Picnic on the Top of Africa

kvas in Brighton

We have been on some quirky food-centric walking tours in cities before. An Urban Foraging Tour (literally) on the grounds of San Fran's Golden Gate Park, a Lower East Side Multi-ethnic Food Tour in NYC and a Russian Food Tour in the Brighton suburb of Boston.

foraging for stinging nettles in Golden Gate Park

We even did a Mural Tour in San Fran's Mission District which, though not strictly a foodie tour, did end up at a smoothie shop where I got a Vampira, a veggie and fruit smoothie made with blood red beet juice! Quirky and creepy at the same time.

On Sunday we continued this tradition when we went up to the top of the Carlton Centre with MainStreetWalks for a rooftop picnic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MainStreetWalks provided us each with a picnic basket (Vince and I shared!) containing some eating utensils, plates and glasses, and a blanket. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we were given some time to peruse the food hall at the Market on Main for some edibles to add to our basket.

Flat bread pizza? Methinks it's too hard to transport.

Dim sum delights! In the basket.












Then we all piled into a minivan and drove over to the Carlton Centre.














We took the lift up to the Top of Africa for our group picnic.

Next stop, the 50th floor!

Our MSW guide gave us a short but informative talk on the City and pointed out the key sites while we took in the 360 degree views of Joburg and the surrounding countryside from the tallest building in all of Africa!
 

The former Johannesburg Stock Exchange (Coca Cola triangular roofed building).

The De Beers Diamond building at the end of Diagonal Street.

(This is what the Diamond Building looks like from ground level).

Gandhi Square.

The low-slung red-roofed "brickfields city" on the left. Mandela Bridge on the right.

The Library in the center.

The old Park Station (green roof on the left in front of the brickfield city) and Mandela Bridge on the right.

Library Gardens in the center.

Rea Vaya bus red stripe.

The Standard Bank "hanging" building ("e" on top). White and yellow mine dumps in the back on the horizon.

Dam with lake.

Turffontein Racecourse

The large white-roofed Muthi market in front of the highway.

Someone bought this turquoise building. It is unclear what it will be when it grows up.

ABSA City tower tribute ...

... to Nelson Mandela.

He was buried today in Qunu. RIP.

We were so lucky we had a beautiful clear day.

The tall Ponte Tower building (red Vodacom top).

Maboneng, where we started our tour this morning.














The Hillbrow tower.

Great clouds.

Small Street, ironically the longest street in Joburg.

The hospital (3 identical towers) on Constitution Hill built right in the sight line of the Oppenheimer estate blocking Harry's view of the mountains. Burn.

Maboneng mural from above.

Nelson Mandela's legs are finished!

This building was built as an homage to the World Trade Center before 9/11.

The Red Bus down below on the move!

On the horizon to the right behind the Sentech tower is the largest mine dump still in existence. It is getting smaller every day as they are re-mining it and extracting more gold with better mining technology. Talk about recycle.













The Markham Building was once the tallest building in Joburg!


It's still pretty.










Time to eat! Vince and I almost bought one of these flat bread pizzas but did not know how to transport it. Clever method sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard! Let's see how well it worked.

It worked!

Great picnic companions!

With great minds who think alike. Both Ros and Mark and Frederick bought these same chocolate desserts, unbeknownst to each other!

Nice view! Nice place to picnic!

We are trying to convince MainStreetWalks to add a dusk sundowner picnic to their repertoire. But only if Mark and Frederick promise to join us!

Darn, I should have checked to see if they had a floaty pen!

MainStreetWalks offers a wide range of tours of the city. So does JoburgPlaces and Past Experiences. It is a great way to uncover the secret gems found in downtown Joburg and the surrounding suburbs. To book a walking tour of the city, visit their websites!