Weekend in Johannesburg

After nearly 6 pleasant hours and a sampling of most of the menu, we headed out the end of the concourse to Gate 2.

What is with AA’s annoying habit of putting all the bedding on the seat?  WTF?  Are we trying to impress? And what do I do with this crap now so I can sit down??

Guess I could place it in the overhead but… there are only two large overheads on each side of the plane.

Except a crew member completely filled one of them with his/her oversized bag. Yeah, that’s the AA way. I moved it to a cross aisle overhead before that pax arrived, and asked the flight attendant to take the bedding away until I needed it.

OK, that looks a little better without all the bedding off of the seat.

And true to AA form, pre-departure beverage in Flagship First plastic “glasses”...

Tonight's menu.  No wine list was presented.

AA's new woke PJs.  These were so uncomfortable that they even felt every bit like recycled glass crAAp that you’d expect from Tempe gang.

Oh yeah, 40 minutes later, my “glass” is still there.  No refill ever offered.

After take-off, I passed on dinner, asked our FA to make my bed and slept for 4 hours. Prior to landing...

Clearly AA just isn’t just into international First Class and the hard and soft product show it.

After quick passport control, we stopped into the BA Arrivals Lounge for a quick shower and bite to eat.

Instagram videos...

The Concorde Room is a joke

Love the Heathrow Express which wisked us back from Paddington Station to Terminal 5 is just over 15 minutes.   We stopped at the T5 Left Luggage to collect our bags.

And then upstairs to BA First security.

One of us had no problem.  LOL.

Civilized BA First security. 

Which funnels into the BA/One World First Lounge.   You couldn't hide the extension cord, BA??

Down the hall is the Concorde Room, reserved to BA First passengers.

Once something special, it is definitely not so special anymore. 

BA closed it for a year for "renovations" during Covid but other than some new furniture, I don't seen much difference. 

The Terrace is as nice as ever with some new furniture...

But, they couldn't spend a little money to add power outlets, despite the nearby power?  Seriously, it's 2022.

Dummies...

 

Concorde Dining, which looks exactly the same as before "renovations".

The communal table seating is new and a nice addition.

But that assumes that you can find anything on the menu remotely interesting.   The Concorde Room menu... so 1970s, 1960s, 1950s.

Traditional British Sandwiches.   Yeah, that really sounds appetizing.

Spiced Cauliflower Pie.  Seriously??   And Mackerel??  The cheapest fish you can buy.   And the BA Burger??  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

About the only thing that I figured they can't screw up.

I passed on food but DFW_CK threw caution to the wind and ordered a scone and the traditional sandwiches, none of which were edible with the scone being the consistency of a hockey puck.

After a couple of hours, mercifully it was time to leave to head out for the train ride to the C gates... BA's personal assistants and limo service not operational today.  LOL.

Instagram videos...

Four Seasons The Westcliff Johannesburg 

The Four Seasons is a short 30 minutes drive from the airport.  Our hotel arranged driver dropped us off at just after 11am.  The Four Seasons is a lovely classic hotel located in a series of buildings up the hillside from the main buildings.  Access is by golf cart and they are available on demand to all guests. 

Heading up the hill to our rooms.

The glass structure is an elevator to Flames, the hotel's signature restaurant with a view.

After we settled in, we headed for brunch at said Flames.

Great atmosphere, great view and great entertainment...

Later that afternoon, we relaxed by one of the hotel's pool areas.

Night time at the main lobby building. 

Instagram videos...

JNB arrival, passport and exit

Four Seasons The Westcliff Johannesburg

Sunday Brunch at Flames at the Four Seasons

Our Day in Joburg

Our very reasonable Four Seasons room rates including complimentary breakfast at Flames.  Beautiful late summer morning on the terrace.

We met our hotel arranged guide/driver Thomas down at the main building just after 9am.  

I video'd most of the Soweto tour so I don't have a lot of high quality pics.  Sorry for some of the screen shot from video pics.  The full Soweto video is available on my Instagram Soweto link.

The iconic Soweto towers, now used as massive billboards and for bungee jumping.

Nelson Mandela's one time Soweto home.

Next stop was back to Johannesburg and Constitution Hill, a living museum that tells the story of South Africa’s journey to democracy. The site is a former prison and military fort that bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens.  

From https://www.constitutionhill.org.za ... There is perhaps no other site of incarceration in South Africa that imprisoned the sheer number of world-renowned men and women as those held within the walls of Constitution Hill’s Old Fort, Women's Jail and Number Four. Nelson Mandela. Mahatma Gandhi. Joe Slovo. Albertina Sisulu. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Fatima Meer. They all served time here, but the precinct also confined tens of thousands of ordinary people during its 100-year history. They were men and women of all races, creeds, ages and political agendas; children too, the everyman and the elite. In this way, the history of every South African lives here.

Number Four Prison, a sobering reminder of the dark years of apartheid.

Tributes to Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi.

Mandela's cell in The Old Fort.

With an amazing collection of Mandela's letters and writings.

Instagram videos of our time at Constitution Hill...

We headed back to the hotel prior to our 1pm lunch reservation at Qunu at the Saxon Hotel, a beautiful secluded hotel in tony Sandhurst.

Elegant Qunu, voted Best Hotel Restaurant in Africa this past year.

FIrst time I've seen baggie for masks.

Gazpacho.

Salmon...

Chicken

Amazing desserts.

Wonderful food with excellent food service.

Instagram videos of The Saxon and Lunch at Qunu...