Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Jill in Nobel Square @ the V&A

When in Cape Town, we always take visitors to the V&A to see the statues of the four South African Nobel Peace Prize winners. The statues represent Albert Luthuli (1960 winner), Desmond Tutu (1984 winner), F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela (shared 1993 winners).

Jill @ Tutu's house on Vilakazi Street

Likewise in Joburg, we visit Vilakazi Street in Soweto, the only street in the world that housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Archbishop Tutu still stays here when he is in Johannesburg.

Peace!

Jill @ Mandela's house on Vilakazi Street

Happy Summer! Er, I meant Happy Africa Day!

Happy Summer to MYC!

"Happy Summer!" That is the way everyone greets each other on Memorial Day weekend at parades, at cocktail parties, on the buffet line at the Yacht Club BBQ and during Memorial Day regattas wherever people in the northeastern United States summer. Yes, "summer" is a verb too. As in, "Where do you summer?" (Translation: "Where do you spend your summer?"

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer from whence I hail. But Memorial Day is not a national holiday in South Africa so today is still a work day for most. But coincidentally, today is also "Africa Day" and it is celebrated all over the African continent.

President Zuma spoke in Pretoria for Africa Day

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to promote the unity and solidarity of the African states and act as a collective voice for the African continent. (The OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002 by its last chairperson, South African President Thabo Mbeki, and replaced by the African Union (AU).)

Africa Day is observed as a public holiday in only five African countries, namely Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. However, celebrations are still held all over Africa and in the rest of the world by Africans of the diaspora.

Happy Afrika Day to Africa!

In Joburg, there were several events taking place over the weekend in celebration of African unity and solidarity. On Sunday, there was an Afrika Day celebration of theatre, dance and food at Common Ground in Maboneng that looked interesting, including a performance of The Forgotten One by ISARO on the POPArt Outdoor Stage. There was a gala concert at the Joburg Theatre on Friday and Saturday nights, a fashion show at the Fashion Kapitol on Saturday, and a jazz, art and poetry night at the Afrikan Freedom Station on Friday night as well. But we did not attend any of them.

We chose instead to continue a USA tradition over this Memorial Day weekend in order to celebrate Africa Day. The US barbeque or as it is known in SA, the braai. Several of them in fact.

Happy Africa Day! (photo by Will Perry)

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Ubuntu Kraal Brewery in Soweto for a special township chisa nyama, brewery tour and beer tasting.

Happy Africa Day SH2015 Gaza Gray group!

And on Sunday I went to an introductory braai in Arcadia to meet my fellow volunteers with whom I will be going on an archaeological dig in Kruger in August. After that Vince and I had an American friend over for a braai at Valley Lodge (complete with Memorial Day Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.) Lou & Serge love the braai!

Memorial Day BBQ at Valley Lodge

And rather than wish everyone a "Happy Summer," I wished them all a "Happy Africa Day!" instead.

Soweto Gold

the krewe in the Kraal

The Ubuntu Kraal Brewery of Soweto, makers of Soweto Gold, invited members of La Chaine des Rotisseurs of Johannesburg to let their hair down for a fun informal Saturday afternoon in the company of friends and an authentic South African cultural experience. And members of La Chaine invited us!

A special area was created for us under the tin roof in the Kasi beer garden. We tasted a flight of their fresh-brewed beers, took an informative tour of the brewery and learned about the art of craft beer making.

welcome to the kraal!

the beermeister

Incorporated in October 2012, it only took until February 2014 before Soweto Gold was mentioned amongst "The Top 10 Best Craft Beers in South Africa" by the League Of Beers! Pretty meteoric rise.

We were able to taste their award-winning Soweto Gold Superior Lager, the Soweto Gold Apple Ale, and Gogo's Ginger Beer on tap. They use clear crystal spring water for their beer-making!

They also brew a Soweto Weiss Gold and a Soweto Gold - Orlando Stout but alas, they were tapped out. :(

 

Vince gets a better look

Spiced rubbed chuck steak, lamb tjops (chops) or hake

Ginger beer basted peri-peri chicken

Gourmet boeri from the grill

Braai pap or potato chips
Gogo’s chakalaka

mmm!malva pudding with Amarula custard sauce

Township trifle

tasting ...

... and take-out!

Two Fortresses in Cape Town

I am in the middle wearing a babushka!

The great thing about having visitors from the US is that you get to see some of the more famous tourist destinations right in your own city. There are New Yorkers who have never been to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island except maybe once when they immigrated themselves through it. I think I only visited the Statue of Liberty twice in my life. Once on a school trip and once with visitors to New York.

The same goes in South Africa. Many of the locals have even commented that Vince and I have seen more of South Africa than most South Africans.Typical.

