I took a park and ride from Constitution Hill, and started the ride through the city with the baaaaaas of the vuvus and a busload of jovial fans. After a while I got so wrapped up in the excitement of inside the bus, that I forgot to look out the window.

All of sudden we were there. Up until now, I had only ever seen 3D renderings and so initially, seeing it in its realistic entirety caught me completely by surprise. No words could come out, but in my head the feeling of “I cant believe we built this” bounced around my head. There was this dude next to me, my new best friend for the last 15 minutes jumping up and down shouting “we said we were gonna do it! and so we did it!!! we did it! Baaaaaaaaaa (vuvu noise)”.

In the distance, is Ghandi Sqaure. This beautiful landscaped piece of Main Street travels towards Ghandi Square from the west. After Ghandi Square, Main Street then takes you on to Arts on Main, and the Maboneng Precinct. But this section of road is great for pedestrians, and is filled with all sorts of hustle and bustle. This is the city life you find everywhere else in the world. On the road you can find great gems like Cramers Coffee, Smokey Joes, and Shop Around The Corner.

Whoever puts these stickers up is a Joburg super hero. Someone looking down on a city, offering some comfort and security. I don’t have a face or name for him/her. I’ve come close to finding out, but have purposely backed away. I don’t want it to be rooted to anyone or anything. I love it just being there. On ATMs, on parking ticket dispensers, parking meters, in my wallet and all other sorts of unexpected places.

It’s what we really need. Someone who props us up emotionally when we least expect it. Someone who can be there before our anxieties get the best of us.

Johannesburg prides itself on being the largest artificial forest in the world. With that, comes one man’s great invention. When cellphones exploded into our market, these ugly cellphone towers sprang up around the city. Then, all of a sudden, they seemed to disappear… or did they? Some guy is sitting in a massive house in the suburbs, being fanned down by a harem of pretty girls, because he thought up the the idea of how to disguise these ugly structures! Although you might find these fake trees in the rest of the country (because I have no doubt our man wanted to expand his little business), the design and productivity reeks of Joburg.

I challenge you to prove me wrong.

I certainly don’t think its a coincidence that the collective personality of Joburg citizens have been compared to that of the weather patterns. On a psychological level it becomes obvious, but we all giggled when the famous South African comedian Barry Hilton compared the rainfall of Cape Town and Johannesburg with that of the nature of the citizen’s personalities. Cape Town gets the classic wispy English style weather. And as a result the people are wispy and English in their temperament. The rain lasts for almost the entire season of winter, and as a result their productivity stretches out accordingly.

During specific times in Summer Johannesburg will experience an afternoon thundershower at roughly 5 o’clock with incredible regularity. This thundershower will ordinarily come on so suddenly, you have to quickly put the windscreen wipers on full and struggle to see the road ahead of you, only to have the storm leave almost just as quick at it arrived.Seriously, we’re talking half an hour max.

Job done, done properly. Within an hour the pavements have soaked it up and you’re left with a beautiful summer night ahead of you and a thick, green natural forest.

Although not indigenous to the region, the Jacaranda does however hold a large influence in the way the Highveld looks during Spring and the approaching Summer. Although more synonymous with our neighboring city Pretoria, the bright purple still extends well into Johannesburg, and simply cannot be ignored. Urban folklore around these parts speak of an impending doom for all varsity students that still haven’t studied by the time the Jacarandas bloom.

When the Summer rains come, the Jacarandas bloom. The grass on the side of the highway is lush, the air feels cleaner. Johannesburg puts on her purple Summer dress and looks the prettiest she has all year.

We recommend two things:

1. Have a drink poolside at The Westcliff to get the best view of the Jacarandas.

2. Roll you car window down when you drive along roads with lots of blossoms on them. Stick your head out and listen to the snap, crackle, pop sounds… very similar to the  immense pleasure of bubblewrap.

The Firewalker is a new and exciting piece of public art. William Kentridge, an artist revered throughout the world, yet dwelling right here in Johannesburg, gives us something to be proud of. The piece was done in collaboration with artist Gerhard Marx, and is quickly becoming seen as almost The Statue of Liberty of Johannesburg. Although not nearly as large, the 11 metre tall statue is that of a woman walking with a burning brazier on her head, so you can understand why this resemblance is being coined. The piece is made up of fragments, so the image of the woman can only be seen from one specific point of view, that being as you enter the city centre from The Queen Elizabeth Bridge.