  And most of all I missed my family.  I was a stranger in a strange land.  A land that was strangely devoid of wind and endless drizzle.

The weather must be one of the pluses of Johannesburg.  I appreciate not being blown off my feet  - I used to work on the Foreshore in Cape Town so I know just how strong the wind is in Cape Town.  I enjoy not having drizzle for days on end - I love the fact that it can be rainy and sunny in Johannesburg in one day.  The downside of the weather in Johannesburg and the one thing that I really hate is that it can be overcast on a summer morning.  One summer it seemed that we hardly saw the sun because it was overcast when we went to work and dark when we drove home.

There are so many positives and negatives to each city and you can enjoy both if you appreciate the positives, but my favourite city must be the city that I have left my heart in and that is my hometown, Cape Town.