One of the new features in the Campanile is the Ghost Bells which can be seen as one climbs up to the top of the tower. The Ghost Bells are installed under the actual 25-bell carillon (the original 23 plus the two new bells) and light up during chiming or when visitors press keys on an interactive silver console keyboard. The Ghost Bells aren't just in the same position, they're also the same size as the real bells. Looking at…
Parties are getting more and more sophisticated. Back in our days it was kids coming over and eating cake and sweets while watching a video and playing. These days parents are pulling out all the stops to make a child's birthday party a memorable one and with two kids, a boy and a girl, we've been to everything. Movies, ice skating, trampoline park, pool parties, supertube, survival parties and more. But Drama Princess had a first the other day. A…
The Port Elizabeth City Hall was built between 1858 and 1862 but the clock tower was only added in 1883
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality recently (yeh ok, some months ago already) renamed three of the streets around the PE Opera House to celebrate three of Port Elizabeth's theatre legends. John Kani, Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona are truly three world icons and worked together on Sizwe Banzi is Dead in 1972 and The Island in 1973. Ntshona and Kani went on to win Tony awards for best actor for both plays while the names of all three have become…
Following on the post about the Cross of Prester John and the Portuguese Explorers between City Hall and the old Post Office building, I decided to post a more closeup picture of the two figures sitting inside the cross. The figures represent Prester John on the one side and a Portuguese explorer on the other side. There is a whole lot more symbolism on the cross, but I'm going to have to do a little more research before posting about that.
The Hole in the Wall near Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast truly is one of the iconic sights (and sites) of the Eastern Cape and South Africa and recognised worldwide. Hole-in-the-Wall was named by Captain Vidal in 1823. Vidal was captain of the Barracouta and was sent by the British to survey the coastline between the Keiskamma River and Lourenço Marques (present-day Maputo). He took his ship as close as 800m from the coast and described the phenomenon of a…
Wedged in between City Hall and the Old Post Office building with the Feather Market Centre on the other side of the right is the Cross of Prester John. The monument has no significant link to Port Elizabeth other than the fact that it was a stop en route to the East for Portuguese explorers who, in addition to looking for a way around Africa to the East, were also hoping to make contact with Prester John as a Christian…
A week ago I posted a picture of the big stained glass window in the St Augustine's Cathedral. When I was doing the post I considered posted the three pictures in this post along with it, but decided that it was magnificent enough to warrant a stand-alone post. So here is stained glass post #2 featuring a 3, 2, 1 combination of stained glass windows. So...3 21
One of the pre-Christmas highlights in Port Elizabeth is the Lovemore Heights Chrismas House's annual event where they turn on the lights, After skipping last year for personal reasons, the Grootendorst family and all their helpers are coming out guns (or in this case Chrismas lights) blazing this year with a full program this coming Saturday evening. The Lovemore Heights Chrismas House is located at the top of Melsetter Road and if you want to get a good spot for the evening…