We checked out of our hotel in Johannesburg and wandered along to the mall, called into a Woolworths (not the same as our old Woolies) and bought a few things for Ernie, took a few photos then sat down with a drink of tea and iPad and iPhones for an hour or so. Although it is not obvious in the photos, the mall was buzzing.
The night before we had trouble finding the mall on any map. In day light we were able to see that it is an area rather than a specific building. The whole complex was very large.
We made our way down to the Gautrain station across the road from the Mall and whizzed along to Pretoria. We thought that we should find where to check on for the blue train on Monday morning. it was right next to the Gautrain station. Our hotel is also very close, so we can just walk there.
This is the main station and the gardens. While taking the photo of the station, John was accosted by a man in a tatty orange visibility vest who told his that he needed a permit to take the photo - we assumed that this was a scam, and a local told us to ignore him.
Immediately opposite the station is the Victoria Hotel, the oldest hotel in Pretoria. It looks interesting but Pat had rejected this as a place to stay having read reviews. Having seen it, we think that this was the right decision.
After the usual rest, we set out to see a little of Pretoria and find a meal.
This is Church Square
This is the City Hall in Paul Kruger Street
We had skipped lunch and so by now it was getting towards eating time. John had found a likely restaurant on TripAdvisor and so we set out to find it but never did. We then looked around for other restaurants and eventually came to the conclusion that Saturday evening was not the time to eat unless you were in search of KFC, Chicken-Licken, Wimpy, McDonalds etc, etc. We eventually found a pizza takeaway where we could eat in.
We returned to the hotel and retired to the bar for the rest of the evening.
Along with other residents, we had a disturbed night. Some bikers staying in the hotel decided to ride fast around the city on their very powerful bikes between midnight and 3am. They revved them hard before setting off and screeched back into the car park on a regular basis. If you ever get to hear a large Harley Davidson being revved hard it is unbelievably loud. The hotel staff were no pleased either when they had to deal with the complaints.
Pat and John on tour