Yesterday it was Art Deco, today Art Nouveau.... this is one of the old original buildings in Main Street, where the city first developed. It is now called Govan Mbeki Avenue, after our current President's father. There are still a few of these gems, surrounded by some rather nasty high rises built after the middle of last Century. (It still feels weird to think of the years I was born and growing up as 'the middle of LAST Century', makes…
Ok, you are getting a bonus post today because I have been experimenting with altering the picture size, and YAY YIPPEE YAY, thanks to much help from Fenix of Bostonscapes, (who apparently also never sleeps!) it works! So treat this as a sort of TV test pattern......... THANKS FENIX!!!!This lovely old Art Deco building in Central is one of the few old and interesting ones which has not been allowed to fall into disrepair by uncaring landlords, who own many…
Last Sunday, a storm blew over. I was trying to capture the lightning, which is unusual in PE, where our rain tends to be of the drizzly cold variety rather than heavy and tropical, but kept missing it. However, the gale force winds can be seen by the way the trees blurred during the time exposure, while the rest remained steady. Because this picture is wide, it has reduced a lot on blogger, and I am still trying to figure…
The remains of the old St Peters Church in South End.This was a vibrant area with many races living happily together side by side. During the Apartheid era, in one of the many inhumane decisions taken at that time, it was demolished and the people relocated to racially divided areas. It is now covered with modern townhouse complexes, which surround this ruin.
This is the Bridge Shopping Mall, built in the 80's, which forms a bridge over a major arterial road leading down to the Northern Areas of PE. If you click and enlarge, you will see the name emblazoned on the building, and a bus which has just driven through under it. The cars travelling left to right are on the Old Cape Road, which used to be the main road to Capetown , until the freeway was completed about 40…
I know this is meant to be A photo A day, (as in 1 each day!) but I just had to pop this extra one in, because things are cooking here today, and tomorrow is the 1st day of the month, which means it is theme day, so tomorrow will be a BRIDGE picture.The SA Proteas Cricket team played the NZ black caps here today, in fact as I am typing this, the match has just ended, with New Zealand…
Richmond Hill, last Sunday at 4.32 am. The streetlights, floodlights over the park and rising sun combine to create a glowing palette of tones. On the left is Richmond Park, and on the right the Doxa Deo Church (a hideous piece of architecture which we will probably only ever show you as a sillouette against cool views, because buildings this ugly should not be allowed in an old historic area!) The road in between winds down the hill towards the…
Remember the other day I showed you the Urban Renewal project going on in our City Centre?Well the grand opening is scheduled for tomorrow night, with an evening street festival, live bands etc. This is how it looked when I went to pay our tax (grrrrrrrr) on Friday. With holes in the street, barricades and mess everywhere.... looks like the builders will have to shake a leg to get it ready in time! The pretty old building in the centre,…
In the old historic Central area of the city, old meets new, as a settlers cottage becomes a hip cafe and jazz club. Previously known as the Lizard Lounge, the metal gates were custom made to suit the theme. After a change of ownership, it is more boringly known as 52 Parliament Street, but they have luckily been retained! The historic building opposite can be seen reflected in the window. A great move is being made to restore these old…
I love this graffiti, and this one is a real depiction of the vibe now going on inside, some cool Afro-Jazz takes place there. But as you can see, the place is pretty run down. In the past it lived up to its name. It was a Grand Hotel in a wonderful old historic building. Hopefully the move towards urban renewal in this part of town will include restoring this once gracious old lady, without losing the cool new ambience…