1. People. Johannesburg is home to just about every nationality in the world - Africans from all over the continent, Asian, Middle Eastern and European people with just about every religion represented...who knew there was a significant Jewish population in Johannesburg? This mix of people contribute to such a vibe to this city that is makes it the most cosmopolitan, fast-paced area of the country and hosts awesome events like film festivals, fashion shows and art shows.
2. Fridays. No other nation celebrates Friday as much as South Africa. It is common to "dress down" on Friday for work and most don't stay past 17:00. When Lauren was "caught" working at 16:30 on a Friday afternoon, her HR manager sent her a message saying, "Lauren, what are you still doing at work? Don't you know it is bad luck to work late on Friday afternoons in South Africa?" Nice! South African radio also plays special "Friday" songs in the morning to get everyone psyched for the weekend.
3. Restaurants. There really isn't much to say here other than Johannesburg hosts some of the best restaurants we have ever been to. You can find quality, innovative cuisine for just about any appetite with good, CHEAP South African wine for an inexpensive night out. We agree that we have more options, better food and get "more for your money" than restaurants in London. By far!
4. Traffic rules. Red light taking too long? Go through it! Want to make a right on red? Go for it! Want to cross a 5-lane highway on foot? No problem! Want to tow your friend's broken down car with a non-elastic rope at 100KM's an hour? Go for it! Get pulled over by the police for speeding and they're taking too long to issue the ticket? That's because they're waiting for a bribe!
5. Weather. Sunny. Everyday. No clouds.
6. Day trips. You can find a casino, play with lion cubs, go mountain biking, rock climbing, go on a safari, museums, see one of the many heritage sites, even hit one of the 100's of spas all within a day.
7. Malls and Casinos. You really don't have to go far in this city to hit a new shopping centre or sign for a casino. We even have a Gap and Banana Republic about 10 minutes away from us. And you gotta love playing a little blackjack with the Rand...
8. Television and Radio. You can show full frontal nudity for men and women but you cannot say "God" on television. Dr. 90210 is ALWAYS on, not necessarily a good thing, but worth mentioning that this show is where a lot of South Africans get their views of the US. On one of the most popular radio stations, they have something called "Cheese of the Day" - where they play the most ridiculous Afrikans music you can imagine - Lauren was first introduced to this type of music while hanging out with Afrikaners in Gabon...and brings back fond memories for her. For example, a song including a kazoo instrumental.
9. Cars. We have never seen as many BMW's as we have seen in this city. With no stretch of the truth, probably 1 in 5 cars in this city is a BMW. And in the words of our taxi-driver friend, Tony, BMW's are "every man's dream and Mercedes are for old men."
10. People's first names. Whisper. Pencil. Doctor. Saviours. Zero. Xhibit. These however fail in comparison to our favorite Gabonese name we encountered - Spatula.
Another aspect of Johannesburg we love is that you must "expect the unexpected." Below it might look like a normal night out for the Gursels, but little do you know there was a Drag Queen show happening in the background.
We sat down at the Portuguese restaurant we've been meaning to try and all of a sudden this Queen came out with purple feathers singing Liza Minnelli. Totally random and so awesome.
Great stuff, you guys seem to be doing fantastic and it looks to be an amazing place!
ReplyDeleteRandom drag? Yeah right...let me guess...Geoff picked the place?
ReplyDelete- Andrew