First, I realize it’s pretty lame that this blog post is NOT about the U2 concert that happened here two days ago. Aside from last year’s World Cup, it seems that the U2 concert was this city’s event of the decade. Alas, Joe and I were not among the 98,000 people at the concert. We were at home, enjoying huge bowls of leftover chili. (It was even yummier the second time around!)
So instead of U2, I’m writing about guesthouses.
There are no Holiday Inns, Radissons, or Ritz Carltons in Melville – it’s not that kind of place. Melville has only guesthouses (also referred to as inns, bed-and-breakfasts, or lodges).
There are reportedly 110 guesthouses in Melville and the immediate surrounding area. (I know this doesn’t match my post title but I think 101 sounds better than 110.) This initially seems impossible to believe, as Melville isn’t a big place. But stroll around the neighborhood for a few minutes and you’ll start to understand. Here are just a couple of the guest houses I saw during a ten-minute walk today:
I’ve been fascinated by guesthouses since the day I arrived in Melville – they’re all different and some of them have very interesting themes or quirks. Just to give you a few examples: There is a guesthouse modeled after a Chinese motel. Several of the guesthouses consist of only one room. There is also a guesthouse designed to feel like a prison. (I kid you not.)
I’m always peering though fences and over walls to try to see what the guesthouses look like. I’ve been inside a couple of them, either because I know the owners or because my friends are staying there. But I generally feel frustrated by the fact that I live here and hence have no excuse to try out (and write about) all the Melville guesthouses.
I’ve devised a plan to remedy this problem. I’m helping put together the website for the Melville Visitors Centre, which is a resource for Melville visitors and locals on all things Melvillian. I will be visiting as many of those 110 guesthouses (as well as Melville’s restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and the like) as I can, in a mission to collect information for the website. When I come across a particularly interesting destination, I’ll write a blog post about it.
Check back soon for a post on the Melville Visitors Centre, which I consider to be blog-worthy in its own right.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.