I'm back

Sunday was spent revisiting old haunts. Our taxi driver took us into central Johannesburg (amid many dire warnings about the extremely high crime rate. Never having been to Lagos, I can't say, but that was the most frequent comparison). It's true, the city centre was in complete reverse video, and it did have the air of a frontier town - streets lined with brightly coloured tin signs advertising tiny businesses, young men eager to point out a parking place and receive a tip, and, on street corners, live chickens in wire cages clearly destined for the nearest cooking pot.

We were visiting our old place of worship, the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin. (I wish they had a website, but pretty much no-one there does. Their idea of Broadband is about 512k. Eek. Or rather, Yawn.) The place used to be a hotbed of political sedition - members of both clergy and congregation regularly fell foul of the authorities, and were subject to trials of varying soundness. As we stood outside, taking pictures and some video, we were hustled inside (by a black man in a very nice suit) and told basically not to be so silly as really the crime rate was extremely high.

The church was exactly the same as I remembered - high, cool, beautiful, and an eye of calm in a hurricane of social upheaval.

Our old home had Julia and I squealing with delight. The owners couldn't have been kinder, showing us around the house and gardens, which held more than enough familiarity to have us both enthralled. And the evening was spent with a friend from Julia's schooldays, and her partner. 80% of the conversations began of course, with 'Do you remember . . .!' Britta's partner, Claire, was very patient with a gang of well-past-their-sell-by-date schoolgirls shrieking with unbecoming giggles.

Do I need to bore you with details of the Thai massage we treated ourselves to, on our last day? Nope, you are right, I don't. The only comment I could possibly make would be 'Aaaaaaah', anyway.

I am very pleased to be home though - away is lovely, but home with a loving husband and adored children is best.