by 2summers | May 8, 2023 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Markets/Shopping, Soweto, Townships/Informal Settlements
Last Saturday Thorsten and I went to a launch of Eve Fairbanks’ new book, The Inheritors, at the Soweto Book Café. I was excited because: 1) Eve and I have been friends for years and I was keen to hear some discussion about her award-winning book, which tells...
by 2summers | Apr 12, 2023 | Food and Drink, Johannesburg, Markets/Shopping, Pretoria
Centurion, an anonymous no man’s land between Joburg and Pretoria, is home to a magical place called Buyuk Chamlija: a self-described “Socio Eco Techno Village” that grows fat, juicy pomegranates and has a Turkish restaurant shaped like a beehive. I...
by 2summers | Mar 6, 2023 | Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape, Food and Drink, Markets/Shopping, Northern Cape, Western Cape
My mom came for a visit and the two of us took a weeklong road trip through the South African platteland (Afrikaans for countryside). We drove from Joburg to Bethulie, Bethulie to the Garden Route, up through the Karoo Desert to Hanover, and then back to Joburg. Tiny...
by 2summers | Feb 14, 2023 | Arts and Culture, Ekurhuleni (East Rand), Johannesburg, Markets/Shopping
I can’t remember the exact moment when I became aware of veldskoens, a.k.a. vellies. These leather foot coverings — somewhere between a shoe and a boot — have always been prolific in rural South Africa, lining the shelves of padstals (farm stalls),...
by 2summers | Nov 25, 2022 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre, Markets/Shopping
I’ve visited Lilian Road Studios, a collection of artists’ studios in a historic, dilapidated building in Fordsburg, many times. Several great Joburg artists have had studios at Lilian Road, including Hannelie Coetzee and Hermann Niebuhr. Now there is a...
by 2summers | Nov 10, 2022 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre, Markets/Shopping
I recently joined the Rand Club, which holds a couple of black-tie events each year. When it came time to attend our first fancy function, the Club’s 135th-anniversary gala, Thorsten and I considered his black-tie options. He didn’t own a tux, we...