A visiting academic who is staying here at Liz at Lancaster referred this morning to Boekehuis as ‘Johannesburg’s Best Kept Secret’.  What a shame not to spread the word about such a gem of  a store. The title of Lucille Davie’s article (www.joburg.org. za  7 June 2006):  ‘Boekehuis one of the world’s 50 unique bookshops’, says it all.  [...]

The old Turbine Hall in Newtown,  previously derelict and dangerous, has undergone a remarkable succesful adaptation, to become Anglo Gold Ashanti’s headquarters. There are some spectacular architectural details inside ,with motifs from the old industrial building being picked up and repeated with an aesthetic elegance and power which is extraordinary. Accolades to Anglo Gold Ashanti for preserving in [...]

 
 
 
Went to Lucky Moo for an early lunch on Saturday. Located on the south side of Gandhi Square, this great Chinese ‘fast food’ venue looks as though it will give Chinese take-out a whole new meaning. Started by Sam Halfon in partnership with Jaco Welgemoed of Singing Fig  (Norwood),  The Circle (Greenside) and Cite (Dunkeld) [...]

Went to opening of Jeanette Unite’s exhibition ‘Head Gear’ last night at Gold of Africa Museum. Large scale works depict fragments of mining head gear in a powerful bold drawing style. Anglo Gold Ashanti’s extraordinary ‘new’ building – the old Turbine Hall in Newtown, provides the  perfect setting.  More on Anglo Gold’s fine and sensitive  adaptation and renovation [...]

The Confed cup went very well with Sepp Blatter ending up giving SA’s event a 7/10. One of the big criticisms was the transport to and from the stadiums and this was without the difficulties of getting from A to B without your own vehicle.  But things are happening to change this: 
Rapid Rail or Gautrain
Construction [...]

Getting around Joburg: what are the present options? 
Minibus taxis
Introduced throughout South Africa in 1977, these 15-seater minibuses grew into a massive virtually unregulated industry. As their name suggests, they are more akin to small buses than to traditional taxis or cabs which either roam or are called to a destination (see metered taxis below).  Because [...]

Getting around Joburg : overview
Getting from A to B or more importantly from your B&B to THE game, has been much in the news of late with some horrendous stories about traffic chaos getting to Confed Cup games. Massive changes are in process at the moment – but none of them were ready in time [...]

 
The Fire Walker by Kentridge and Marx
 Johannesburg is to have its own William Kentridge, a collaborative work with Gerhard Marx.  Part of the public arts programme, it will stand at the south end of Queen Elizabeth bridge. The sculpture has been funded by the Johannesburg Development Agency and the Goodman Gallery. Standing 12m high (8 [...]

The shuttles, provided by the City of Johannesburg, will operate for four hours before and after the game.  Shuttles will leave the park and ride areas for the stadium every 15 minutes.   As soon as the matches are over, the shuttles will be back in operation. iTransie 2 Ellis Park promises that most fans will [...]

A sign of the times that the restaurants at the end of the block have all closed down,  BUT ….. there are 2 excellent restaurants very nearby: Cnr Café  011 880-2244  and a half blocks away and Pronto 011 447 4346 in the Colony Centre 5 and a half blocks away. Both closed Mondays but [...]