On Tuesday, we visited the historic diamond-mining town of Cullinan. Our timing was off, so we didn’t get to take a tour of the mine, which is still active and quite profitable. We visited the historical society, where a man told us the story of a town and showed us a video of the town’s history. We had lunch and visited some shops before touring the home of the mine’s first general manager. The two youngest daughters lived in the house for life, so the home was occupied by the same family for more than 80 years.
After returning to Johannesburg and having dinner at home, Barry and I ventured out to experience the FIFA Fan Fest in Sandton for the Spain v. Portugal game. It must have taken us nearly an hour to park! We were confident when we set out, because we had already seen the parking signs for the park. But when we tried to follow the signs we always found about two signs, and never any subsequent signs directing us to the actual parking. We first ended up at a roundabout that directed us back to a one-way street coming at us. We then drove through an industrial park. Next we headed back to the park, but found more signs which led us directly into the heart of Alexandra. Sure that the parking wasn’t in a township, we again headed back to the park. At the entrance, an attendant told us there was a lot on site, but you had to have a voucher. The vouchers were sold out, he didn’t know who had been selling them, and he didn’t know where the signs were supposed to take us. We set out again, and soon found a spot on the street where a policeman was monitoring the area. We were a little unsure about the situation, but we took a chance and left the car there without incident.
The Fan Fest itself was not what we had hoped for. It was set up for thousands, but there were only a couple hundred people there this night. We expected more, due to the interesting match and the fact that the game itself was in Cape Town. There were huge areas for vendors and food vendors, but nearly all of them were closed. In any case, it was a beautiful evening and we sat on a blanket to watch the game on the big screen. It was fun to watch the game with other people around and vuvuzelas in use.
On Wednesday we went to the Apartheid Museum, which is new since our last visit. The museum is supposed to take 1.5-3 hours, but there was so much to see, and so much information to read, that we took about 5 hours to go through the place. It’s a very well done museum, with significant architecture, multimedia displays, and artifacts. There was a large, wonderful temporary exhibit about Nelson Mandela, which took a lot of our time. The story of Apartheid is of course tragic, and its affects are ongoing, but it’s truly amazing how the country emerged as a “non-racial,” democratic country with a constitution guaranteeing human rights for all.
After the Apartheid Museum, we headed to Newtown and visited the South African Brewing Company’s World of Beer. We didn’t have time for the full tour, so an employee gave us an expedited tour. The World of Beer is billed as South Africa’s #1 tourist destination. It was a really nice multimedia tour, which included three complimentary drinks and souvenir glasses. The tour ends in a very nice tasting room, where we sat on the outdoor patio in the late afternoon sun.
That evening, we took Marty and Peter to dinner at one of their favorite neighborhood restaurant, Trattoria Renato Pizzaria. (Funny, the review site I've linked here has a photo with my aunts and uncles in it!) The rest of the evening was spent socializing and sharing photos.
It's now 11:30 pm on Saturday, meaning I've still got 3 days-worth of blogging to catch up with. Details will just have to wait, because we're leaving at 7:30 tomorrow morning for Kruger National Park. I don't think I'll have any web access, so at the most I might be able to send one or two email updates. But here's a very brief summary of the past few days:
Thursday:
- Museum Africa - geology, contemporary African art, photography museum, and a great exhibit about LGBT people in Johannesburg.
- Craft Market by the Market Theatre
- Market Photo Workshop - check out the World Cup Rural and Urban Photo Diary.
- The "Brazil Sensational Experience" at the Sandton Convention Center - gearing up for the next World Cup!
- Dinner at home
- The Boys in the Photograph - an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical at the Joberg Theatre Complex, with a talented South African cast and outstanding (huge!) sets. (more)
Friday:
- Returned rental car
- Rosebank Craft Market and lunch at Rosebank - lots of souvenirs purchased.
- Dinner at home
- Ghana v. Uruguay at Soccer City - what an exciting game, and what a disappointment that Ghana lost in a shoot-out. Huge crowds, lots of traffic. We had some excitement on the way home, when two drunk obnoxious South Africans started shouting obscenities at the three of us, to the dismay and embarrassment of everyone else on the train. Some police appeared to pull the man off the train (to the cheers of everyone) and Gywen pushed the woman out the door behind him, just before the train pulled away from the platform. A classic moment, for sure! BTW - everyone ELSE in South Africa has been incredibly nice, helpful, and appreciative of the tourists.
- Lunch at home with Peter's mother Lyn - a wonderful woman who turns 92 next week!
- Kruger Park prep and blogging
- Dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Newtown, Gramadoelas. The owner sat with us during the meal, ensuring our service was in order and providing some great dinner conversation.
- Dropped in at the FIFA Fan Park at Mary Fitzgerald Square, long enough to see Spain score against Paraguay and advance to the semi-finals.
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