it was a dark and stormy night………

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…

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Places of Worship #2

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.

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December Theme: Bridges

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…

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Bonus Friday Post…

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…

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Pre-Dawn in Richmond Hill

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…

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Time is Tight

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,…

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The Lizard Lounge

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…

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The (formerly) Grand Hotel

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…

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Just Another Shopping Mall

I had lunch at Wimpy last week, (note Christmas decorations already up, can you believe it?)With the growth of franchises around the world, it seems that, in many countries, shopping malls have become so similar that, once in them, you could be just about anywhere in the world.

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places of worship #1

This is the Greek Church in Parsons Hill. PE has a close knit Greek community, many of whom keep close ties to the traditions of their motherland, even after several generations here. This beautiful complex houses, amongst other things, their church, as well as the Hellenic Hall where functions are held.

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