Yesterday morning I watched the Bank of Lisbon Building, a 31-storey tower in downtown Joburg, fold inward on itself and collapse to the ground in a cloud of dust.
I photographed the implosion from just under three blocks away, on the eighth floor of Corner House – one of Joburg’s oldest and most iconic buildings – while peering through the porthole-shaped window of a turret with a giant jacuzzi tub in it.
Every year in early summer, a bunch of private gardens in Joburg open up to the public as part of the Gardens of the Golden City series. This is a rare and special opportunity; This city has some incredibly beautiful gardens with incredibly beautiful houses attached to them.
When I first started 2Summers, I blogged about practically every Jozi restaurant I went to. (Even Spur.) I’m a bit more selective these days, as writing about every restaurant in town is neither feasible nor desirable. But I’ve been to quite a few interesting Jozi restaurants in the past few weeks, and as I don’t have time to write eight individual posts I’m lumping them all into one.
Seventh in an occasional blog series called This Is the East, about hidden spots on Johannesburg’s East Rand. This edition features Hodad’s, a locally owned fast-food joint in Edenvale.
I love supporting small, locally owned businesses that do their jobs better than big, international corporations. Hodad’s in Edenvale is a perfect example of this.