Yesterday was one of those funny days where so much was happening there was no time to photograph it all. Lots of visitors came to the house, first off the breakfast crowd. Fi and some friends have a 'breakfast club'. They used to go out for breakfast, together once a month. Then someone had a 'wise' idea that each family should host breakfast at their home once a month instead.
Wow, what a flurry of activity, starting with Fi waking up early to clean the house quickly (I have mentioned that two young children live in this house?) Then the cooking begins and setting the table. Ooohh! The smells... My tummy was rumbling like mad with the bacon fumes! And black cherries on waffles are my new favourite meal. Fi said I'd have to learn to make them myself if I wanted them more often. No sooner had we cleared up than another lot of guests arrived.... and then another lot! Eventually they all went home and more friends came over for supper.
Fi told me that her husband's grandmother (they don't see eye to eye) once commented (not positively) that the house was like a hotel, with all the comings and going and meals on offer. If you ask me, it is more like Paddington station!
Any way, today was a lot more relaxed. We slept in a bit and then we all had a yummy Father's day breakfast.
After that we climbed into the car, got strapped in and set off for Fi's Mom. We were whizzing down the highway at 120KPH (about 75MPH) when she took these photos so excuse them if they are a bit fuzzy...
First up is Sandton City. Remember I went there recently?
There was a large police presence on the roads because it is a long weekend here. South Africa has a shocking road death toll.
This is a typical sight... usually they are even more overloaded. (This was taken on the way back home - you can see the sun is starting to set)
Fi's husband drove past her Mom's off ramp and she wondered what he was up to... he was taking Fiona and I on a little tour! First we drove up a steep winding hill.... (see the tall walls and electric fence? Very typical in Johannesburg)
We stopped at the top to look down...
We are in a part of Johannesburg called 'Upper Houghton' (old wealthy area) If you look behind us you will see a large group of buildings. That is Killarney where Fi's Mom lives. It used to be a predominantly Jewish area, but with everybody immigrating these days (or dying off... it was also full of elderly retirees!) it has become just as cosmopolitan as the rest of Johannesburg. At one stage it was also quite an exclusive suburb and some of the blocks of flats have been very well maintained. Most were built in the 1920s or 30's and were designed in an art deco style.
The part we are looking down on here is lower Houghton, and somewhere down there is the house of none other than the most famous South African, Nelson Mandela. Fi is sorry she doesn't know exactly which one...
Jo'burg is recognised as an urban forest (the largest in the world.)You can see that clearly, behind us! Wall to wall trees...and believe me when I tell you that under the canopy of trees, it is wall to wall houses too...
The road that we are on is called The Munro Drive, it is a National Monument and is listed on the very important sounding "One Hundred Places of Outstanding Cultural, Historical, Architectural, and Natural Interest in Johannesburg" (which sadly reads like a list of places to avoid in Johannesburg if you wish to live to an old age)
On the way back we passed St John's College. A very old, internationally recognised, Church school. Fi's Granddad went there a long, long, long time ago. I bet there was no electric fence in his day...
Then we popped out onto Joe Slovo Drive, which up until recently was known as Harrow Road.Yep, the name change thing again! Joe Slovo was a "struggle hero", an anti-apartheid activist, and the street was renamed in his honour to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death. This is a new bridge that was built across the road. There are a lot of these bridges, which are very cleverly designed. They are put in place at the side of the road and then swung over into place by a crane to minimise traffic disruptions. A massive one was built at the side of a highway and swung over once, which was quite an engineering feat.
This is a memorial for those in the South African Scottish Regiment, who lost their lives in the Great War. It stands in front of the head quarters of the 'Transvaal Scottish' (who haven't changed their name even though the Transvaal is now known as Gauteng Province)
Our next stop was Fi’s Mom, where we had that delicious carrot cake again that Fi makes. Her piggy brother had THREE slices!
