A Staycation in Kensington

05 July 2023

I’ve always been intrigued by Kensington, a suburb just east of downtown Joburg. Kensington is similar in many ways to Melville, where I used to live, and Brixton, where I live now: An older neighborhood, filled with big trees and houses with pressed-steel ceilings, populated by lots of quirky artists and other creative types. Kensington is only about 20 minutes’ drive away but I feel like I haven’t spent enough time there over the years to really get to know it.

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A Beautiful Place to Eat and Sleep in Auckland Park

22 July 2018

People are always asking me for recommendations on places to stay in Joburg, and I never know what to say because in Joburg I tend to sleep in my own house. But here’s a place I can recommend for sure: Zietsies Guest House, which is technically in Auckland Park but I call it Brixton.

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A Day in the Life of a Quirky Melville Tourist

25 May 2011

A few months ago, I promised to write periodic posts about Melville guesthouses, restaurants, and shops. I’ve strayed from that commitment – the majority of my posts these days are about the Joburg city centre or more far-flung places outside of town.

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101 Guest Houses

15 February 2011

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!)

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