I could visit the Apartheid Museum, Lilieslief and the Cradle of Humankind a million times in Joburg and never be bored. Likewise, I can go up by cable car to the top of Table Mountain or take the drive down to see the penguins and the Cape of Good Hope and back up Chapmans Peak Drive (stopping in of course at the Chapmans Peak Hotel for their delicious calamari) with as many visitors that care to come.

entrance to the castle with the bell tower in the background

But there are some tourist destinations I only want to do once, so I have a number of sights on reserve in Joburg and Cape Town for when visitors come. Such as the Castle of Good Hope and Robben Island in Cape Town.

pretty accurate

Cape Town's Iziko Castle of Good Hope is South Africa's oldest structure. Built between 1666-1679, the pentagon-shaped fortress replaced an earlier clay and timber fort erected by Commander Jan van Riebeeck himself in 1652. The Castle overlooks the Grand Parade and is considered the center of the Cape Town City Bowl.

the castle keep

There's a Military Museum, an exhibit of antique furniture, ceramic, glass and metal ware, and Dutch paintings. Inside the keep there is a working forge and a creepy dungeon.

the moat

The Castle entrance has a belfry which still houses the original bell cast in Amsterdam in 1697. And of course it wouldn't be a real castle without a moat.

Robben Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

the Dias transferred prisoners before tourists

Robben Island is a fortress of another kind altogether, meant to keep people in and not out like the Castle of Good Hope. As early as 1636 Robben Island served as a penal settlement. Over time, it has been a leper colony, a military base and in 1960, it was taken over by the South African Prisons Service for use as a prison for some of South Africa's most famous political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Ahmed Kathrada.

Once the ferry from Cape Town lands at the dock on Robben Island, you are escorted to a bus which drives you for a 45 minute tour around the island while a very knowledgeable tour leader gives you the history of the island through all of its iterations. You are then dropped off at the prison itself where you are turned over to a prison tour guide.

the prison courtyard

The actual prison is only one small part of the island. I thought it would be more like Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay which was a prison and only a prison. But interestingly, along with all its other uses, Robben Island was nominated by the South African Natural Heritage Foundation for its significance as a seabird breeding colony as it hosts more than 130 bird species.

Vince does the Soweto handshake with our guide

Our prison tour guide was a former Robben Island political prisoner. He had actually been a student during the Soweto Uprising in 1976. He was subsequently arrested and incarcerated for more than 14 years. His testimony and background offered a unique perspective on life as a prisoner on Robben Island.

Nelson Mandela's cell

the furnishings

many visitors were moved to tears

Mandela's garden

with our guide

Our friend Ric commented that there will be a real loss someday to this tour experience when the last political prisoner has passed and can no longer guide you through the prison. Their exuberant spirit of reconciliation and hope is seriously infectious and is an asset that simply cannot be duplicated by someone who did not experience for themselves the challenge of oppression and incarceration and the opportunity to see the hopes and dreams of their and their country's freedom actualized. They are a national treasure just as surely as are the Castle of Good Hope and Robben Island themselves.

Art? Absolut-ely!

Spring is definitely (probably) here and Joburg is blooming with both flowers and art. We are in the middle of Art Week Joburg when for one week galleries, museums, arts organizations and artists collaborate to create a strong public focus on the vibrant art scene. Started in Cape Town in 2012, this is the first year for Art Week in Joburg. Participating art exhibit spaces can be visited in Maboneng, Braamfontein-Newtown, Alexandra, Soweto, and the Rosebank Arts Strip.

inside a studio on Leonard Street, Tribeca

Similar to New York's TOAST, the “Tribeca Open Artist Studio Tour", the Art Walkabout had art ... 

art party in Tribeca

... and parties.














 

Arts on Main

On Friday evening, we did the Joburg Art Walkabout along Fox, Kruger and Commissioner Streets in Maboneng visiting open exhibitions along the way in independent galleries as well as ones inside Arts on Main and MOAD.

from Diezel's "rainbow Land" exhibit

Per-Anders Pettersson @ MOAD

The exhibition spaces were all open until 8:00 on Friday night and I imagine beyond judging from the parties going on inside some ...

The Cosmopolitan Hotel was rocking!

the scene inside the Cosmo Hotel

very Alphabet City in the 80's

Art Week Joburg is timed to end with the weekend-long FNB Joburg Art Fair being held at the Sandton Convention Center. FNB Joburg Art Fair is the leading African art fair and first of its kind on the African continent. It was established in 2008 by Artlogic and in addition to art exhibits and art platforms, there are three days worth of talks and workshops on everything "From Jung and Marcel Duchamp to the Illuminati and the Underground."

We helped kick off the FNB Joburg Art Fair, at the Absolut Art Party at MOAD. (It was the neighborly thing to do!)

On Saturday we took in more art exhibits, this time in the Braamfontein and Newtown precincts  ...



... including the Market Photo Workshop.

... and the Artist Proof Studio.

the artists

And to finish off the weekend, The FNB Joburg Art Fair.