So, we are on the bus and the bus is travelling through the city centre. We are all excited because this is somewhere Fi has wanted to bring us all but it is not safe enough for her to do on her own. Much better to be sitting on a bus with a camera and taking photos out the window...
You need to bear in mind that Johannesburg only came into existence in the 1880s when gold was discovered. So it is a relatively new city.
Fi grew up in these parts and it was a real trip down memory lane. Some parts were just shocking for her to see how much they had degenerated in the years since she has been down here. Come, I'll show you.
We were heading for The Munroe drive, but we had to get out of Braamfontein first and travel through the notorious Hillbrow.
This is Park Station, is appears to have been tidied up a little since Fi last saw it. It is the main railway station.
This building has a distinct 1930s feel to it, though I think the man is playing a more modern tune!
Jo' burg central is pretty much a slum these days. What happened is that during the 1980s the world decided to impose sanctions on South Africa to force her to end Apartheid. Most foreign businesses withdrew from the country and left the buildings in the CBD vacant. By the time they had all come back, the CBD was pretty derelict and most large local businesses had moved to the more upmarket area of Sandton. The foreign companies decided (wisely) to move to Sandton too as the CBD was run down and unsafe. Although downtown Jo'burg is technically still known as the Central Business District, it is a misnomer. In truth, Sandton City is now the CBD. Some of the buildings in town have stood vacant for the last 20 years.
There has been an effort to revive the city centre in recent years. CCTV has been implemented to cut down the crime level and there has been an attempt to tidy it up in time for the FIFA 2010 Football World Cup.
But, like I said, it is still pretty much a slum...
This old synagogue, that is no longer in use, was a copy of a Catholic church called the 'Sante Fe' in Istanbul... There is a massive Catholic church and it seemed to be well attended as we drove past but we were on the wrong side of the bus to get a photo.
Then we went through Hillbrow and Fi was having too many flashbacks of her youth to take too many photos! The lady she was sitting next to had also lived in Hillbrow and they were both pointing out where all the places had been that they remembered!
The Professor mentioned that during the world wars, Brazil had remained neutral and had not had the same economic crises as the rest of the world, so it had developed architecturally. Hillbrow was designed loosely on the Bazillion style and was at one time known as 'Little Brazil'.
During it's heyday in the 1950s, Hillbrow was second only to Manhattan, as the finest built up city in the world. BUT, already in the 1950's an architect had predicted that the manner in which it had been built would result in it becoming a slum. The streets were too narrow and the buildings too tall and crowded, blocking the views that made high-rise living so attractive in the first place. Sadly, he was proved correct.
This is Highpoint, now more of a low point... Fi remembers shopping here, German delicatessens, Viennese tea rooms, and trendy boutiques. Hillbrow was very cosmopolitan at that stage, English, Scottish, Polish, German, French, Hungarian, Czech, you name them, they were here. It is still cosmopolitan but now its Nigerian, Angolan, Somalian, Congolese...
This is the side Fi used to live. It looks quite clean here, but up close, it is a different story...
This is the Fire Station, quite a cute little building.
Not long till we head up the Munroe Drive…
